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Sep
06
The WUNDER-BAUM® was invented in 1952 and has been produced in huge quantities ever since. Under normal circumstances, the tree-shaped air-freshener is a lonely fellow. He prefers to lead a solitary life, enjoying the panoramic view from its natural habitat – the rear-view mirror.
However, some of the little trees are members of a secret organization. They gather once a year to hold their annual meeting, called WUNDER-FOREST®. In 2014, they attended the Gatebil festival in Rudskogen, Norway. If you looked closely, you might have noticed that the trees held small-group workshops in various vehicles around the track, dangling from the rear-view mirrors of various cars.
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Jul
13
After showing you a selection of the cool Volvos found at Gatebil 2014 and featuring Christians’ 960 wagon, a question kept popping up: what exactly makes a Volvo cool? And if you managed to make it cool… do you have to call it a Voolvo? Let’s try to figure out the recipe for Volvo coolness!
Jul
12
Is a Volvo a cool car? By the common perception of most people… err… no. In all the countries I have previously lived in or traveled to, Volvos are not exactly considered to be cool rides. However, traveling to Norway for the first time (and to Gatebil Rudskogen nonetheless) changed a thing or two – forever. Being a lover of cars with straight lines and timeless design, I have always appreciated the styling of RWD Volvos. But did I consider them to be cool? Nope. However, seeing what can be achieved even without a major budget, did spark a new interest.
Jul
12
Judging by the previous posts this week, one could be under the impression that our visit to Gatebil Rudskogen was all about classic Volvos. Hell no! There was so much more to see! You walk around a corner, all the time expecting to see souped-up drift cars or a mad Amazon. Walking along the go-kart track had many a surprise to be discovered, like this old Mercedes-Benz W110. The sun played wonderful games with the green paint and chrome, but the personal touches of the owner are what made it really special.
Jul
11
The law of attraction says that you will get what you wish for.
If you go to a racetrack for the first time, you have to find your way around. Which, in this case, involves hiking through the Norwegian forest. After parking our rented A-Class and putting on some sunscreen, we made the trek around a brand new industrial building. But before even searching for the path leading to the famous Rudskogen Motorsenter race track, we got distracted by a bright red Volvo 940 with golden wheels. This is what it looked like at first sight:
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Jul
11
On our way from Oslo to Rakkestad, we drove through a quaint little town named Tomter. This town featured a rather classy Bentley Corniche Coupé at one end… and a vehicle called sad solution in German on the other. Sad solution? Yes, the Volkswagen Type 3 1600 TL was nicknamed Traurige Lösung. It’s easy to see why, as it wanted to play in a higher class than the mighty Beetle, but somehow just looked like a big one with the proportions way off and not to it’s advantage. Mean people even say, that it looks like a Dackel taking a crap. Oh well, this might not have been what the ‘designers’ intended.
Jul
11
A winding back country road in rural Norway on a beautiful summer day. The sun is shining, the bees are flying and the birds are singing. Well, they might be singing but… what actually reaches your eardrums is an entirely different symphony. One featuring sounds emitted from fresh air rushing through the carbon fiber intake system, feeding the engine via individual throttle bodies, exploding ferociously and being emitted through an exhaust system, finely tuned to trigger daydreams of an era long gone.
