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Posted

Good afternoon from Finland,

There is a traditional winter run for vintage & classic cars held in my (current) home town, Jyväskylä. The run ran yesterday was the 36th,thus the first was ran in the 1970's.

The temperature was ranging from 15F to 20F and it was lightly snowing.

The route is ca.80 miles mainly on small narrow country roads, which are ice or snow covered at this time of the year. In the first years the participants drove mainly 1920's and '30's cars, today the majority are 60's cars. The oldest this year was 1923 Ford fixed head coupe. on the pictures of the following link you'll also see a 1925 Citroen Torpedo Touring, which ran with the conv.top down. This car and driver has been participating several (tens?) of times, also same age Ford T-tourings and the habit (or spirit) has been commonly to drive with top folded down - enjoy the breeze...

http://picasaweb.google.com/Kuvatodellisuus/Talwiajot2009#

...what about Uncle-P, I hear you asking... well, the Dodge is partially stripped in the garage, preparing for some engine overhaul and paint job... so I got a good excuse to enjoy warmth of the stove at home.

Posted
Good afternoon from Finland,

There is a traditional winter run for vintage & classic cars held in my (current) home town, Jyväskylä. The run ran yesterday was the 36th,thus the first was ran in the 1970's.

The temperature was ranging from 15F to 20F and it was lightly snowing.

The route is ca.80 miles mainly on small narrow country roads, which are ice or snow covered at this time of the year. In the first years the participants drove mainly 1920's and '30's cars, today the majority are 60's cars. The oldest this year was 1923 Ford fixed head coupe. on the pictures of the following link you'll also see a 1925 Citroen Torpedo Touring, which ran with the conv.top down. This car and driver has been participating several (tens?) of times, also same age Ford T-tourings and the habit (or spirit) has been commonly to drive with top folded down - enjoy the breeze...

http://picasaweb.google.com/Kuvatodellisuus/Talwiajot2009#

...what about Uncle-P, I hear you asking... well, the Dodge is partially stripped in the garage, preparing for some engine overhaul and paint job... so I got a good excuse to enjoy warmth of the stove at home.

Uncle Pekka, sounds like a lot of fun, but arren't you guys, worried about getting all kinds of snow,slush, maybe salt all over under the car.

I ran my car last spring, through some water, from snow melt mixed with salt, it did a real number on some things under the car, even though I rinsed it as soon as possible.

Fred form Near Gimli Manitoba, home of the worlds largest Icelandic population living outside of Iceland, as I know your Scandanavian too.

Posted

Uncle Pekka, this photo is great. I bought a similar suitcase at a yard sale recently for $4.00. Still has the paper lining intact. Seeing the photo, I can see just how nice this will look with a little cleaning and paint. Suitcase is metal clad.

post-64-13585349312063_thumb.jpg

post-64-13585349312531_thumb.jpg

Posted

Rockwood,

They drive mostly on small country roads, where salt is not used, only snowplow and sand. However, a good carefull wash with cold water right after the trip will remove harmful chemicals...

Norm,

I do like the wornout globetrotter beetle as well, the skies and suitcase add the top of the cherry. Your suitcase is exactly the style, I wish I'd came across similar deal.

This one is similar style, but may be more exotic make to you guys:

A russian Popeda, which was a russian design for semi civilian/semi military purposes after the WW2. The car sported high ground clearance and big wheels for rough terrain and poor roads. It was a popular taxi cab in Finland early 50's when american cars were not available.

This one is a finnish hillibillies roadtripper, what do ya like?

http://picasaweb.google.fi/buick55/7209Talwiajot#5300123581641600546

If you back out from the picture of the Popeda, there is another album of pictures of the same day by another photographer.

P.S.

Norm also admired the Volvo "Duett" sedan delivery:

The Volvo 444 and 544 series has been and is extremely popular car in Finland. When new they were appreciated because of quality, performance and reliability. They never went out of fashion, but turned straight from duty to hobby items. One funny aspect is, that they serve in Sweden and Finland as good substitute for young people keen on 50's american cars, when they cannot afford "a real thing" - Well, Volvo has always been most american influenced european car and as far as I've understood also appreciated in the States.

Posted

That is an Opel made in Hitler's 3rd Reich Germany, thus model names were military rankings: Smallest was Kadett, this one Kapitän (Captain) and the biggest Opel was the Admiral...

Whatever, a nice well made car it is.

Posted

I once had a 60 Opel kadett. Neat little car. Grandadeo's brother scrounged up an aluminum Buick V8 for it, the only thing I lacked was money for the project. I drove it up and down the eastern seaboard from Florida to Upstate New York. Only problem was the column shifter wore out and fell apart on one trip. Sold it for $90.

Posted

Norm,

Did your 1960 Opel looked like this one:

http://www.oldtimerteam.de/my/opel-p1a.jpg ?

This was the best seller Opel from 1957 to -60. In Europe the model was called Olympia Rekord. My old man had a one (1959) when I was pre-school kid. I was very proud of it, to me it was the most beautiful car in the neighbourhood. I still like it best of all Opels. It is a kind of 2/3 size of 1955 chevy with a nose a bit like a buick...

A Buick V8 in this little car would make it REALLY thrilling, I guess. Did you plant the V8 in your car?

Posted

It looked a lot like that one. Mine was all beige. I never got the V8 installed, it was just a case of not enough money to do it. It's been many years, and as I recall I left the motor stashed behind the little cottage I lived in. I'd bet even money that the motor is still back there in the bushes:D

Posted

Very cool cars (no pun intended). Great to see people drive their cars in less than ideal weather conditions. Sure puts anyone with a trailer queen that is never driven to shame.

Posted
Very cool cars (no pun intended). Great to see people drive their cars in less than ideal weather conditions. Sure puts anyone with a trailer queen that is never driven to shame.

And these are not local guys just a mile away from home, but some of them come quite a long distance. From Sweden and Norway. It really gives me the chills to see a 4D '55 Chevy on the road in -25C weather. Two years ago some Swedish guys were returning from that run, and drove through my hometown.

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