27 May, 2009

transport of delight

Stockholm is a cool place for sure... but not necessarily a great destination for spotting vehicles. It's a compact city that you can walk across easily in a morning and it boasts an incredibly efficient public transport system, combine that with the high cost of motoring and the reserved nature of Swedes means you'll not see hundreds of flashy motors like in London. But those design concious Scandinavians really like a stylish ride - every other 911 that I saw was a classic, and that's a great indication of how they roll. Check out this lovely blue ducktail - Fuchs alloys and roll-caged natch. (click pics for biggety)


This Alfa GTA is purdy too.


It's no surprise that there was a surfeit of Saabs and Volvos with some pretty tricked out models. Few as stylish as the P1800 - Simon Templar on another mission...


...although this rugged Volvo down by the dock looks pretty Bruce.


Playing against type as ecologically aware diffident sorts there was a really high concentration of Detroit Iron - at a guess I'd say about 2% of the vehicles were big American rides (and if 2% seems low what do you reckon the British concentration is? I'd say less than one in a thousand) trucks, minivans, MPVs and yank tanks like Caprices and Grand Marquis. It wasn't unusual to hear a V8 rumble amidst all the Volvos at all - but they really love to cruise at night... I whipped out the camera quickly so the pic isn't very good but following a white land yacht was this sweet GTO, I think it's a '72 but WhiteBoyBob will be able to tell me.


There's a real enthusiasm for the rocker bike scene too, we went down the Stockholm Ton Up Club Rumble to see what was going on... loads of bikers and their chicks rocking the classic Ace Cafe look but not quite as many bikes - I think they came along on the bus so that it wouldn't intefere with their drinking! This fella was an expat from LA riding a sweet Enfield 500 Export - he's modified the rear to take a different seat unit from a '52 bike (he told me the model but I can't remember soz) and made a nice job of integrating a new rear fender, not a bobber but a lovely bit of work.


Norton, Tribsa and a BSA

A classic Olds in attendance


It's a good thing that they decided not to mix drinking and driving.

If you want to enjoy the water, take a boat trip - there are plenty of ferries around the 14 islands, and you can use them with your travelcard! Or even better stay on board the af Chapman like we did - a hostel converted from a former Swedish Navy training ship.







20 May, 2009

Yum

Available with free shipping (in the US I'm guessing) from Dan's Products


What next? Perhaps some form of trough that fits to the steering wheel and indicators that dispense ranch dressing...

15 May, 2009

Tow Kyo Drift

I get an inkling that WhiteBoyBob junior will dig this...

11 May, 2009

more decking


















Deck o' rate

Since seeing the work at the Crimes of Passion exhibition a couple of weeks ago I've been thinking about doing a painting on a skate deck - it's all the rage these days don'tchaknow?

So naturally I turned to Potatoshop to see how things might look.















08 May, 2009

Mo better 'peds

kids today eh? With their mopeds and their knifecriming you in the face, C'uh! Of course most of them wouldn't even recognise a 'traditional' moped. Clue's in the name, a Moped has pedals. You may have seen one or two in the seventies... perhaps a maiden aunt on the way to the library - the modest motor allowing her to potter along, the pedals can add a little for the hills as well as being the starter mechanism. They have a design language somewhere between bicycle and motorbike - some lean more one way than the other, I suppose depending on which direction you're approaching from informs your preferences.

Of course europhiles will know what a moped is - they swarmed through the streets of Belgium and France, and wherever there was table football a louch lothario on a tuned 'ped would practice his smoking and gallic shrugs. They even flourished in Italy where the scooter was king, and there between 1946 and 1948 Ducati made the Cucciolo (puppy).

In 2005, Mark Savory and Bill Johnson decided to create a modern interpretation of the Cucciolo, using a 48cc 2-stroke single cylinder and the frame from a Schwinn single-speed pushbike. I think it's rather beautiful.


04 May, 2009

Wallpaper 8

normal


widescreen

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