Sunday, May 24, 2020

Iceland Car Collection


Iceland is not a place one goes for classic motoring, but there is a scene. In the north of Iceland, in the village of Ystafelli there is an impressive transport museum. It is about an hours drive east from Myvatin and although we stayed in Myvatin when we visited Iceland in 2018, we never saw the museum as we'd missed the turn off and driven right past. https://www.facebook.com/ystafellautomuseum/

I must admit, we didn't miss the classic car scene while driving around. Iceland's vistas and landscapes are simply stunning. Traffic and tourists were sparse, allowing you to stop wherever you liked to appreciate the view. 

Along the drive we came across many unusual vehicles. I was surprised at the number of these former military amphibious trucks. I saw at least half a dozen of these.

Iceland is a rugged land and needs rugged trucks. This collection of heavy trucks was parked in the village of Vik. It was a random mix of American GMCs, Russian GAZ and German Mercedes-Benz. 

In a seaside village of Borganes (I think) we came across a sign for a car museum and, as we were stopping for supplies, we took a look. It was difficult to find as there were no signs. We knocked on the door of a warehouse and peeked inside. It was in fact a car club 'museum' housing a small number of cars. The local car club rented space in a disused warehouse to store club members cars and provided a workshop for them. As you'd expect, the vehicles on display were an eclectic mix.

German Opel

German 1956 DKW 3=6

Volkswagen Beetle and

Volvo Amazon

East German Trabant!

Citroen Traction Avant

These toys were from an Icelandic children's TV show

Ford Model T

Vespa

That's more what I expected from Iceland - snowmobile

Chevrolet truck

In a second unheated warehouse members cars were crammed together. There was some unusual stuff here. Ford Model T

International truck

Russian GAZ 4x4

America LaFrance firetruck

GMC

A snow tractor

Another snow tractor, missing its tracks

A Russian GAZ

I was surprised how many of these were around.

Russian and British four wheel drives

GAZ

I think this was a Wanderer?

Then it was back on the road....