Magic movie communist Volvos?

February 21, 2007 1:15 AM

Asking for friend: Watching The Lives of Others, a movie taking place in East Germany during the Cold War, I noticed that a limousine in the movie was a Volvo. I have also noticed that other movies set in the Eastern Bloc show cars made by Western nations. Is this an oversight by the movie makers, or were these cars actually available at these times?
posted by dreamyshade to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)

I was three years old, so my awareness of sociopolitical events at the time is very limited, but here's a data point: we had a Volvo in communist Poland in 1980.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 6:37 AM on February 21, 2007

IIRC, Sweden did business with both blocs, at least up to certain point. Volvo is, of course, a Swedish car.
posted by Zero Gravitas at 7:48 AM on February 21, 2007

They were available to some
posted by snownoid at 7:51 AM on February 21, 2007

heh, I wondered about this too, briefly. And now I know.
posted by jouke at 12:02 PM on February 21, 2007