Screwdrivers On Tour, Homecoming!

1951 Tatraplan - STROMLINIE!

Since we left Germany with an empty trailer, we had to check up on an old lead in southern Sweden...

We have a special interest for the "non-revolutionary"-part of the design history of the Volkswagen Beetle. Mr Porsche was a genious - and wise enough to utilize a lot of the contemporary ideas of automotive design, when he had to design "the peoples car" in no time, and for very little money. A court-settlement defined later how he had copied a lot of inventions, ideas and concepts from his friend Hans Ledwinka - chief designer at Tatra in Tschecoslovakia. The big pre-war T87 and T97 V-8 models were the pioneers, yet a much larger and more luxurious car than the VW was to be. Therefore, the post-war "Tatraplan 600" is really the Tatra that has the most in common with the Beetle - rear mounted aircooled boxer 4, tunnell/floorpan-chassis, the unreal "stromlinie"-design and ..... 5x205 bolt pattern.

We struck a deal on this fantastic patina-Tatra and loaded it on our empty trailer and headed north in minus 10 and snowing. In the same family since 1958 and it came with loads of spare parts as well. The front fenders are rusty - the rest is not. It was driven into its storage-place about 15 years ago and it really should not take a whole lot to get running again.

So - we crossed the border into Norway with a big smile on our faces - thanks #7 for a great trip! And thanks a whole whole lot to everybody we met during this great trip.... The Grundmanns, Björn Schewe, Tomasz & driver, Kreutzi, Dieter, Jürgen and Patrick - we will be back.

Screwdrivers On Tour, Part 7

Headin' north:

Late Monday night: Our towtruck is l-o-a-d-e-d with various parts and "stuff".....it is minus 1 degree and snowing heavily. Every German we see uses summer tyres and traffic avergaes about 7 kmh on the Autobahn. Our GPS is set for an old barn in northern Germany where a Split Karmann is resting waiting for a new owner...yet our ferry over to Sweden is soon to leave..

Our GPS was set for "allow backroads" and in an abandoned forrest we found an amazing abandoned castle. In the end, we manage to spend about 3 minutes with the Karmann and its owner. Enough to decide to leave with an empty trailer. After dark we were the absolute last car to make it onto the DFDS ferry to Gothenburg - phuii...

Screwdrivers On Tour, Part 6

Dieter Schmidt Lorenz - worth a visit!

If you have not been shopping from http://www.vw-teile.de/ yet - it is about time. Dieter is a true enthusiast himself and has found a unique and "priceless" niche in the hobby - he only deals with genuine, real-deal NOS Volkswagen parts.... and he has been doing it for 20 years with great success. His shelves and warehouse is full of the genuine blue boxes that you were told are rare, but here in the Hamburg shop is a commodity. An amazing selection that is always changing, depending on what he finds. We tested him on a few...."White knobs for Pre-A Porsche vent windows?" .... how many do you want? How about a horn button for a Barndoor? ...-I am sorry but the bow is a little worn, but here it is..... Right off the shelf!! Amazing. Be sure to check in on your next restoration.

What we really liked was the storefront and the amazing showroom... All old and unique sales-equipment, shelves and stuff... very very period correct and very nice. Thanks for the talk Dieter!

Screwdrivers On Tour, Part 5

Hamburg:

Our good friend Kreutzi from the legendary DFL-club offered a couple of beds and an "advents-stake" to two worn out Screwdrivers - thanks a lot! Kreutzi collects Matchbox-cars amongst other things and he was our perfect guide in Hamburg for a whole day.

Hamburg has a lot to offer for early VW-enthusiasts - but unfortunately the fantastic PROTOTYP museum was closed on the Monday we were there.. But - Himmelservice with its new boss was open for business and our first stop for the day. We picked up a new inner headliner for our '53 Karmann - very good to see the tradition being kept up by a new generation - if you're looking for an interior for your vintage VW, there is no better place.

Screwdrivers On Tour, Part 4

Rometsch #225:

The Rometsch Room in the Grundmann Collection is one of our favorite places on earth and this is where virtually every artifact from "the real" Rometsch in Berlin now resides. Drawings, pictures, tools, parts, build-logs, two "Rose of Geneva" and...cars. An amazing collection and a great place to leave our banana #225.

The steel and wood have been welded and re-made by our good friend The Norwegian Blacksmith (try google) over the last few years and now it is time for Traugott and his team to straighten and correct and then re-skin with old and new aluminium. We are really looking forward to next time we bring our trailer to Hessisch....!

Screwdrivers On Tour, Part 3

VW 38/06:

While in "mecca", we had to approach "the alter" and see in flesh the single car that has meant the most for the VW-hobby the last few years. VW38/06 is the sixth Beetle of the first Porsche prototype series that had the final shape of the Beetle. Very little separates this design from what was produced up until November-1952, but it is all in the details.... And the details and handcraft that has gone into this unbelievable restoration is nothing short of a miracle. When we stopped by, most parts had been found and/or fabricted and the chrome was just being sent off to Poland before the body left for the painter a few days later.

An amazing job by Traugott (the thinker) and Mathias (the metal-man) and Christian (parts-hunting) that has gone into this car. A single reason enough to plan your trip to Camberg, if you have not already...

Screwdrivers On Tour, Part 2

After a nice boat-ride and after the German customs office stole 3 hours (!!) of our precious time, we finally arrived at our destination; Hessisch Oldendorf. The unwrapping of our "Norway Christmas present" could start.... Rometsch #225 needs some skilfull massaging of its aluminium skin and we are lucky enough that the expert team of Traugott-Christian-Mathias has offered to help - thank you oh-so much for this opportunity!

Screwdrivers on tour....

#2 and #7 are off to an adventurous weekend. We have loaded our bananas and are heading south... So far, so good...

Rometsch #225 ... as found

Rometsch #225 update

Based on the very interesting thread on theSamba (where else?), we thought we would give a little update on the Screwdrivers' Rometsch #225 restoration.

Beeskow #225 was first found in a metal recycling yard in Dallas, TX back in 1992, then went on to a backyard in Phoenix before we bought it in 1998. After collecting parts, patterns and dimensions for several years, work started in "The Blacksmith's" atelier back in 2006. In 3 years all metal and woodwork was done and what a job..

What a pleasant surprise

Out of the blue I got an e-mail from the son of the original owner of my 54 barndoor today. He had found some old pictures of it in the family albums. Here it is some 50 odd years ago.
#7

And a couple of hours later..

And up she goes

The sleeping beauty.

March 1952 panel

Vintage VW hunting, what else

The Screwdriver work horse is packed up and ready. What could they be up to this time..

Steppin' up to the plate.... OldSpeedChallenge2011

Our friends over at http://www.oldtimeroldspeedclub.blogspot.com/ are bustin' their knuckles getting ready for the thrill of a lifetime next June...

Belgium-Camberg; man against man, machine against machine... We love it.

In the Screwdrivers' garage we are getting the HPD-Special together for the big run:

...and a handful of the Screwdrivers' friends will also be stepping up to the plate - making sure the Norwegian colors will fly the highest in this "mother of all cannonball-runs"...

By mixing a little bit of this....and a little bit of that - this one will be one fast Brezel...

Gas-station spy-shots...

The Screwdrivers' network of VW-observers is wide and always in a spot near you... Last weekend, within just a few kilometers distance and just some hours difference, two of our friends mug-shot these two collectables at local gas stations in Trivelige Troendelag, right in the middle of Norway...

First - a lucky new owner is bringing his 54 Barndoor LH-cargo door Panel home from the forrest. Going from the north to the south - can you guess who the lucky man is?

Then... this green Oval seems to see daily drives in the northern part of Gudbrandsdalen. it was parked outside a Statoil-station as the owner was shopping for chocolate.

The barns, forrests or streets will never run out of gold-to-be-found... Send us your spy-shots..

600 burgers & 750 pints of beer - that is TBBQ for you!

What a blast SCC 2010 was!

Our very own Alien was flippin' burgers all night long and we basically kept the tap open. Great people, great "stimmung" and true good times. The Screwdrivers T-BAR-BE-Q was a blast.

Only 11 months to go...

Screwdrivers T-BAR-B-Q @ SCC2010

One week to go! Northern Europe's largest aircooled VW-event is just around the corner and if you read this blog, we know you will be there! SCC2010 here we come...

The world famous T-BAR-B-Q is a true Screwdriver tradition and this year for the tenth time in a row!

Friday night in the Screwdriver tent is the place to be....love all, serve all!

- Ice-cold tap beer at 40 NOK each

- Legendary build-yourself-burgers straight from Alien's grill at 40 NOK each

- Complete your dash-plaque collection ... also at 40 NOK each

Tap-beer is open all weekend - the big bad burger bbq is on Friday.

...and after the burgers and the chit chat - we party in the Slacker's tent.

Welcome!

VI GLÆDE OSS!

Can't win 'em all

When someone mentions an abandoned "Volkswagen bus", the Screwdrivers waste no time, and head out to investigate. But when a promising lead turns out to be an rusted out old Moskvitch it can dampen the spirit of even the most optimistic

For Alien,,,

Gettin' ready for the legendary T-BAR-B-QUE!

SCC is just around the corner, and if you are reading this blog we are sure you will be there. Friday night is the big party and time for the big burgers.... last year saw 400 Screwdrivers' burgers find new homes, accompanied with 200 liters of tap-beer from the Screwdriver tent. 2010 is no exception - so get ready for the official "love all, serve all" Screwdrivers T-BAR-BE-QUE at SCC, at Gardermoen on Friday 21. August.

#3 and long time Screwdriver-friend Frode "tinwizard" just got together to finish up our new barbeque and serving-table...we are getting ready for a big tunrout, in other words.

See you at the Screwdriver-tent!

Home grown...

Missing the stacks? Well, use whatever you have lying around....

Alien nation..

After spending quite a few years collecting dust in a corner of the garage we felt it was time to take a closer look at Aliens old street this weekend. Berg linkage, Solex 40P11 carbs and Electric tail lights, lots of cool stuff going on here..

Hangarounds are everywhere these days...

This guy was spotted at the Classic this year.... it's a big-wig-thing, you wouldn't understand...

Wartime TyrePorn...

This stack of 6-inch wide rims and tyres just arrived at the Screwdriver barn - very very suited for an upcoming project. You might think it is "just another repro heap of wartime stuff".....well - look again; Continentals!! The real deal in other words. Now - that is serious TyrePorn right there...