Happy Juneteenth National Independence Day, everybody! Since this holiday is all about well-deserved freedom and emancipation, we’re giving our staff some freedom today as well. We’ll have a couple articles go up today that we held for this, but today is a day off for our hardworking writers. At least our American writers. Our Finns and Canadians and Brits, they didn’t go through the Civil War and the horror of slavery and the final, long-awaited joy of Emancipation, so they can write some stories, dammit. But for all of you Americans out there, I hope you can take a day to reflect on how wonderful freedom is, how alarmingly easy it is to lose it when your moral compass starts pointing to the worst possible things. That needle can swing back, though, which is why we’re celebrating today.
In previous Juneteenth posts I’ve highlighted some notable Black car designers and engineers and drivers of rocket-Beetles, and this year I had another something planned, but I realized that maybe that’s missing the point of the holiday. It’s great to feature Black people in the automotive world, no question, but that really can happen any time, and this holiday is about something much more specific, the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation and the end government-sanctioned slavery in America once and for all.
Well, I guess it did take an extra six months for Missouri, Maryland, and Kentucky and Delaware to end that nightmare, since they held out until the 13th Amendment was ratified, just to be jerks, I guess.
I don’t really have a car-related thing to associate with all of this, and I don’t want to try to force anything stupid, or at least more stupid than usual, so let’s just focus on the date, 6/19, and talk about the only car named 619 I can think of, the Wallys 619.
Wallyscar is a Tunisian automaker, only about 20 years old and I think best known for their very Jeep-like cars, starting with the Wallys Izis:
These used Peugeot 1.4-liter engines and, despite its look, it’s not a true 4×4, but rather a fun, fiberglass-bodied open vehicle, much in the same vein as a Volkswagen Thing, Citroën Mehari, or Mini Moke.
There’s also a newer version out now called the Iris, which modernizes the visual theme, which seems to be based on the idea that if Jeeps had their own culture with its own mythology, this is what their equivalent of elves or trolls might look like.
But we’re here to talk about the Wallys 619! The 619 is a different from the Izis or Iris in that it’s essentially a rebadged Saipa 111, which is itself an Iranian version of the Kia Pride, which we knew here in America as the Ford Festiva.
Here’s what looks to be a Wallys 619 modeling sizzle reel:
Wallys now seems to be selling what I suspect are CKD Chinese SUVs and trucks, which I’m sure makes a lot of sense, but I do miss the homegrown charm of cars like the Izis and Iris. Or even the nostalgia of the 619!
This is all a pretty tenuous connection to Juneteenth, I realize, but here we are.
Regardless, happy Juneteenth, and I hope everyone has a fantastic day off!
I mean when I think of 6-1-9 it usually involves pro wrestling.
I am at work today, sadly, but for those who aren’t working, reflect on and enjoy your freedom.
I guess the next closest would be the Bertone (si)X1/9
“This is a, this is a damn fine automobile. You think you hate it now, but wait until you drive it.”
In metallic pea!
I had that before once…
Happy Juneteenth!
We had off for year. Then we got a “floating” holiday that we were told could be used for Junteenth, MLK, Good Friday – or any other holiday we might want to celebrate.
I’ll be using mine the week of the 4th as we are required to take the entire week off and burn vacation days. I’m not a fan of mandatory “vacations” but it is what it is.
We used to close the week of the 4th and burn 4 vacation days, boss didn’t care but bossette (wife) said our vendors/customers closed anyway so… But they didn’t.
She just wanted a week off. Great how about not making us waste half our vacation time?
It seems like it should be simple, but it never is. My contract is by days worked. I need to hit 230 in a fiscal year. What I don’t work is between me and my superior. It’s not vacation, it doesn’t accumulate, because the only thing that counts is work days.
So the first year that Juneteenth was signed into law as a holiday I suddenly was short one day with less than 2 weeks in the year. I had to plead my case to get approved to work a weekend day. All just to say, there seems to be major unintended consequences and few, if any, are just getting an extra day off.
Back on topic: I’m reading Chuck D’s “In the Hour of Chaos” a memoir about art and activism. It’s great. At the last American Educational Research Association conference he was there as part of a panel to talk about Hip Hop education. Sitting next to him was Dr. Ladson Billings. An unbelievable experience. One statement from Dr. Ladson Billings: “you’re saying Hip Hop is representative of the Culture, but to me Hip Hop *is* the Culture.”