Svenska Bubbla

Karmann Initiative

2008-01-27T21:59:00.001+01:00

And if you can't make it to Mol, be sure to join us in Ninove. And if not for us, do it for the best show in Flanders. Cold as hell, but cool as ice!

And if more than 500 cars are not enough to quench your thirst for curves. There might be more goods on display than just the beetles. And I'm not talking about the lucious lady in front.

Let's get Dirrrty

2008-01-27T18:35:00.001+01:00

There you go, as B-day is getting closer we're speeding up on the organisation of it. We now have a Starting point, a lunch location and working hard on a finish-line.

And how about a flyer, get you hard-paper copy in Mol, they are limited as hell, but not even close to as limited as the places on Bugtour itself. So if you want to join, subsrcribe on bugtour.be

Back in the day

2008-01-02T21:46:00.000+01:00

Judging from this picture it looks like some people are going crazy, Old-speed crazy that is. While everybody is talking Forty-Eights, +2litres and turbo's, others are milling 30horse heads, flow-benching them and getting every last breath out of a Pied Moulé.

People like the inspiring bVille Tom are building brukrasa engines, others extensively use Porsche and Denzel equipment and Fram, abbarth, judson, shorrock, these are all key words flying around. If you would like to know more this Page on the samba is as good as the bible. Every time I'm in doubt I read this and return to the true faith: Old-Speed, the ultimate underpowerment.

Patina

2007-12-31T09:26:00.000+01:00

a little project for Mr. McHale to do some father-son-bonding?

Looking at the state of this hull, might as well be a grandfather-father-son-bonding. By the time they would ever finnish this, Kevin would have to be high on Viagra even to be able to lift his arms.

And I bet Long Tall Eddy von der S. will never ever need Viagra. Maybe a few valiums if he gets to see this picture. But if he runs he might not be too late to save this Samba. Though one thing is true, if he would let his complete collection be pressed, he would finally have some space in his lair to add more busses. Cubes are easier to store!

Winter

2007-12-30T15:55:00.000+01:00

Too bad you will never see such a lovely sights here in Belgium. Even when enough snow would fall, people hate it enough to dump bucketloads of salt on it. That they kill of their beloved a overpayed cars in the process they all seem to forget. Or is it just a small price to pay for safety? I don't think so, they should ban salt to the sea and the "frietjes"

Spring is coming soon

2007-12-30T15:36:00.000+01:00

Aaaah, only a few months to go before bugtour 5. Without a doubt the nicest navigational rally through the Flanders and more. And it's not just because it's my club, Die Volks Freunde, that organises it. If you don't believe me, ask around, but don't wait too long to subscribe as startingnumbers are limited. Go look on the bugtour website.

Nanana-naaah nana-naaah-na

2007-12-29T11:30:00.000+01:00

Another blog linking up to mine, Donder's. And if possible he's even slower on updating than me, but at least he's working on his car instead. Unlike me, waisting my time surfing around the turd tidal trap.

A fine car it will be, nicest model ever to start with so it can't go wrong, but some loving care has been added to the equation and will tip the scales even more into coolness.

What do you think might have happened?

2007-12-29T11:06:00.001+01:00

OK, time for a little quiz, tell me your version on this terrible accident. How big was the damage, how many dead how many wounded (and dying). Did they scrap the cars.
Make it up soon or I will. And it will not be nice!

Triple Pink

2007-12-29T10:42:00.000+01:00

Even though my garage is pouring out with crap, I can't help looking at Blocket in search for the finer examples is metalfab and engineering. This add proves again you can do strange stuff to you car in Sverige without being knee-capped with a crankshaft.

Sin number one would be painting your car pink. We all know this means a slow death for any car and painting it flat black will never hide you own a sissy's car.
But on top of that look at all the other capital sins, terrible pickis conversion (obvious), colour-coded and molded-in sidesteps, a boxmetal angular roll-bar (undoubtably tied in to nothingness).
On a brighter note I would like to point out how a nutty proffesor forced some extra air into the engine using computer cooling fans, sheer genius. Or does this just prove he's a nerd?

At the strip

2007-12-19T21:45:00.000+01:00

To most of you this will not interest you much, but to me such a vessel is a beautifull feat of craftsmanship.

Some of you might know of my wild plans to build my own boat, flat4-powered. But although I love this example, mine has to be built for dragracing or at least look like it. I already have some hardware laying around : a v-drive transmission (essential for a drag-boat), an engine to strip for it's case (this one will also give its 010 distributor for an oldspeed engine for my bubbla), a pumps flywheel housing to couple trans and engine and a pair of simca seats to strip and rebuild (and if it works, I'll build a couple for my oldspeed car as well). I also have a threespoke petri wheel that wont fit a car, but that I can use for the boat.

I even have a name for the boat, but I'll keep that one a secret.

You see I have almost all I need, except time ...

Crappy pieces of shit

2007-12-18T22:36:00.000+01:00

That is what 4-elevens are. Or at least mine is. This black one looks fine though.

Mine is baby-blue, Finnish, and had a crappy engine to start with. I started driving it to Bitburg but gave up before Brussels. In the evening, on the way back I blew the engine. I was just able to make it onto a gasstations parkinglot, leaving some liters of oil as a trace. In the meantime I swapped engines with a nice reconditioned Type 4 (or at least that's what I would like to think) but I'm now having issues with the clutch. So I still hate the car.

But once it will run, it will run hard, that I'm sure of. And than I will love the car, the classic.

The holy grail for Type III

2007-12-18T22:26:00.000+01:00

Just recently I scored this very rary Tacho for an early type 3. By coincidence I saw it advertised as a "VDO for a vw of some sort". Little did the seller know he was about to loose a few hundred euro, because I paid no more than 25 euro for this nice piece of accesory.

Too bad I don't a own a Type three myself. But luckily my girlfriend does! This will make for a great new years gift, don't you think.

Unbeloved

2007-12-15T21:10:00.000+01:00

Tied to a tree as an unwanted hound. This is what the Swedes do to their bubblas when they leave Sverige for the Christmas holidays, flying of to the hot south.

Custom Buss

2007-12-14T21:18:00.000+01:00

And just to prove that I do as I say, my first VW post in a very long time, it's even Svandinavian.

How about this custom splitbuss. I love it to bits, with the fat hips and everything. I think it looks very potent but don't know if it has the goods to back up the looks. I know I have!

10 Large

2007-12-14T21:10:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd never see the day where I would reach the 5 digits. Do I have to post a naked lady now?

What I promissed myself to do though is to start posting at least every other day or so, It's been too long since this blog has been active. But then you have to check regularly, makes it more fun for me.

Kross Town Traffic 4

2007-04-21T08:44:00.000+02:00

Oh Damned! Another XTT and you didn't plan a babysitter... Well, I'm sorry, really am but something got in the way of organising this wonderfull ride (people who know me already guessed that something is actually me and my lousy timing, but don't tell).

Anyway, Die Volks Freunde wish to invite you on what was supposed to be an Easter run, complete with chocolate eggs and all. Due to a meltdown (litterally) you'll have to bring your own sweets on April 25. As usual we meet at the Park&Ride in Gentbrugge at seven in the evening en we start driving at eight.

Bugtour 2007

2007-03-10T00:09:00.000+01:00

You'd better fine-tune that engine of yours, and check the profile on your tires, as the Bugtour is back in town. To be more precise, the town of Liedekerke, from where the caravan will travel through the Land of Pajot with a cosy stop in Eastern Flanders' capital : Ghent, home of Die Volks Freunde.

Power to the Peoples car

2007-02-28T21:29:00.000+01:00

And this is what "Wimme" has been specialising in lately : Oldspeed engines. First he's had to rebuild a Porsche 356 engine. And now his in the process of building a "PiedMoulé", too bad not with a powerboosting Judson. But I bet a Riechert kit will suffice for a slow turtle like Turtle.

Guillermo's Aircooled Services on the move

2007-02-28T21:18:00.000+01:00

This would just be the perfect getaround for GAS. Like, a friends car just broke down, no hassle, Guillermo's on the way with his flat-8 tow-truck. That's right, this bus is propelled by two siamesed Bubbla engines. But no, for now he'll have to make do throwing junk in the back of his Girls Berlingo. What a downer.

Sixpack.

2007-02-24T18:51:00.000+01:00

And while on the topic of ultrafast VW's, how about this Finnish Variant. Enormous fat rubbers in the back and to cope with those, the wheelarches have been cut. Something tells me this car won't be driven in bad weather anyway. It might be the two stacks of carbs, poking out of what is left of the engineroom. Just count them, all six of them.
And by the way, I love those blue-dots. A pitty they're not streetlegal.

nifty-trifty race-car

2007-02-24T18:33:00.000+01:00

Another nice racing car found on some swedish formula Vee forum I can't remember. If you look close you can barely spot the Blue and Yellow. One day I'd love to own a car just like that. If you get lucky you can pick one up cheap, but more often than not expect to pay up, as most automotive history gets more expensive by the day.

Off course if it was cheap, you might just get what you pay for, a piece of crap.

But with the right metalfabrication-skills you can surely turn your worst nightmare into the stuff nice dreams are made off. Yet another Helmut-built.

Hot headed.

2007-02-24T18:20:00.000+01:00

Recently a brand new racing-head with impressive flow charts came out of the woods. To be more precise it's one or another Swedish pine forest.

A close up of the JPM. Out of the box these puppies should outflow most of the aftermarket heads, and with some more work the could almost make it to the major league run by Pauter and the likes. It's a Type 1 head, but it will fit your Type 4 as well.

And this is the machinists own car. It's clear what these heads do to your car, let alone your neighbours's.

I spy with my little eye.

2007-02-24T18:01:00.000+01:00

While at a yardsale someone spotted something in the back of the lot. He made a quick picture and if you look very close you can see what appears to be a windscreen. Armed with the above picture he went to search info on the Pelican, a Porsche dedicated website. And based on the same picture, someone else got interested and through Mister One he struck a deal with the owner to buy the car.

And this is the risk he took, another nice porsche Speedster has been saved. Well it needs a bit of work, but the price was right I guess. For the whole story and more barnfinds of any brand of car, look on my barn find.

Less than Zero Offset

2007-02-21T20:40:00.000+01:00

Only in Sweden! These radically altered rims can give your car the so much coveted tucked front wheels look we couch-racers all crave for. It looks crazy and extremely dangerous, but that's just what we like. I have some fake old 356 rims, an acetylene cutting torch and a welder laying around. They will suit my Hot-Sodd very fine. I should go for it and if Mr. Axle Nut lets me, I think I will.

Start searching high and low

2007-02-21T18:45:00.000+01:00

The next big wave in the vw-scene (appart from Hot-Sodds off course) is the T3/T25. Now you can ask yourself, would I want to be seen in such a fugly watercooled breadbox? The answer is : Hell, No !!! But the thing most people don't know is that these buggers could also been bought aircooled, stock from the factory. Now in the world of vanagon, as they are known in the US, there's not much interest in aircoolers, people prefer the high-power wasserboxer, up to 112 horses. Or they choose fuction over fun and buy a sober diesel to go tripping.

All the better for those of us who are initiated into the cult of Brick. As prices for the biggest of the type two breed are not yet skyrocketing like for it's older sisters . You can still buy an ugly duckling for less then 1500 euro, without even having to get out the welder. Expect to see more of them on shows as they can be cool enough to freeze your balls off. Especially in winter.

Accesorise this

2007-02-19T20:04:00.000+01:00

There's a topic running on the Meanbugs forum, with pictures of yesteryear, mostly shots of the vw-plant. But one of them really caught my attention. If you're affraid of letting go of the steeringwheel, yet you don't own a sportomatic, why not invest in a steering-column mounted gearshifter? You'll never shift back!

A T3 hauls ass

2007-02-19T17:50:00.000+01:00

The Bus Kemperink never built, but they should have. It would be a nice project but it would be blasphemious to cut up a perfectly fine Aircooled T3, now wouldn't it? But according to calculations performed on the heavy-duty servers of my new job, it could be done. Hauling a bug, maybe even a Type Three on the back of a standard Transporter Single Cab. With an extension out the back, the load would be sticking out about 1 metre.

Twins

2007-02-18T12:10:00.000+01:00

All the people who know me, know I can keep a secret like it's burried. Only not for long. So, here I am spillling the beans on special request of Guillermo who was the first to say he could supply me with suitable GAS-burners.

I've got the choice of either of these two twins residing in Hannover. Well, twins,... The blue one is a very solid 1600 without any major rustrepairs, a perfect driver, but a bit slow. On the other hand, the red one is a bit tatty and has a wooden floor in the bed (which isn't always a good sign), but is powered by a hefty 2 liter type 4. And to top it of, it has double cargodoors for the under-bed area.

That will be a difficult descision to make in Hannover.

Just a weekend away

2007-02-16T22:03:00.000+01:00

As we say in Belgium : "een tip van de sluier...". Dr. Jeckill is planning another crazy trip, but I'm not ready to tell you all about it. It includes some time abroad, not too far but not too close neither. And just maybe the cheap-ass version of these Mag-gic wheels come in the equasion, albeit not in true Porsche pattern.

As I said, it's just a weekend away. But you'll all have to wait for the story to unfold as Dr. Jeckills day time alter ego is stuck working double shifts, mainly thanks to fellow DVF'er Olie, of the doka fame. So the weekend away will have to wait one month or two.

Picture Perfect / Perfect Picture

2007-02-16T20:30:00.000+01:00

Something else I borrowed from RZR, a link to some amazingly nice photographs with that wonderfull period-feel. Check out Andreas's work.

Norwegian Vixen

2007-02-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

But beautifull things happen every day up north. Do you remember Folke, the Regenstadt Zombie's watchdog? Well on his walk along the local VAG dealers, he met this very nice Valkyrie, who is by no means fat nor blonde. Can you imagine this is your appointed mechanic to give your car the needed service. Only in Norway!

Taking it easy

2007-02-16T19:45:00.000+01:00

I really should be updating more often. But there's not much news from the Northern Frontiers, well at least not from my part. I haven't been out to play lately so I haven't got a thing to tell, as I'm in no way interesting by my own means.

Pick-Ubel

2007-01-25T15:09:00.000+01:00

This car isn't Scabdinavian at all. But I thought it looked too cool to withold.
This is the goal of A Guy Called Moddersmurf and he has already salvaged all of the necessary parts. A driven to the ground Ultima Edicion mated to an unrestorable Kubel should result in the funnest mobile in the ranks of the DVF and Keverclub combined.

Home sweet Home

2007-01-25T15:02:00.000+01:00

Now, I pickpocketed this one somewhere on an American forum, I think. But the picture could well and truly been taken in Sweden as weird contraptions is by far one of their fortes. And if you cross the Svensk rural areas, everywhere you look, you can spot these small, painted red, plank houses so this wouldn't look to freakish wedged in the woods somewhere.

God Jul Och Ett Gott Nytt År

2006-12-26T11:36:00.000+01:00

When the leader dictates, us acolytes have to follow suit. So here you have it, a merry christmas and a happy newyear, courtesy of Die Volks Freunde. Cheers!!!

Sightseeing out of heaven.

2006-12-24T00:23:00.000+01:00

This is a page out of a book with nothing but shots of Sweden out of the sky up above. This should be a junkyard close to Malmö. Or it used to be, because as far as the Swedish part of my brains understood, it has been turned into a golfcourse by now. One only wonders what happened with the lot of vintage tin. Scrapped?

31 Horses in Town

2006-12-23T23:53:00.000+01:00

Looking up the skirt of yet another Swedish belle. A '54 threefold Soltak that made a little detour through fugly Germany. But right now these thirty horses are residing in a nice East-Flanders village called 'Deiremonne', stable of the horse Bayard. Tempie is restoring the hell out of it and by restoring I mean using anything but the best. Have a look.

Spreading the Gospel

2006-12-23T23:27:00.000+01:00

Oh beautiful Scandinavian landscapes. I've seen this lighthouse myself on one of my Nordic trips. I just can't remember where it was, but maybe Fons can help me out. He just returned from a one week round trip to Sweden, picking up a nice white '66. One more Bubbla to be driving the Belgian Autobahn.

Driving around a strange, cold and dark country is no fun, unless you can share it. So Fons took his Dad on this adventure. Now that's cool. I wouldn't be able to get my father out of his seat solving sudoku's, for a run around the block in my Twingo. Let alone an unknown car, prone to break down whenever you least expect it.

Back home in Belgium, the white 66 can join the blue 67 he and his girlfriend went to Sweden for earlier this summer. But not for long as the white one is for sale as Swedish fun can be expensive. If you want I can put you through to Fons, just holler.

Karmann Electric

2006-12-21T00:03:00.000+01:00

As is known as a true fact I'm a radical websurfer. And almost nothing in the world of VW amazes anymore (I know, modesty is not always my forte). But when I saw this ecofriendly project, I was in awe. Pardon me, as this car resides in the USA, so, well out of my regular hunting grounds. Still every normal treehugging Scandinavian would love to run this through the pine tree forests up north.

This is the oddest engine bay of a nicely restored Ghia, or according to the January Hot VW's, rather called modified, as the drivetrain went through some changes. A bus tranny and porsche trailing arms are now mated to the 67 bodywork. What's most out of the ordinary is off course the engine. A high power electric engine normally pushing a hydraulic forklift pump, altered to fit in and propel the Ghia to high speed.

And this is to an electric engine what regular pumpgas is to a, dare I say, ordinary Karmann. There's up to 1800 coldcranking Amps at hand, and that is massive. I only wonder about the weight as, I have some big 1100 Amp batteries at home for my powersupply, and they weigh in at 600 kilo's.

And last but not least, this is an artists rendition of what the final result should look like. I'm personally not sure on the teledials, though I kind of like them, but maybe not on this car. The script is also great, made by yet another artist who, I guess, loves this project. I love the tongue in cheek VOLTSWAGEN.

Soltak Oval

2006-12-20T16:43:00.000+01:00

But no need to worry as there are still some nice deals to be made in the land of Plenty. How about a ragtop '56 oval with attitude and some lovely wheels to boot. I've seen them priced cheaper than this one, but hey, it's a driver. So enough said, go get it!

Old crappy vw Fälgar

2006-12-20T16:32:00.000+01:00

Sweden, you just got to love that country. Whilst looking for a good score I stumbled upon this add for old vw wheels, 4 of them, but only 2 had tyres on them. Luckily the original centercaps were present, or else the poor man would never ever been able to sell them for the hefty sum of 1000 sek ;-). Yes you've read it right the first time only a hundred euro for original sprintstars. Needless to say I was on the phone in no time, but unlucky me, they were sold already. Maybe I should start to surf some more.

Deep Blue Sea

2006-12-14T00:14:00.000+01:00

This isn't a view on the Baltic Sea. In fact I don't know where this picture was taken. It could be America's West Coast surf, but judging on the logoed drivers door I'm thinking more towards the east, as Far East as you can go. I don't have a clue what they wrote down about it, but a lovely picture it is, stolen from the Flat4 blog.

Paneled type Three

2006-12-11T11:58:00.000+01:00

News from the Norvegian Front. The Regenstadt Zombies have unearthed an oldschool cal looker. And a rare bird it is, a type three panelvan is really rare, although all it took Volkswagen to build it was pop out the glass windows and replace them with metal panels. But boy are those panels rare now.

But the RZR aren't oldfashioned and already planning a redo of the car to a more contemporary style. A bit ratty/racy, and please not to low, this would do fine. As cars are made to run fast not to scrape asphalt, you're better of buying a bulldozer to do some roadwerks.

Skrot once more!

2006-12-11T11:19:00.000+01:00

Just an average day on your average junkyard in Sweden. An oval, an early big-window and yet another oval, rusting away somewhere in the woods. A sad sight for sore eyes.

Turtle is an E.T.

2006-12-11T10:54:00.000+01:00

This is the lil' sister of my own precious Five-Niner. She has also found her way from the cold and snowy Sweden to the cold and rainy Belgium in the hands of the ever so slow Turtle, member of the One Man Club out of the Grimm Hills.

The Empi's on the first pics have already found their way to France and are replaced by these golden ET-mags all the way from Norway, add a GAS-installed Riechert kit on a rebuilt 30/36horse and some period accesories and you go all the way to become Oldspeed.

By the way, this is how it looked while still in Sverige. Isn't it sweet. And I'm just so jealous of the colorcoded ragtop in that roof. If I manage to keep on to my car for once, I might just start looking out for a ragtopclip and some welding.

Hot Sodd

2006-12-06T18:04:00.000+01:00

According to the connecentis on the Cal Look Lounge hot Sodds are next big thing in the altered bubbla movement. Might as well be as cal look is already on the rebound and nostalgia dragracers are peaking the very minute you read this. I don't want to belittle these two very nice American ways of changing from stock, but soon they will both be out of fashion (although will cal look ever be out of fashion?) and only their true fans will cherish them, and maybe just as well. Maybe the time has come to show what a nifty thrifty racecar the beetle can really be, Eurostyle.

I don't really know if this would qualify as another hot sodd? Maybe it's to much rally and to little outlaw. But for a more concrete definition of a hot sodd or maybe even helping out defining what it exactly is and really should be, go over to the Lounge.

Wild Goose chase

2006-12-05T21:41:00.000+01:00

This picture says it all! On my way to Germania, to check out an ultra rare Aircooled Doppelkabine. I drove the 200 km back and forth with my trusty 16V Twingo. Check the speedo, as everyone who knows me will tell you, you'll never catch me speeding on the highway. Underneath my gorgeous but mega-crappy Mooneyes rearview mirror is my brand new TomTom, a birthdaypresent from my Girl, to always show me the quickest way home.

Oh yes, the T3. As the seller already told me over the phone, it wasn't very nice. In fact, not very nice at all. Lots of seamrot, a multiplex covered truckbed and welded shut under-bed doors so the under-bed storage was unaccesable. So I skipped it again, but at least I had a look. Maybe the next one.

Tysklands T3

2006-12-04T13:34:00.000+01:00

Finally, Dr.Jeckill will be getting some action, although short. Tommorrow I'm off to Tyskland, better known as Germany. At only 210 km from my boat, I found this rather rare aircooled Doka. That's right, the same sort of doka I copped out of last month, but too close to what I call home to not at least go and have a look at it, maybe even touch. The seller already warned me it is not "Moeders Mooiste". But hey, is a T3 ever?

T3 Westy Owners are Hot

2006-12-04T06:01:00.000+01:00

As seen on the Samba classifieds. What better way to sell your T3 Westy than posting some amateur pics of your girlfriend in the nude, chatting away. What strikes me, T3 people seem to be of a different breed than your regular Airhead. They lean much more to the split screen driving hippies of yesteryear, going to festivals and raves and smoking a lot of pot. Proof of the latter is on the counter, a healthy dose of Ben&Jerry's to keep the munchies away. You don't fool me.

Porker-crazy

2006-12-02T15:06:00.000+01:00

This is one of the reasons Svenska Bubbla was a bit on the backburner. I was trying to move up the automotive scale a notch by trading my little Red for a more potent crossbreed, a VoPo. Look at the joy on the faces of these 70-ties escapees all courtesy of the little targa-topped sportscar.

This car tempted me into this foolishness. I was going to have a look at this one while in Stockholm, picking up the dubbelhyt pickis. But a friend of mine warned me about this car, for it already was for sale for the past two years. So there must be something fishy going on with this California import.

But a seed was sown, so I started looking for a 914 in Belgium. I even went to see one, seemed like a good deal, an all original 74 2-liter on baby-fuchs, rustfree, almost. Lucky for me I had read up on the Ugly 914 and the illustrous hell-hole. From the very first look on this car I was in love with the Ravenna Grün, but it was spoiled with badly bondo-ed patches, it lacked some of its looked after parts, had a hit front and rear and worst of all a lot of rust in all the typical spots, including the dreaded hell-hole under the battery tray. It had eaten it's way through the car so I could easily put my hand through the right heaterchannel. And the seller also assured me of the perfect engine, but never actually had heard it running as there was an oil-leak.

So, I'll stick to my red-over-blue-over-black-over-alabaster, Rocksolid '59 for the time being. I know it can beat three-five-sixes any day, so I'm happy.

Swedish girls have long legs...

2006-12-01T22:15:00.000+01:00

So no wonder all the Scandinavian playaz look for highroofs. This blog seemed dead for the last few months (a bit like mine I'm afraid), but it looks like Fusentast is back. So go ahead and give his counter a boost to keep him going.

Watch the road

2006-12-01T19:04:00.000+01:00

Another valuable lesson learned, the hard way, don't park your car in the back of a trailer. This is an excerpt from an old Swedish drivers guide book. Kind of stating the obvious.

Collectors fantasies

2006-12-01T18:53:00.000+01:00

Having problems storing your precious vintage cars? Well stack'em three high. Ok, You just can't call a Golf II precious or vintage, it even is farfetched calling it a car, but it's all about the system. Nonetheless, take notice of the top three cars, or should it be tüp drei cars? Two notches and a plain old square.

Purists anywhere?

2006-11-30T23:01:00.000+01:00

Well, purists, take heed. As in Sweden worlds smallest Volksrod is being built and no early German steel is being spared. Just take a look in the gallery and be prepared to either cry out of sheer panic or jump for joy as you see great weldingskills displayed.

This picture will stress just how much work has already gone in scaling down this present for his 4 years old son. Crazy to say the least.

Around the world in 50 years

2006-11-30T22:31:00.000+01:00

This car has just recently been saved by one of the ever so crazy Svensk collectors. Check his website for the rest of his rustpile. But don't get me wrong I'm quite jealous of his rustpile, how about a type 34 Ghia, or another folkabuss with splitruttar, or a nice Ovali.

But back to the car in case, it is a homebuilt highroof of '56 vintage. It has made a trip trough South Africa of all countries and after this hot trip, somehow it ended up in the cold Sverige, in the cold as Collector Carls garage isn't high enough for the buss to enter. So while he's restoring the Thirtysixer he got with it, the karross has to sleep outside.

New Frog species discovered in Sweden

2006-11-30T22:11:00.000+01:00

This thing actually is an amphibious (sort of) vehicle, as found by one of the meanbuggers in a shed round his corner around Sundsväll. It is built up with various WV parts, most obviously the wheels but there might be an engine hiding in the angular bodyshapes of this frog. Get it : amphibious...green...haha!

Belgium Represents

2006-11-30T12:35:00.000+01:00

While on my everlasting search for the ultimate Scandinavian Bubbla I ran into some competition. This surely has to be the most worldwidespread vw-related emporium apart from the Factory itself. Besides a big store near The Town, an international ditribution network of both cars and parts, a new outlet in the USofA and regular restorations in Poland, this selfmade man has personalised numberplates all the way in Sweden. What's next?

Toys-R-Svensk

2006-11-29T22:22:00.000+01:00

I have a friend in a godforsaken hell-hole in eastern Flanders, fond of modelcars and even fonder of 356, the car of cars. He will be pleased with looking at these. His bedroomcabinet will never be the same without them.

I particularly love this one, a real outlaw, lovely color.

All of these plåtbilar and more are showcased on a nice Swedish website concerning scaled down Stuttgart ponies. Go visit and drool.

Low(F)light Ghia

2006-11-29T22:02:00.000+01:00

I'm just guessing, but from the looks of it I doubt if it's scandinavian. It looks yankee-built although I found it on the meanbugs forum. So Svenska Bubbla has got dibs on it.

In fact it's just a little teaser to push a friend to finnish his car in time for European Bug-in. Make it at least as shiny and if not as potent.

But please, oh please, don't be tempted to replicate this half Ghia, quart import and quart Truck.

Enough Girlpower ?

2006-11-29T21:47:00.000+01:00

And you all wondered why I backed out of my Svensk trip just recently. Imagine I got stuck in the snow like this unlucky fellow. Imagine I had to ask these two Mädchen for help. And most of all imagine my girlfriends mood when having to explain the lipsticktraces on my shirts collar.

Ready for a highspeed chase?

2006-11-16T22:58:00.000+01:00

Oh how I wish I would have been stopped by a car like this on one of my journeys through Sweatland, a 1970 Porsche 911T. If I would timetravel it could be possible as the Ljungby Polis only drove this car from 26th of may 1970 up till it was decommisioned in March 29 1973. With a topspeed of 210 and only 8,8 seconds needed to get to 100 km/h, they must have had great times chasing petty criminals alongside the shores of lake Bolmen.

Half an ounce of buss

2006-11-16T18:37:00.000+01:00

With the meanbugs, Sverige has one strong hoodride chapter. And this could be the piece of junk to top all hoodrides, worldwide. Just look at the NOStick holding the doors closed, or maybe the folkabuss would crumble down without it.

If you look real close, you can see the landscape through the side windows, and a roof misshapen so much one would wonder if any is left out back. Now you see why it's called half an ounce of buss? In this car driving without windows would almost seem a luxury.

Another bonus is that you and your girlfriend will have to cuddle up close, if you're not planning on falling trough what's left of the frontfloor.

The roadster of Frankenstein

2006-11-16T15:01:00.000+01:00

Don't you just love Swedish ingenuity, what a way to destroy one of the nicest cars to ever come of the Karmann productionline.

Dual headlights of unknown source fitted, check..., lowered the back, raised the front, check... cut out the front fenderlips without need to clear the wheels, check..., welded said fenderlips back in at the back of the car, check..., moulded rearbumper into the body, adding a little spoiler, check..., painted the car in three-tone black over green over darker green, check...

This sound like a checklist only the doctor of Frankenstein could come up with. At first sight I even thought they were planning on double frontwheels, don't ask me why they would do that. But they are clearly capable of anything.

Call me chicken

2006-11-16T14:45:00.000+01:00

Normally, around this time I should be crossing the last frontier on my way back from Sweden in this piece of ultra rare junk. A 2 liter aircooled T3 doppelkabine. But only moments before taking the plane to Stockholm, I decided not to board. You call it copping out, I call it superstition. Result's the same.

It might have something to do with my 2 (two) near-death-experiences last year. Once on the German Autobahn, in what would turn out to be the worst blizzard in years, driving a 61 ragtop with no windscreenwipers. Hairy to say the least. And my even scarier slip'n-slide on the Svensk Higway, ending up arse-to-front on the second lane. As luck would have it, at least I didn't end up in the ravine on the right side of the road.
Or just maybe I'm just getting old? Passed Cape Thirty just this month, and maybe it's time for some homebased projects, like some of my DVF clubmembers. Nah, don't think so.

Sverige, igårkväll.

2006-10-27T21:22:00.000+02:00

Holy crap! Why is it that every time I plan a roadtrip, it is the season of the long, dark snowy nights. Don't get me wrong, I'm not shy of long and dark at night, but it should be hot (and female). But snow? Please no!
By the way aren't those the wrong taillights for a splitrutta?

Macho Macho Man

2006-10-24T01:56:00.000+02:00

Now this one was just to gay to not show to you. It is proof to me that wheather can be wonderfull in Sweden, although I've only been so stupid to always travel during the wintermonths. Surfs Up in the Baltic sea.

The Svensk are coming!

2006-10-24T01:37:00.000+02:00

The Dutch have one great advantage over us southerners. Scandinavia is so much closer! I got this picture from an avid Svenska Bubbla visitor in Holland. It's his spankin' brand new ride, straight of the hauler out of Sweden. For more pictures of this car, but most of all for more very nice pictures of Bubblas in general visit Johans Blog.

By the way, this could as well be even further up north, as they do like it colourfull up there. Perhaps so you wouldn't hit their homes in the white winter wonderland.

Rallycross

2006-10-24T01:15:00.000+02:00

Rallycross still seems big in Sverige, on a regular base you get these for sale on the main car sites over there. Im not to sure on how and where they drive, but considering the square, slick-like tires all around it wouldn't be off-road now would it. This particular specimen looks quite solid, but I've seen cars battered and bruised, so I'm guessing it's a bit like banger-racing or French derby. By the way I found this by looking for a Porsche, probably thanks to the tabletop spoiler out back.

But as proven before with other examples of Sandloppas, the Svensk are good in doing it off-road too in full on Mad Max mobiles. No need for the sophisticated rails with paddle wheels, more at home in Glamis. No, these are truly the "racers of the corn".

Picture perfect

2006-10-24T01:07:00.000+02:00

As found and ripped from U-buy.se, an old Swedish postcard. It would be so nice to receive this in my mailbox. So, if any Sweet Swede reads my blog, and I know you do, get out a pen and send a nice one to Dr. Jeckill and Mr. Stripe, Filips de Goedekaai 65, Motorschip Suzanne, 9000 Gent, Belgium. It doesn't really have to show old Volkswagens, if it's a nice picture of your long, tall and blonde Valkyrie, it's Okay by me.

A Wolff in sheepsclothing

2006-10-24T00:53:00.000+02:00

This might well be the best use for a Volvo ever. It's like the car every young driver should have had. The more you crash it and lose bodypanels, the nicer it gets, as more and more of the bug inside is revealed. And by the time you are an A+ driver, your have one perfect bubbla left, Scandinavian common sense.

OBS : in my case I should better drive like that for the rest of my life.

Folke, R.Z.R's vaktbikkje

2006-09-29T08:30:00.000+02:00

This is Folke, Regenstadt Zombie Racewerks ghastly hound. It has been born/built exclusively out of Volkswagen Bobble parts and now lives in the toolchest of a single cab pickup. At least all off this is true, only if my comprehension of Norwegian is up to par. And I'm not too sure of that. Now R.Z.R, there's a picture of Folke and his friend Deano Dalmatian, ready to rumble!

Memories, allas not mine

2006-09-22T21:41:00.000+02:00

Greece, on a marketplace, a truckload full of melons. This reads like a wishlist of Fast Fernando, but in fact it is the scribling next to this picture taken by my Girlfriends dad. He used to work for Clayson, a tractor company near Bruges, and on a bussiness trip through Greece with a Beetle this is what cought his attention. I'm not as interested in melons, but look to the left, look to the right, Splitscreen busses a plenty. I just love these old shots, so keep them coming.

Project Pinks

2006-09-22T18:03:00.000+02:00

Finally, one week before the drawing my project pink stubs got delevered by the mailman. How else was I to know I had the winning numbers, unless I could watch the drawing with those tickets in my very own hands. If I'm lucky, there will be yet another spitfire on the European Bug-In racetrack. If I'm not...
Well there's always the next lottery to sucker me into!

Crap Looker

2006-09-22T11:02:00.000+02:00

And this car could well apply for most Svenska Bubbla of 2006. A Germanbuilt Car motivated by a VOLVO B23 turboed engine. Not for the pure and faint of heart, built for GO, definately not for show. And streetable if you make left turns only, which is a bit a pain in the ass around town.

Finish of the car is outstanding. Sanded in just the right places, with a primered lower door and tinded windows with slap on Iron Cross decal. Take notice of the wheel combo with steel in front and sort of centerlines out back, Turtle Style! And I thought I was crazy running only 4/5 of my lugnuts, but if you look real close, weightsavings on this car have gone as far as running only two bolts per wheel.

Scan Looker

2006-09-22T10:23:00.000+02:00

Don't you just love that Eighties feel of a chopped, raked and dechromed car, motiflackad in pink, purple an french royal blue. A paintjob that wouldn't be out of place on Boy Georges face.
Why is it that only in Sweden you can find crazy cars like these by the dozens. Try putting a top-chopped car on the road in this region, and then try the same with the poke-in-the-eye paintjob. Almost impossible and just plain stupid respectively. And yet in Sweden they get away with it.

And talking about the Eighties, how about this chromed out engine. Only to be applied on Speedsters and Scan lookers, the only thin missing is colorcoded clear distributorcap and assorted plastics.

And yet another Porkarr

2006-09-20T01:20:00.000+02:00

This time it is for real, this is the unloved, yet rare as a hens teeth karmann coupé, for sale in Sverige. Built by Karmann it had a hardtop welded onto the overproduced cabrio bodies, when they saw a need to venture into the coupé bussiness, up till then dominated by Reutter.

Not seldom they are now cut back to their former cabrio glory, as even converted cabrio's fetch higher prices than the unwanted notchback 356. So in the end even less good Notches will remain. I wonder if they will ever be valued higher then their more svelte sisters.

This is the profile of a restored specimen, and to be honest, it is ugly. Or should we rather say different or unknown, or even unappreciated?

Porkarr

2006-09-20T01:01:00.000+02:00

Now if I were to go roadracing, I'd invest in this one, the handling of a 911 Porsche and the feminin curves of a Karmann, all combined through the true craftmanship of yet another Swede with too much time on his hands during the dark, cold winter.

As you can see it almost looks as if this was a factory built car. It looks a bit rough now, but imagine the car all painted and trimmed. Everything is here except for the gearbox and 2.4 six cilinder engine ready for you to assemble all the technical Porsche stuff and all of the Ghia's beautifications. Now if only I had some money.

No halfass job, where a porsche trans and engine is crammed into a v-dubs engine bay. On this car all underpinnings are signed Porsche.

Real Road Racing

2006-09-20T00:47:00.000+02:00

In Sweden they still race Beetles like they are supposed to, with a flat four in the back instead of some souped up watercooled Golf engine, like they do in the Belgian Fun Cup. Check out racing regulations, if you read Swedish, on the official Nordic Beetle Cup pages. If you lack some of the finer grammar, you can still look at some awesome racing under the bilder topic.

And yet another proof of ovals being ordinary scrapheaps up north. They use them to beat the hell out of them on the track, slipsliding through the chicanes.

Family ties

2006-09-19T22:15:00.000+02:00

Could it be that Die Volksfreundes very own Messiah has some family living over in Sweden, because that's where this scenery was shot. I think it has a close resemblance with Baron Messie's own backyard, a black oval parked under the trees, next to some other German steel, amongst which a Ghia ready to be transformed into a Cal Look streeter.

Hauler

2006-09-19T16:16:00.000+02:00

While on the hunt for a nice Karmann in the Eb*y wild park, I had the chance to take a glance at foto's of this yellowish T34 in state of decomposition. While I like a good type three Karmann when I see one, this one just doesn't cut the mustard. But the pick-up truck on which it is stored grabbed my attention right from the first glance. A full size car on a type 2 T1 single cab pick-up truck? That does ring a bell, a bell sounding like K-E-M-P-E-R-I-N-K. I promptly e-mailed the seller with high hopes, but I'm afraid this could be a wild goose chase as this was the sole picture of the K. on top of the other K. All other pictures were looking newer. But if you don't try ...

R.I.P.

2006-09-19T10:07:00.000+02:00

Must be the last time I can steal a picture from Jhu's Gasser Time, as he decided to call it a day, due to the time-consuming upkeep of his blog. Which is really bad as he dug up more than a few of yesteryears high speed cars. But I'm sure he's done well, passing the torch on to that other Nostalgia Bench Racer, or should that be French Racer, Speedwell.

Sveriges Största Veteranmopeder

2006-09-19T01:33:00.000+02:00

Speedriders, Sweden's place to be on the net if you're into hardcore two-wheeler action. A lot of pictures of gatherings and original Swedish moppes.

Some of the bikes pictured, are perfect examples. Like this baby blue and white Monark in nyskick. Which means they restored the hell out of it.

Others are rather customised, like this one in front : Purple Haze. Built from a Crescent, which I guess is yet another Scandinavian Moped, nothing has been left original. I have to admit I wouldn't want to drive this thing to work every day, but you'd catch me posing next to it on every sunny occasion, if it were mine. All we have over here though are "racebred" Peugeots and Honda Camino's, what a world of difference between them.

Sveriges Finnaste

2006-09-19T01:01:00.000+02:00

Don't think Sweden is only filled to the brim with freaks on wheels. Don't forget, it compares easiely with the likes of California-aye. Only colder.
This is one pristine example of a very nice, no frills needed, resto-cal, built and driven on the Nordic roads.

What's especially cool about this car, is the interior. Although it is not really my cup of tea, I have to admit I'm in awe to the skills involved in fabricating this one-off front seat/bench. It really gives it an American touch of styling.

Two standard front seat-frames, siamese twinned in both the seatarea as the backrest. Nice! Could have been an original factory option, if only they had thought of it.

My barn find

2006-09-15T22:25:00.000+02:00

While on the topic of old porsches, these just got out off retirement, well..., just...

For the full story on these Californian rarities, check My Barn Find, way down below, burried underneath the pile of old Benzes and American Iron. Cool site, it proves that every once in a while someone still can get lucky. Despite what people say about all the empty barns.
Didn't a resurfaced pristine, as new Kubel come up for sale just lately? Or was that just the proof in the pudding.

Grundwaffe

2006-09-15T22:14:00.000+02:00

This is the car legends are built on. April fools story goes that this car belonged to a Luftwaffe airman, who drove it hard when not flying around being a menace to society as we know it. Of course this is utter bollocks, but it is a cool car anyway.

This car should be retired by now, or at least belong to a retired old fart, but instead it spends it's old days ripping up the track up north on the Tullinge Raceway. Just look at it launch.

Loveletters from Scandinavia

2006-09-14T18:38:00.000+02:00

I scored this paper artefact on the ever so powerfull Eb*y. All the way from Scandinavia this is a real unused stamp depicting a, you guessed it, Bubbla. Supposedly this would date back to the late forties and if you look real close you can barely make out it's split window, which could indeed date it back to as early as pre-53. If anyone knows anything about these, do tell.

Copycat

2006-09-14T17:57:00.000+02:00

If you love your Swedish bubblas as much as anyone else, you just go get one then. That's just what Kristof aka Fons did this summer. This kinky blue darling blue lady belonged to an equally nice kinky blue-eyed swedenette ( just guessing here, correct me if I'm wrong), forced by her dad to sell her car.

And this would be the happy new owner, who was mad enough to take the train to Stockholm, with the adresses of 10 (as in Ten) bubblas to go look at with his girlfriend in tow. The Blue one happened to be the last and nicest one to boot.

Kristof contacted me for info on my evil ways of getting those Bubblas to a new home. What I didn't put him up to, was to take a tent. Good thinking as camping is free almost anywhere in Sweden, you just have to ask. And I bet it beats sleeping in the backseat of a car, let alone across the two front ones, with the gearshift poking your crotch or worse.

And it wouldn't be an adventure if you didn't have to drive your brand new car through real bad weather. It's almost a cliché, but still it's traditional.

Faller in mi taller

2006-09-14T17:35:00.000+02:00

This one is for the one bugging me the most about the almost defunct Bubbla blog. Guillermo got one of these blue beetles for his last birthday but he's lacking the track for a little testdrive. Maybe this Swedish Faller Club can supply one, or maybe someone closer to home has one strolling around the attic. Contact Guillermo on the DVF blog.

OC refugee?

2006-09-14T17:05:00.000+02:00

Could this be one of yesteryears shredders of the strip now residing is Sweden? Or is it just another crazy Svensk concoction. I think it is great up to the guldfargad slotmag lookalikers. Only the gasserstyled stance has something to be said about. But put a selectadrop in this baby and yo're ready to roll. Just a shame that even I am not crazy enough to drive a car like this through Germany on it's own power.

Off course, this could prove the only solution to my problems. All of the modern age comfort (well modern as opposed to barndoor-steering) with aircooled cool motorisation (check for the triple airvents in the back), slightly lowered for ease of loading this Ultra Fat Chick. Let's call Kemperink about the generation they missed out on, I might well be their first (and only) customer.

Bubbla Breakdown

2006-09-14T16:53:00.000+02:00

Finally, an update to the Svenska Bubbla blog, I know you've all been begging for it.
Contrary to what you might believe, my sweet swedish '59 didn't suffer from engine trouble in Switzerland, only to be pushstarted by two valkyrie vixens. No, this was just a nice foto-opp. during the week before Spa. This is in front of the hostel/wafflehouse "Ferme Libert" in the Malmedy hills. Even the late Belgian King Boudewijn ate his lunch here.

Spoiled Brats

2006-07-19T09:25:00.000+02:00

When you were rich in the eighties, and you didn't have time or desire to look after your kids, you just overloaded them with gifts, so they would at least feel like they were loved. In no time you couldn't amaze them with any toy, so the only option, buy them a scaled Porsche. Years later, some of us still long to feel like spoiled brats and would love to own one of these. Kobus, go for it !

Only 100 of these 1978 Porsche 936 halfscale replicas were built, this is number 85. You ordered one of these straigth out of the Porsche dealership, it has genuine Porsche paperwork, so you could actually make it road legal. With a massive 6 horse engine and a two speed gearbox, it was good for a top speed of 70 km/h. Zero to topspeed times are not mentioned, I'm guessing that will have a lot to do with the weight of the driver. Imagine a fullgrown ponytailed Porsche afficionado behind the wheel opposed to a nine year old skinny kid.

the Club 1500

2006-07-19T09:15:00.000+02:00

Some of us lovers of the third kind are strongly opposed to lowering and other cool alterations. Instead they proclaim to keep their cars in their standard ways, as the factory meant them to be, outing them in Vintage Ralleyes of all sorts...

Well this is what happens next ! Ffred, be warned.

Skrot !

2006-07-19T09:11:00.000+02:00

I can't remember where I snagged this one, but it was from some Swedish website I guess. The back looks familiar to me. I hope the front never will !

Super Svensk

2006-07-13T09:17:00.000+02:00

Now, as you've all come to expect from me, I bring to you the ugliest in aircooled VW's. Well ugly for you maybe, because I am pretty fond of them myself. I have to admit this über-Svensk one is a bit over the top, but underneath it's pimped exterior still hides what could be described as the ultimate aircooled bus.

But still, I decided to sell mine. It's going to the owner of the special armed forces roofrack on this picture, built of aluminium with a ladder, should have been for mounting a big ass antenna. But it is staying in the family in a way, so I'll drive her once in a while for old times sakes, and try not to trash it even more.

But then again, I'm so fond of them that once again I might be getting another one myself. Out of good old Sverige, land of infinite treasure, comes this aircooled Pickis in superb condition. I might be jumping the gun as there is a flying Dutchman who has first choice on this one. But I could get lucky as he hasn't contacted the seller in months now, so...
Will it make it even further south to Belgium? I hope so as I have big plans for this 2 litered beast.

Square ? Or is it oh so cool !

2006-07-05T18:43:00.000+02:00

This one is just to nice to keep a secret from you. A 69 squareback with Pigalle interior, and loaded with great accesories. How about the spidermags and hoodscoops. And do try to notice the chrome trim on the airintake.

But the fatal attraction is definately the red interior. Now, connecenti say that 69 never had a Pigalle interior, so it should be fitted by one of its previous owners, but still. Just look at the red steering wheel, don't you just love it. Also, I spy with my little eye, an original Type 3 tacho and a speedometer with tripmeter.

When I keep looking at these pictures, I go red allover. And knowing it is for sale in the land of immaculate Bubblas doesn't help a bit. Håkan mailed me it drives like a charm and my girl would swap her notch for it, but... If you like it though, let me know and I'll patch you trough.

VW Väner lake race tour

2006-07-04T09:34:00.000+02:00

While the Midnattssolsrallyt for rich ponces was coming to an end on July first, the Meanbugs had their first Väner lake race tour. It looked almost as much fun as the DVF Bugtour, only difference is, Sweden is so much nicer than dready Belgium, even when the sun is shining.

Looks like they had quite a bunch of visitors for a first time out. And even more cars to be seen on the meanbugs site.

And this would be your typical Meanbugs-Member. Attired in authentic Swedish wear. She should have been driving an Oval though, instead of this dented and primered eartagged bubbla.

And to finnish of a perfect, but hard day driving around the pond, they presented the rallydrivers with some soft easylistening project called : "the Generals". Instant relaxation!

King of the hill

2006-07-04T09:05:00.000+02:00

Back in 1967 ScaniaVabis, the Swedish VW dealer, had sold over half a million bubblas. And they were boasting that every VW still had the same quality and trustworthiness over it as the first bubbla imported, yet was so much improved, as for example with the four bolt wheels. The nice logo down under commemorates this, this would make a nice rearwindow sticker for your '67 1500 we will be looking for in Sverige, won't it Baron Messie.

Porsches are for winners

2006-07-01T09:49:00.000+02:00

These and a lot more are for sale at a Swedish Porschedealer. They are nothing but nyprints but still if it is only to spice up your otherwise boring livingroom, replacing the familyportraits, why not buy them. It's only 90 SEK a piece.

Night of the living Blogs Pt6

2006-06-30T19:17:00.000+02:00

And again the bug conquers water. This picture I snagged from yet another Swedish blog, sort of anyway. It's part of this guys website, where he uploads nice pictures every once in a while, with a few lines describing it. Well if that ain't what blogs are all about. Go see for yourself !

Ter land, ter zee en in de lucht

2006-06-30T17:46:00.000+02:00

While we're on the touchy subject of mixing Volkswagens with water, I thouhgt I'd share this nice picture of a flooding in Sweden. One can only guess, but the heavy pick-up truck looks stranded with the driver out in the cold, boots filled with water. But look at that panelvan go, deliveries will have been on time, no matter what.