Sweden

A fenderless Swedish 1932 Ford roadster at an ice-race in the late 1930s. Photo courtesy of Lars Bergmark - Ford V8-Klubb Sverige.

Peter Billing's 1932 Ford Cabriolet was built in Lidingö, Sweden in 1958.

A group of early Swedish hot rods in Stockholm in the summer of 1959. The white roadster in the photo is Roland Larsson's 1932 Ford. Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Peter Billing's 1932 Ford Cabriolet and Peder Lundgren's Ford Model A Roadster. Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Roland Larsson's 1932 Ford roadster next to Peter Billing's 1932 Ford Cabriolet and Peder Lundgren's Ford Model A Roadster. Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Roland Larsson's 1932 Ford roadster as it looked by the end of the summer of 1959. By now, Roland has removed the running boards, bobbed the rear fenders and installed motorcycle-type fenders up front and Moon discs. The Moon discs were purchased in San Francisco in the summer of 1958. Notice the Moon and Mobil flying horse sticker on the firewall. Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Roland Larsson's 1932 Ford roadster next to Peder Lundgren's Ford Model A Roadster. Roland and Peder's roadsters were channeled during the winter of 1959, and they were probably the first channeled hot rods in Sweden. Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Photo courtesy of Leif Hultdin.

Hasse Broberg and Kjelle Gustad's 1938 Chevrolet Convertible of Huddinge in Stockholm, Sweden as it appeared in the early 1960s.

Lars Erik Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster on the cover of Teknik för alla December 1963. According to the caption, the hot rod sport has now come to Sweden. Scan provided by Raggmunk.

Lars Erik Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster, of Huddinge in Stockholm, Sweden, was completed around 1961 - 1962. At the time there were about 30 hot rods in Sweden.

Hans Broberg and Kjelle Gustad's 1957 DeSoto of Enskedefältet in Stockholm, Sweden was built in the early 1960s. Hans and Kjelle belonged to a little club called Sill Drivers, and they were often called "Sillarna". This photo shows the car as it appeared in 1964.

Bo Sandberg's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster, Purple Passion, as it appeared in the souvenir program for the 1965 Hot Rod Show.

Jonas Qvarnström's 1931 Ford Model A Roadster as it appeared when it was first completed in 1965. The car was sold to Lars-Erik Johansson who transformed it into a show rod called The Orange Fink.

Gunnar Johansson's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe as it appeared in the souvenir program for the 1965 Hot Rod Show.

Roland Larsson's 1932 Ford Roadster as it appeared in the summer of 1965, after Roland had sold it to Hans-Erik Larsson. Photo courtesy of Norrlands Motorhistoriker.

Sven Sandberg's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe, The Glowing Coupe, was shown at the 1965 Hot Rod Show in Stockholm.

Bengt Wennergren's 1931 Ford Model A Roadster of Enskedefältet in Stockholm, Sweden was built by Bengt between 1962 and 1966.

The first drag race of Sweden was held outside of Stockholm, October 1-2, 1966. Svenne Sandberg attended the race with his Glowing Coupe. Due to rain and a wet track, Svenne did the quarter mile in 16,6 seconds.

Lars-Erik Johansson's 1931 Ford Model A Roadster, a wild show rod known as The Orange Fink, made its debut in 1967.

This vserion of Leif Helander's 1955 Chevrolet Convertible was shown at the 1967 Hot Rod Show in Stockholm. Photo from Aspes Nostalgi & Racebilder.

John Bozio's 1953 Buick was sold to Sweden in 1979.

Magnus Karlsson's 1949 Oldsmobile

Lasse Mäenpää's 1958 Chevrolet Impala was given a Watson inspired paint job by Pekka Wizzard Mannermaa in 2005.

Bert Gustavsson's 1951 Dodge of Åmål, Sweden was completed in 2008.

Lasse Theander's 1958 Ford Thunderbird - The Mystery Bird

The chopped version of Tobias Andersson's 1953 Oldsmobile at the 2010 Jokers Car & Bike Show.

The Juxtapod is a Swedish show rod built by Mattias Andersson of LeBeef Kustom Metal Works for Johan Belin and Ludvig Löfgren. The build was completed in 2011.

The Dreamster version of Kent Jonsson's 1934 Ford Roadster of Sweden made it's first public debut at the 2013 Custom Motor Show in Elmia. The car is made out of carbon and fiberglass, and total build time was 9 years.

Andreas Åberg's 1950 Ford Tudor of Munkedal, Sweden. Andreas' Ford is a tribute to Buster Litton's 1949 Ford, known as The Panoramic Ford. The car was completed in March of 2013, and it made it's first public debut at the 2013 Custom Motor Show in Elmia, Jönköping.

The Swedish traditional hot rod and custom scene has roots back to the 1950s. In 1963 Lars Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster was featured on the cover of Teknik för alla December 1963. The caption on the cover stated that the hot rod sport had now reached Sweden. According to the story, there were about 30 hot rods in Sweden at the time. In the early days of Swedish hot rodding, BoMac Racing in Älvsjö, Stockholm was the only place you could order hot rod parts from the US. BoMac Racing was a company run by Bosse Kasby andhis brother Ove. After moving to the US, Bosse went on to work for Dean Moon at Moon Equipment for many years in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, Stockholm was known as the hot rod capitol of Sweden, and in 1965 the first annual Hot Rod Show was held in Ostermans Marmorhallar in Stockholm.

The first organized Swedish drag race event was held outisde of Stockholm, October 1-2 of 1966. Amongst the cars attending were Bosse Gamen's dragster, Sven Sandberg's 1932 Ford 5-Window coupe, the Glowing Coupe, Lars Erik Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster, and Göran Silfors' 1932 Ford Roadster, the Early Bird. Bosse's dragster did the quarter mile in 11 seconds reaching a speed of 230 km pr hour. It rained on the second day of the event, and due to the wet track, Göran's roadster did the quarter mile in 18,4 seconds, while the Glowing Coupe did it in 16,6 seconds.

Hot Rods of Sweden

Bo Sandberg's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster - Purple Passion
The Juxtapod
Bengt Wennergren's 1931 Ford Model A Roadster
Gunnar Johansson's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe
Lars-Erik Johansson's 1931 Ford Model A Roadster - The Orange Fink
Lars Erik Ljungkvist's 1932 Ford Roadster
Peter Billing's 1932 Ford Cabriolet
Roland Larsson's 1932 Ford Roadster
Sven Sandberg's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe - The Glowing Coupe

Custom Cars of Sweden

Kent Jonsson's 1934 Ford Roadster
Hasse Broberg and Kjelle Gustad's 1938 Chevrolet Convertible
Magnus Karlsson's 1949 Oldsmobile
Andreas Åberg's 1950 Ford Tudor
Bert Gustavsson's 1951 Dodge
John Bozio's 1953 Buick
Tobias Andersson's 1953 Oldsmobile
Leif Helander's 1955 Chevrolet Convertible
Hans Broberg and Kjelle Gustad's 1957 DeSoto
Lasse Mäenpää's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Lasse Theander's 1958 Ford Thunderbird - The Mystery Bird

Custom Body and Paint Shops of Sweden

LeBeef Kustom Metal Works

Custom and Hot Rod Clubs of Sweden

A-Bombers
Customs of Sweden
Hammers
Jokers

Custom and Hot Rod Shows of Sweden

A-Bombers Old Style Weekend
CKOS Lead Parkin'
Hammers Back to the 50's Weekend
Hot Rod Show
Jokers Car Show
Rumble in the Jungle

Citizens of Sweden

Andreas Åberg
Bengt Wennergren
Bo Sandberg
Bosse Eriksson
Gunnar Johansson
Hans Broberg
Jonas Qvarnström
Kent Jonsson
Kjelle Gustad
Lars-Erik Johansson
Lars Erik Ljungkvist
Leif Helander
Leif Hultdin
Magnus Karlsson
Matti Johansson
Mattias Andersson
Peter Billing
Ralph Lysell
Roland Larsson
Rustan Haeger
Sven Sandberg
Tobias Andersson
Torsten Manby
Örjan Molins