Old-Time Gangster

Meet The Gangster. Also known as The Corvette Man. His real name is Per Strandberg. He is a car fanatic from Eskilstuna, who knows how to dress up for a classic car meet. This past summer he arrived to the Retrorun meet with his wife Barbro in a PT Cruiser.


(I'm doing a bit of archive digging as the weather has turned against me).

Travelling in Style

There are a few people out there who knows how to travel in style. Here are a couple of spectacular and unusual cars that I noticed at the Retrorun meet. Top photo shows one of my favorites. A supercharged speedster in the form of an Auburn from 1935.
Second photo shows a green 1948 Studebaker, a very rarely seen model.
And how about a 1927 Bentley with a boat tail? That's not something you see every day!

Toys For Big Boys

These cool cars are called Mk Indy. They are Lotus 7 replica cars, based on the locost principle that you should be able to build a car for no more than £250. The Mk Indy is constructed in England by MK Sports Car. If you would like to build one yourself download this PDF article with a total description from the Smart sportcars website. I spotted the toys at this years Retrorun meet at Torvalla in Handen.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

Visit any Classic Car meet in Sweden and chances are that you will see at least a couple of Ford Fairlane from 1956. It's a very popular car among Swedish car enthusiasts. Here are two beautiful examples that I noticed at this years Retrorun meet.

The Lilac Roadster

I'm turning into a Hot Rod photographer.This is my third Rod this year. The owner arrived a bit late to the Retrorun meet, and I pointed him out to the Hot Rod section. So I knew where to look for it a bit later when I took the cool skull shifter photo and the skull horn shot. This is a T-27 Roadster and it's obviously Edelbrock Equipped.

The Indigo 3000

The third Retrorun meet took place at Torvalla in Handen last Sunday. It's a classic car show. The weather changed abruptly a couple of times during my stay, and we had both rain and sunshine. This cool self portrait was shot just before a short rain shower and is a reflection from the hood of an Indigo 3000. What's that? I hear you say. Well it was a very Swedish sports car. Designed by Hans Philip Zackau, and built by a company called Jösse Car in Åmål, Värmland between 1997 and 2001. It was a two-seated roadster. The engine came from a Volvo, and the gas tank from a Saab! The car won an Excellent Swedish Design award. The idea to build the Indigo 3000 came from Bengt Lidmalm, a former race driver who worked for Volvo for many years. In March of 1994 Lidmalm and Sven-Olof Fogelberg started building the first car and the following summer the production got under way. The price was set to 250 000 SEK. Unfortunately the company didn't survive and only 40 cars were ever produced. A few more facts can be found on the company's web site.

Skywatch Friday.

The Corvette Man

My fourth and last portrait from the Retrorun meet. This is Per Strandberg. He was at the car meet with his wife Barbro (who snapped a photo of me), and their dog Greta, an American cocker spaniel. They have a Little Red Corvette from 1989 and drove all the way from Eskilstuna (120 km), after finding out about the event online. They have two kids and says that the car and everything around it is not a lifestyle, but a hobby. They are members of the Swedish Corvette Club. The weather was great and I sat down with Per and Barbro for a while and talked about this and that on their blanket. Later I found a video posted at Youtube it's 8 minutes long showing most of the cars at the meet. If you look closely Per is the guy that waves to the camera.

A Very Lucky Guy

This is Rune Thorsell from Österledinge in Norrtälje. He was at the Retrorun meet with his 1956 Ford Crown Victoria. A beautiful car with a few interesting and weird details as you can see! Rune has always been interested in motors and back home he has a Indian trike that he has been working on for eleven years! The Ford is worth around 400 000 SEK and he has no plans to sell it, ever. The very cool custom paint job was made by the well known artist Daniel Fahlström. The cars that you see painted here are a 1957 Buick that belongs to Rune's daughter, and a 1954 Chevy that belongs to Rune's best friend Leffe. Pretty cool. Rune was an interesting guy to talk with and he told me a cool story. A few years ago he bought a lottery ticket to the Bingolotto TV show and won a chance to appear on the show. And a week later he spun a wheel of fortune and won 2,2 Million SEK. Not bad.

The Rat Rod Story

This is Benke. His car was easy to spot at the retrorun meet and I was a bit surprised that it wasnt picked as Best in Show! It's a Rat Rod. The engine is from a 1986 Chevy 350. He has built the car himself from scratch. A few years ago when he lived and worked in the US, he found the 1938 Ford somewhere in Ohio, and knew instantly that he had to buy it. He didn't have a garage, or any tools, but helpful friends in the US helped him with that. When it was finally finished, he drove around the country for one year. Benke told me about visiting the Street Rod National in Louisville, Kentucky an event attracting some 13,000 cars. Luckily he didn't have to drive too many miles to get to this meet as he lives only a few kilometres away at Vendelsö.

In True Swedish Spirit

There were a few Swedish cars at the Retrorun meet that I visited on Sunday, and in true nationalistic spirit I had to find my favorite among them. And after an hour or so I spotted this very blue Volvo Duett with the two Swedish flags and my search was over. It's been worked over a bit and is now a very different looking convertible. One detail that I liked was the blue clock. To see that you may need to have a look at the original size.

Size Isn't Everything

There was many shiny cars to photograph at the Retrorun car meet on Sunday, and over the next week or so I will show you some of my favourites, and this has to be one of them. I first spotted this tiny MG parked next to the normal sized version and snapped a photo just because it looked so funny. Imagine my surprise when a few hours later it came charging towards me! I heard the announcer say that it was the smallest car in the world. Not sure about that, and I haven't been able to find any more information about it, but it sure got peoples attention and everyone grabbed their cameras when they heard and saw it coming!

Another Coincidence

What are the odds on this happening? Just like last year I decided to shoot a few portraits at the Retrorun classic car meet in Handen. I noticed a beautiful Morgan and started taking some photos of it as I got in a conversation with the owner Anders Hedengren. I explained why I wanted the portrait by telling Anders about a photo I took here one year ago. When I mentioned the name of the man I photographed, Björn Virving, Anders got a bit excited. We were at school together he said. For three years at the Tekniska Gymnasiet in Stockholm. And I haven't seen him for forty years! How weird is that!

Back to Anders, he lives in Täby and is retired. The Morgan is a new interest. It is a 2 seater with a Ford Focus engine. Before he bought it he enjoyed boating. Both engine boats and sailing boats. And he was a keen sailor for thirty five years. The Morgan Motor Company is 100 years old this year and there is a celebration in England this summer and Anders is thinking about going. That sounds like a fun trip. My hope is that Björn and Anders will hook up again after forty years, That would be kinda cool me thinks!