Last Saturday, the center of Skien was filled with beautiful vintage cars. The event was held by the City of Skien, Grenland Veteran Car Club and Amcar Grenland. The classic cars brought out the beauty of several of the old apartment buildings.
The organizer, Skien By, is an association for business owners and farm owners in the city center. They work to promote Skien city center as an exciting place for business, culture and settlement. Like several other cities, Skien has a challenge in preventing the retail trade in the city center from disappearing into shopping centers outside the city center. When I went through Saturday's photos, I noticed that it was not only the cars that came to light. The nice cars gave life to the buildings behind. It is a paradox that many cities want to remove cars from the city center at the same time as they try to create a vibrant city center.
Local car clubs
The cars that came by as vintage cars in Skien this Saturday belong to members of Grenland Veteran Car Club og Amcar Grenland. After a couple of hours, some cars left, while others joined in. As not all the cars were gathered at the same time, there are no exact figures for the number of cars, but I would imagine that there were about 200 cars.
Grenland Veteranvognklubb was founded in 1968 and is today one of Norway's largest and most active veteran car clubs. The club wants to promote interest in tracking down, restoring and preserving vehicles of classic vintages and of technical or historical interest. Several cars are not only preserved – technically speaking – but also have their history preserved.
Amcar Grenland is an enthusiast-run club for everyone with a passion for American cars and car culture – not only for those who own an American car, but also those who dream of one, or just love the sound of V8 engines.
Car history is in the walls
My wife's grandfather was one of two men who founded Car route Skien – Porsgrund in 1924. The company later became part of BO-Bussene in Skien. At least two of the buses had their bodies built in Skien. My wife has many car-related memories from her childhood – about the buses, about the trips on the gravel road across Lake Siljan, where they drove and where they parked in the city. Skien is still a pleasant city for those of us who like cars. Much of the car joy was on display last Saturday.
Pictures from the vintage car day
My father-in-law, who was born and raised in Skien, told me about an acquaintance who drove an Austin 7 on the narrow country roads. The Austin owner didn't like it when other drivers made room at his expense. He thought that even though his car was small, he had every right to use half the width of the road!
This red Mercedes-Benz was parked in the pedestrian street next to O'Leary's at Arkaden.
The Volkswagen 1200 Jeans was a budget car with a youthful feel. Modern color, black paint details and seats upholstered in denim made this car attractive in the 70s.
This car was brought to Norway in 1983 by former speedway driver Sverre Harrfeldt. Only 224 GT5 cars were made. The model pictured is number 61.
More pictures. Click on the picture to see them full size.
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