Autostadt - Auslander raus!

Thursday the Guldborg family, Betina and I went for a long weekend in Wolfsburg. The trip to Wolfsburg were a doddle, finding the hotel, Holiday Inn was a challenge but easily overcome. Friday we visitited "Autostadt", which to me was a great disappointment. Everything was in german only. There was employees of "Volkswagen Communications" everywhere, but not a single one mastered any language but german. When I saw a girl with "ASK ME" printed on her t-shirt I thought we could get some information, but she didn´t even know what the words meant. The trip through the factory was arranged for owners of new Volkswagens due to pick them up. The speaker would have a great future ahead of him if german rapmusic would ever get popular. We didn´t get one word of information. I will not recomend anyone to waste a day in Autostadt unless you speak perfect german and love to stand around at the local vw dealership. The worst experience was the Lamborghini house. One lousy yellow car stripped of its internals and hung on the wall. To get people to stand around a lightshow with poor quality german music lasting 15 minutes tortured our ears to the bleeding point. The Timetravel house presented a few great cars mostly there to be ridiculed by new-car owners. Their 1950 split was full of period-wrong parts and was actually not a 1950 model. We forgot to take a picture of the jewel of the collection the Beutler Porsche, which nobody seemed to notice. We made the best of the day, going to a great steakhouse, laughing of the tasteless decorating.

Last call for Kalø

It was enevitable. The darkness, the mosquitos and the chilling breeze would finally kill my spirit. I will not go to Kalø for anymore tuesdays this year. No more cool cars, no more hot dogs from Gullers "Smokey Joe", No more butterflys in the stomach when you pull in to the crowded area. The fall is here and I´m absolutely gutted about it. In 6 1/2 months Hannover will be calling. I feel like a lovesick young man going on a half year submarine mission. Tuesday I saw this blast from the past. I remember seing this car for the first time at Bug Bash about 8-10 years ago, though in a different hue with checkers on the back. The guy who owned it is from Randers and have never heard of SP Rasmussen and his squareback. You guys should hook up.

Sir Stirling Moss I presume?

Tuesday I visited the exhibition "Racing Cars - the art dimension" at AROS in Aarhus. This was a unique opportunity to see some of the racing cars that founded the motorsport as we know it today. The exhibition area was designed by artist Ingvar Cronhammer. He has created the illusion of being inside an engine. I´m not sure how many of the public who realized that the lamps visualized piston rings. After the cars i enjoyed a photo exhibition in the west gallery.

The cars are only half the fun

Sunday wasn´t all that promising. I had a commitment to help pulling Gullers gearbox, but apart from that it was going to be a slow day. I hadn´t any projects planned and Betina had an old friend visiting. As I was leaving for Gullers place Peter called to say that a couple of John Doe´s finest were to visit us today. The gearbox was pulled, jokes were told and we cruised the town before grabbing a awesome burger. No matter how many modifications you make to your ride in the quest for fun, nothing can substitute 4 friends in the seats.

Lost and found

I finally found the papers on my razor edge ghia. For four long months i have gone through every stack of magazines, every cupboard, every box of parts in my life and eventually given up. I beleived the papers were lost forever. I contacted the danish and swedish authorities as the car was imported. The swedish people were really nice and helpfull, the danish just the opposite as usual. But on saturday I found the papers! They had glued themselves under a plasticbox. The revealation of the papers was the ignitor of a fantastic weekend.

Light of my life

Had these babies lying around for a couple of years. They set me back DKK 200,- when I first got them. I think they are well worth it? If anybody has a nice set of covers for them I would love to buy them.

Globetrotter mom

Pursuading your better half that a trip across Europe in a 30+ year old car is a momentous task itself.
But when your wife is someone like Gullers wife Annette your pretty ok. Not only did Annette join us, she looked forward to the trip, researched the web and drove the entire trip herself in her lovely cream 1302. Annette is the best host, she always have a smile and the coffee of gods in stock. Annette is a caring mom for Anton and Cathrine who are also bitten by the bug.

Wonder where we´re going next?

A homeless guy gets a roof over his head

As the cars of today drives further and further on a tank of gas, and more gas stations are unmaned selfservice units, old places of pumping gas and servicing cars are going out of business. Always on the prowl for things old and carrelated Guller found a couple of old Michelin signs from the local now defunct gas station. After a fortnight in the rain we hung him in the workshop.
It looks really cool, shining on old steel once again.

Thanks Guller!

5 minute picnic with spare ribs to go

Sometimes you go to the garage with no premeditated purpose. You just have an urge to do something. Thursday was one of those nights where you grab a pizza, a coke and just go! After a nice dinner in the workshop by my newly restored picnic table (which Christian Duelund has varnished really nice, thanks!) I stood looking around, thinking of things to do. I wasn´t really in the mood for a big project. Guller came to visit with his newly sandblasted frontbeam for his type 2.

Last year at the eastermeet in Aalborg Michael Berg kindly sold me half a set of these weird accessory-ribs for early type 3´s.
He told me it wasn´t complete but I could have it for DKK 50,-. A couple of months down the line Peter had once again come through and found another incomplete set I could have for free! At first I was reluctant as not all accesories of the era are that pretty. But once all the ribs were on the car and polished I really liked it.

Mocca Java - Nordhoff style?

Kasper just got a nice set of mocca cups of Wolfburg fame.
As payment Kasper had to change the wheelbearings on a Skoda.
There´s a dirty grin on his face, i think...

A blind mans puzzle

Howcome some people always have the prerogative of buying uncomplete cars?
Well i´m that guy. But this car is finally coming together. I am surprised how many split era parts is out there.
Here´s a shot of the more recent parts i bought. The other shot is of the pan now with its NOS 30 hp. engine.
I have purchased a lot of the parts to get it looking more 25 hp like. Peter Plade found a real nice distributor with out the vacum advancement. With my NOS split era cap I think it will look real nice. My friend Lars had all the original bolts and small parts cad-plated. Kylle made up a set of brake pipes. I still need to buy the usual bits n´bobs for the brakes though.

The body is more or less ready for the painter. Jesper Vang has welded in new panels from Wolf Parts where needed. The most daunting task was the panel under the rear windows. He called it "the mosquito net" as it had suffered badly from tin worm.
Jesper welded in a piece of an old ovalroof. The outer skin of the donor was badly dented so it wasn´t a loss.

Kam ei buy that one?

Many moons ago, food was collected during the warmer months of the year. Hell, they didn´t even had months back then.
At winter the tribe got together in their caves, talked about last week (?) when they invented fire and showed eachother their nuts (the food ones) and fruits. Today you meet in your cosy garage to show your friends what you have collected at swapmeets and carbootsales during the seasons.

A couple of weeks ago I bought this "Kamei" piece for my type 3. It was in really nice condition and at dkk. 150,- it was not the end of the world. I love pickin´up things that I can put in one of the cars right away. All though it is also kind of nice to have a small stash of nice items for a future project.

Go on a cruise - dont need no stinking deckchairs

When I was going on my pilgrimage to Spa I felt bad for my good friends, Peter and Christian. They weren´t going.
Little did I know they had planned a quiet weekend at home. For those who know my addictions it is well known that especially Kübelwagens are one of them. So imagine the expression on my face as the guys told me what they were up to.
No hard feelings Peter & Christian...

A guy named Winther drives.... a car with no roof?

Enter Thomas Winther. Thomas is an easygoing guy, who always has the time for a chat.
What I really like about Thomas is that he dosn´t apply to the "standards" of the Volkswagenscene.
Thomas has a lot of fun with his cab. Girlfriend Line likes the cab a lot too.
Hope to see you guys soon - at the cinema?

In the dark all cats are grey

Taken on the way to spa. Betina took the picture from Thomas Winthers cab.
She used an old Minolta with a slow shutter. I love it!
Betina never seace to amaze me - she has so many skills.

Daddy, daddy cool

I would like you to meet my dad. He is one tough cookie. 67 years old he enjoys his old 1954 BMW R25 once in a while.
My dad has always supported me in my hobby. When I first started my small business he told me to just hang in there, when the gray suit in the bank asked me if a proper job was out of the question. I will never be able to count how many times he has fired up the family car to go get me when an old car has lost its spirit.

Thanks dad!

Never put razors in the post

An early summerevening in the year 1991 the young apprentice Gustav was standing in the doorway of the skateshop. Life was passing by. The cars in the street was horrible daily hacks, and the young man was mentally flatlining. His eyes were still open, but he was a zombie looking for a shallow grave. Suddenly a well known sound woke him up. A notchback was roaring around the corner, licking the heavily battered tarmac, hauling (of all things) a camp-let loaded with tires and carparts. The youngster felt his knuckles whitening, his moouth getting dry, cold sweat running down his spine. In a flash his muscles reacted and he leaped over the pavement into the street. He knew he had to catch this guy, as animals of the same species know each others smell. "Wanna...wanna...wan.. wanna start a Volkswagen club?" the young man said. Lars was game and I have known him ever since. Lars is the kind of friend you can call after two years of silence and you pick up where you left. Lars has owned a lot of cars from 412´s to split screen type 2´s. Right now his most priced possesion is this "Fridolin" an old swiss posttruck. Or is it his recently aquired Porsche 356? In the picture I was visiting Lars and Gitte in my razoredge ghia. How often do you see 2 rare beasts like this together?

The executive look - not for me

Monday my Touran had a new windscreen, and the kind people at Volkswagen rented me this ride for the day.
The car was a cool ride, but people at the gasstation thought I was a homeless guy who stole it at the embassy.
Betina thought I was gonna buy the damn thing because there was a smile on my face as i passed my former boss on the freeway as Barry White was huming away on the radio. I will however be pursuaded to buy one if thay make a model that goes with wrinkled clothes.

Dancing to a different beat...

Søren is dancing to a different beat than the rest of us. Just yesterday he enlightened me that the square eventually would receive some new shoes. Well he is not wasting time is he? Ride looks even sweeter now. Søren lets me know that a new frontbeam is coming up due to lack of lowness! With Sørens pace of work he will be scraping the neighbourhood asphalt by noon?

Bohemian rhapsody

This is Anne Suzette. Anne is a real sweetheart lending me the facilities for my hobby. Anne herself is a boheme with a passion for cruising her 66 Jaguar mark 2. Anne has just returned from "Burning Man" festival in California and is a wellknown in the danish art community.

See you soon Anne

Square equals 4 bags of air

I thought Sørens own ride deserved a post of its own. This snapshot was taken on our merry way to the "End of summermeet" in Aalborg. Søren is a pioneer in airride technology in Denmark. His system didn´t work at the first flick of the switch but with persistence and research Søren has made it work and is now harvesting the fruits of his hard labour. People stop in their tracks when they se this 64 squareback jumping about at the stoplights. Søren will be fitting new and bigger rims to his ride for next season.

Keep up the hard work Søren!

Narrowminded?

My friend Søren "SP" Rasmussen send me these pictures from the psycedelic realms of "Angoraland". These guys are really narrowminded. They love the look of vintage steel with wheels tucked nice and tight under stock fenders. On visit this day was Anders Juhl from the influential club MIB in Aalborg, a club known for its extremely high quality and standard. Anders yellow split has won numerous awards, yet is still functional and not a trailerqueen. Jesper Vang is the creator of the "Ultrarat". This car is build with lots of new ideas and high tech products, once you go beneath that incredible patina. The structural integrity of the car is not compromized, rust is only skin deep. Jespers attitude goes perfect with the look, but when you get to know him he is really a nice guy.

Ordnung muss sein!

Norbert is a family man. You may not have seen his car yet, because sometimes the toddlers run into doors just as you were leaving for a show. Born in Germany Norbert and Sabine knows the saying "Ordnung muss sein!" And look at this genuinly german looker - Everything is well thought out and executed in patience and with finances not being the first priority. When you look at the car for a while, you realize just how many parts are new. Even the doors are right of the shelves.

Good work, Norbert
I hope we´ll get cruisin´next season.

Taking my best friend for a ride...

Getting up sunday, with the magnesium fumes still in my nose, I realized I had to bring my best friend in the bug.
Møffe loves volkswagens as much as the next guy but he is big and kind of furry. When loaded into the car he started fooling around sniffing my ears, requesting me to install pop-outs and to have the ragtop oppened.
Møffe is the coolest guy in my life.
He is always there when I have to swap engines and need a helpfull paw.

I love u, Møffe!

Something is cooking at John Does!

Remember in school, there was always a kid willing to pick up a turd, lick a live toad on the back or set fire to ants with a magnifying glass? Somewhere in the middle of Jutland these guys are grown up and get together wednesdays and saturdays and enjoy themselves. These days they set fire to old engineblocks made of magnesium and the bike with a playing card in its wheel is now discarded in favour of a volkswagen with about the same sound. Remember how you knew you ought to go home for supper, but you just couldn´t because you never knew what would happen next? Well saturday I was politely invited to "John Doe´s" house for hot dogs. I should have stayed a bit longer...

The absolutely-not-yellow submarine

May I present the absolutely-not-yellow submarine. My Friend Guller has been in the perimeter of the volkswagenscene for years. Sneeking in at events looking at the v-dubs as if he was a boy pressing his nose at the window in a candy store. But Guller is no newcommer to driving old cars. He previously owned a 58 Opel with a sleek two-tone paintjob. Finally he took the bate and bought this swedish bus last winter. During the summer we overhauled the brakes, so that he could actually try driving it before diving into a yearlong restoration proces. After attending a few shows, the job is started. Everything is dismantled, labelled and stored in zip-bags. Guller is determined to do it right. Just look at the pictures - THIS GUY IS DEAD SERIOUS!

The greasemonkey is hired help...