Found this and had to share since I suspect some of you were there. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/03/us-sweden-classiccars-usa-idUSKCN0PD1GL20150703
Al, you suspect correct! A few hours ago I got back home from spending several days up there, just cruising back and forth, partying, watching great cars, fabulous girls, eating good food and not having a single trouble in the world. This weekend is by far the highlight of the year, without any competition. I was up there for the 24:th year in a long and never broken line. I drove up to Västerås as soon as I got my first US-car as a young nipper, and has attended ever since. This year was fantastic. Perhaps a bit too hot; it was over 30 Celsius all days, which is a bit exhausting even if we cruise around with the top down all the time of course. But the evenings and nights were perfect. Around 25 Celsius at midnight is nothing to complain about. Nice article you found there Al. It's good to see that the worlds greatest US-car meet is finding some space in the news outside of Sweden. You could also watch this old clip from Fifth Gear, when they checked out Power meet some years ago. I have spoken with Americans that have attended a couple of times, and none of them has ever by far seen anything like it even in the US. It's absolutely impossible to convey the feeling of around 20.000 old classic US-cars cruising around in a little town like Västerås, but here's a few shots from this weekend from the moments when I wasn't partying loose myself. The red Caddy convertible -69 you might see is mine, and the red Caddy convertible from -53 is a friends of mine that we cruised along with, just as the "modern" blue Mustang convertible from -73 that also might appear.
Yes, I have an old Cadillac. Not old enough, though. I plan to get one from the fifities too. And if I don't remember wrong, I think you had one too. Or am I mistaken?
How cool, Daddio! These pictures remind me of high school at the noon cruise every Friday. My ride then was a 1959 Ford Ranchero with Cragars and sweet cherry bomb dual exhaust.
Nice Dean! -59 is one of the best years for many US-cars. Here's one for you from the cruising. Not a Ranchero, but a nice -59 Ford is always a good one. We have another very large meet with accompanied cruising this weekend, starting on Friday. I've just pulled the axle shafts from the rear axle and shall go down to gothenburg tomorrow and get the outer bearings for it. If I get the time to fix it before friday, it will be a trip down to that meeting. Otherwise it's always a larger cruising in some town nearby during all summer.
Hi Christer, I see people even use the odd corbillard for cruising! (looks like a fairly modern one though). Best regards, Wim
Yep, just like that Christer. Same front end, same fins, but of course a cargo bed in the back instead of the back seat and trunk. Mine was white over red. Wish I had it now! I won a race in that car back then. Going backwards on main street. Stupid kids! Dean
Wow Karli. A roadster. Actually an older collegue of mine, now retired, has a genuine, untuched Roadster -32 in his barn. His mother took it along when she returned from the US in the 40's, I think. I like those simple, clean models. Do you got the flathead V8 in it? And, yes! You need to get to Västerås. You could settle with less this year, and go up to Falkenberg this weekend. It's much closer to you.
In case anyone else is wondering, a corbillard appears to be some sort of hearse or, at least, funeral vehicle. Yeah, yeah - I wouldn't be seen dead in one, over my dead body etc., etc...
Hi Christer, no more Flathead inside There is a 350 Chevy inside, and a 4 speed shifter. Without connections its hard to get here one in Germany. We want to go to Vasteras next year, it needs a good planing one year before the event starts. I hope we can realice it.
I'm sure you will manage. Lets hope the weather will be the same next year. It might be a bit of an adventure to drive a Roadster all that way if it's raining. It's roughly 1500 kilometres from Bayern up to Västerås. A Chevy 350 is more practical and drivable than the small ford flatbed. And it's better with a reliable GM product, any way.
Yes, Wim. There are a small but dedicated bunch of people who like to cruise around in old hearses. A bit morbid if you ask me... It's generally Cadillacs as the one you spotted. And yes, it's a fairly new one. I think it's a 1974. Last year I saw some twenty hearses gathered at one place outside the cruising. Suitable enough they had chosen Swedens largest ancient burial mound just outside Västerås for this.
This is the closest for my hot rod 1948 Trojan . First person to register this truck in the world 15 years ago .Been used as a factory run around ute . To register it had to install headlights ,tail lights, wiper blinkers . This Truck was owned by Sir Laurence Hartnett He designed the first Holden here .He just loved 2 stroke motors . Got earlier car as well Bob .
I got home from that event this morning. Even if this meet is far less than a fourth the size of the one in Västerås, it still rallies over 5000 US-cars. I actually saw a bunch of German enthusiasts, but no -32 Roadster... A bit on the chilly side. Not at all as warm as Västerås two weeks ago. But no rain, and that's the most important thing since that dampen the social bit cruising around all night is about. The daytime swap meet and exhibition is held on a motor racing track a bit outside the town of Falkenberg. At 18:00 it closes and as usual with these events, it ends with most cars heading in to the closest town to cruise around all night. It happens every weekend in some town near you in Sweden. Next weekend is a pretty large event in Falköping, which is just as close as Falkenberg to me. Only two hours drive, so it's in the proximity and really no excuse to not be there. Some shots from the Falkenberg meeting. A couple of Olds -57's: Some people entering the meet late: Eldorado -57: Dodge Charger is very popular in Sweden. 1968 is probably the most common, but I prefer the 1970 like this one: Good thing the police was there to control us...:
A trio of Chevys. 1955, 57 and 59. You know which one is which: No one was left behind this weekend. A German shepard with the stars and stripes around the neck, riding in the back of a Caddy -60... I don't think you'll see that in many other places than Sweden... : Chevy -58: Plymouth Fury -59. I think Christine was a -58?: Old Cadillacs are the most popular American brand in Sweden. It used to be 1959 and -60, but more and more older ones are brought over. It's amazing which fantastic condition a large part of the US-cars we have here are in. And it's even more amazing that people actually drive them alot, and not just take them to the exhibitions to show them up. A car shall be rolling to be fully enjoyed, and that's what all these meetings and cruisings are about.
Before 18:00 people are starting to exit the location and roll towards the town. It floated on pretty well, with not so much standstill. Entering the town. It's a nice cruise where you go in to the old town over an old bridge, which is hard to spot here. Here we just left the bridge and enter the old town. Paved stone roads add to the flavour! In one place we met a little Austin! That one shouldn't be allowed, but I guess it was accepted since it was so cute. I felt like I could have put it in my trunk. Still, they actually managed to tuck in six people in that little corgi car... The rest is confined history... Hopefully we'll make it to Falköping next weekend.
More fabulous cars! I remember being taken on holiday as a child in an Austin A30. Dad had hired one for a week. Didn't do it again! http://www.austina30.co.uk/
British cars were pretty common when my parents were kids. Even if they weren't that old, some elder people in my parents youth still could drive an A30 those days. The Austin A30 was commonly nicknamed "Köttbullen", which is the Swedish name for "The Meatball". Sometimes also called the "Tie knot". I guess it was its shape that did it. It's seemingly just as high as it is wide or long... I collect any hood ornament I find, and this little geezer was actually thrown in a thrash bin at work some years ago. I couldn't have left it there, could I?
Helped my father (a motor mechanic) to work on an A40, he described them as a nightmare an engineer had one night and put on paper the next day for a mechanic to try to work on
Sounds like any British car I've been working on... No wonder we prefer US-cars here. They are the best to work with on the few occasions needed And the spares are also abundant and very cheap, even as far back as the 40's. Actually even the 30's for some models.
