|
 |
|
 |
|
Every Easter the
Finnish Hot Rod Association hosts the American Car Show in Helsinki, Finland.
Finland is Europe’s largest country and a fair percentage of its sparse
5.3 million inhabitants, 67,000 in fact, flock to its capital Helsinki for this
show.
To cater for differing tastes, the show is split into several
groups; the American car show includes the great American classics that
everyone loves, hot rods of all types, Motorcycle Heaven produces the finest
custom bikes in Europe and the GTi tuning show caters for the younger element
into hot hatches and sound systems. |
|
|
|
 |
|
I of course, knew
nothing of this until I received a phone call around Christmas 2007 from
Zane.... "The Finns would like to have your Trike in the Helsinki show, they
saw it on the Bristol web site". At this point I didn’t know where
Helsinki was (the far East?) or even sure where Finland was for that matter.
See map for you non-geographers.
I was relieved to hear that the FHRA
would pay for all costs, transportation, hotels, and flights, with the Missus.
Too good to be true surely? So on a chilly March morning I dragged the spruced
up Trike to Tilbury docks to assist with loading the nine cars (ok vehicles)
into the shipping containers. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
In fact my Trike
wasn’t very clean as I had decided to cover it with WD40 to avoid
corrosion in shipping, but loads of road dirt stuck to it on the way
up.
The beauty of doing something new like this - I’m a show virgin
- is that everything is a unique experience. I was a bit of a rookie in the
whole 'hot rod scene', and had never met anyone in our twenty strong group
before, but later became good friends.
The other vehicles travelled from
all over the UK to be there, most of them I had never seen before. The pictures
don’t do these cars justice. |
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The combination
of the organisation of the FHRA and Zanetours (long story) made everything runs
incredibly smoothly. Swanky minibuses were waiting at Helsinki Airport to whisk
us through the chilly air to our plush Holiday Inn accommodation adjacent to
the show halls.
To our relief the containers were neatly parked in the
carpark at the rear of the hall ready for 'Docker Zane' to remove the secure
tags and unload. As the doors swung open you felt the freezing air rush out,
most vehicles struggling to run smoothly after the -20c sea journey across the
North and Baltic seas.
It was a very strange feeling to start the cars
up in front of the gathering crowd and drive into the show, that lovely sound
of open piped V8’s filling the air and echoing around the halls. So it was
time to get the cleaning rags n polish out to create that 'show shine'. We
cleaned until the early hours; assisted of course by a few beers hid in the
back of Pete’s Ute. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Helsinki had a
lot to offer for the sight seer, with a great transport system that will let
you travel on the excellent trams, trains, buses and ferries for a mere 18
Euros for a five day pass. But the food and drinks were expensive so take care
to check out prices before ordering if you ever go.
Zane arranged a meal
in 'Zetors' a tractor-themed restaurant for our group to help get to know each
other, Reindeer Steak being a popular choice. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
The FHRA gave us
free tickets to see the great Chuck Berry in concert at the show, it was just a
shame he’s forgotten how to play guitar.
The FHRA also arranged a
party in Helsinki town (approx 3 miles away from the show) which included free
drink, I chose Newcastle Brown (never again) and a great Rockabilly band whose
rendition of Tainted Love in a Rockabilly style, sung in a
Finnish/English/American accent had to be heard.
All too quickly our
five days in Helsinki was over, just as we were getting used to the cold and
the art of walking on snow. Finally of course, congratulations to Pete, Jim and
Rich for bringing home some silver.
Ivor Knapp
Additional
photos with thanks to Robbie Greig |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A few more photos
from the show.. |
|
|
|
Above: Alan Spittle's
Centre Door Model 'T'.
Right: Jim Rutter's flattie powered '32 roadster.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| 'Nervous' Nick
Brook-Langham's Devon Gasser |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Dave Killick's
'29 'A' Sedan |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Pete Moore's Pop
Ute |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Robbie Greig's
Model A |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Steve Lang's
'T' |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Ivor Knapp's V8
trike |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Richard Parker's
flathead powered '39 Coupe |
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
