Photos - Memories and vehicles - 7

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I Bought my Car at Täby Horse Racing Track

Photo taken 1958/1959.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

The picture was taken 1958/1959 after I got my license. In the picture there are three Rileys, from the left Bengt's 1.5 liters, Sören's 2.5 liters and to the right is my (Hasse Comfort Racing Nyström) car. My car was one of two imported Cabriolets and I remember buying my car from Hasse Radefalk at Täby hore racing tracks for 500 kr ( ~ $70). At the time the car was unusable because of a fire in the electric system but after working on it an entire winter I managed to sort it out. These cars were imported by the BMC importer Bergengrens, and this specific one was brought home for his wife. One could tell that it was an expensive car, all the wearing parts were made of bronze and the hubcaps of chromed brazen. My car was made 1950 and the others had been produced 1949. I remember that I had the longest torsion bars up front as damping which was very exclusive. This car worked great but the shades were a little loose and the A-poles had started to rust.

The Right Look

Photo taken 1985, Lidingö.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

Speed Center designed a VW Porsche kit for VW1302 and 1303. The full kit contained 9 parts: 4 widened screens, 1 Porsche bumper, 1 rear bumper, 2 widened doorsteps, and one bonnet with a Porsche spoiler. The complete package was in 1985 sold for 4.375 kr (~$600). We also bought a VW1303 that was built using the kit and then displayed in the store. I did the shapes and Kaj Pettersson sowed them. It turned out nice but never became a real hit.

Smoke and dripping oil

Photo taken in the beginning of the 1970's, Lidingö.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

TVR with plastic body, 1.6 liter Ford motor and a web carburator – quite the character. I remember when Slim Borgudd was gonna drive down the car to Comfort Racing in Gislaved. However there was a problem, or might I say problems were about to arise, because once Slim got his hands on a car it never lasted that long. This Ford did make it all the way to Gislaved but unfortunately the motor did not. When Slim showed up the motor wouldn't stop smoking and oil was dripping out of it. Solution: New Motor.

Ford GT 40

Picture taken during the 1980's, Birmingham Great Britain.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

We went over to Birmingham to pick up two chassis and bodies to two Ford GT 40 replicas. This firm was known to do an excellent job with welded chassis so I ended up doing two trips to pick up one car at a time. This was at the time when I was the manager at Speed Center at Sveavägen in Stockholm. The first car that I picked up I built myself while the second one was already sold and I just shipped it over. The chassis was made to put into a V8 with a Renault shift gear adapter. Yeah... that never worked. I drove around with that piece of sh*t for a while before I finally threw it out. It took me 1.5 years to find a Tomaso Pantera gearbox that fit perfectly with the V8. And then we were talking! 5 gears and the car was finally given some justice. All together I shipped over five cars (one in parts that I built myself). It was really heavy once the cars were loaded and I was not the most popular guy among the ferry personnel.

The Very First Comfort Racing Store

Photo taken at the end of the 1960's, Surbrunnsgatan in Stockholm.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

Right outside the first Comfort Racing store at Surbrunnsgatan in Stockholm. To whom the car belong I don't know, could have been one of the employees, but worth noticing are the typical details for the era. The car has the dull black windshield wipers with Speed Wings to push down the windshield wipers towards the front window when driving fast, 5.5” wide iron rims and cromic “wheel nut collars”. Comfort Racing decals embellishing the doors.

My two Reliant Cars

Photo taken at the beginning of the 1970's, Lidingö.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

Two Reliant Scimitar cars parked outside my old house. I bought the one to the left really cheap in England. The previous owner, Swedish guy, had bought the car and installed a new motor in it. However whenever he went over to England to pick up the car he drove it down a ditch and left the car there. That's when I stepped in and bought the car from the insurance company for 5000kr (~$650).

I fixed a lot of my cars myself, either in my garage at home or in Gislaved at Comfort Racing's in-official workshop. The car to the right in the picture was brought back by my brother to Knutsson who back then was the manager at Gul&Blå (one of the largest fashion brands at the time). I think the seller wanted 16 000kr (~$2200) but he ended up paying 12 000kr (~$1800). There was a V6 motor in it and the car ran amazingly well besides the a pretty loud noise from the rear axle. This somewhat annoying sound was a known problem with these cars since the body was made of fiberglass and therefore gave no damping to the sound. Solution: To put some heavy bags in the luggage trunk.

One Took off Like Lightening

Photo taken during the 1980's, Lidingö.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

My first AC Cobra replica for which I brought the frame and body home from England. I built the Cobra to use as a display for the Speed Center store. The motor that I used was a 351 Cleveland 4 cylinder V8, taken from a Hot Rod – might have been a little too much tuned. In the back a shortened Jaguar rear axle. I can't remember that I had ever seen anything like that fiberglass body with inner rims, welded doors and luggage opening. Normally the bodies were just welded on the outside and one had to cut and put plastic in oneself. The chassis was produced by Hytec Welding, one can really see the extensive amount and time put into it, just look at the shape of the tank with specific outlet for STAVORNA TILL STORTBAGEN. I ended up choosing an automatic gearbox with a converter (“slip” clutch in the automatic transmission) and bought parts for it in USA so that I could change gears. Normally with an automatic gearbox one only needs to push down the gas petal a little to start driving, but on this one you had to push really had and would then instantly take off flying. Motorbikes didn’t stand a chance.

From a Different View

Photo taken at the beginning of the 1980's.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

The AC Cobra outside my house on Lidingö.

It was Fun to Drive

Photo taken in the 1980's, Lidingö.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

A Spyder replica built on a shortened VW bottom plate. The body used was bought from England, pretty decent with inner shields and a pretty good fit on the doors and cap. The front window was taken from a Saab rear window and then cut down to fit the Spyder. Mostly things worked out well with this car and I had a lot of fun working on it. I managed to get my hands on two 1600 motors from a company that had tried to import fiberglass bodies. Unfortunately that did not work out so well for the company and I got to buy the motors and put them into my Spyder and my Gulfara instead.

Naked AC Cobra

Photo taken during the 1980's, Lidingö.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

The body before painting, the instrument panel was cut out of Aluminum with VDO instrument installed. The heating system was taken from an Opel and it was a perfect fit. On this picture one can really see how well the plastic was applied onto the body, as well as the impressive inner sides in the doors and the (kardantunnel) made of plastic. The English manufacturer had done a massive job on the bodies where all of them were sent to a heating oven, faults were fixed, and then finally the coating was put on. This extra job was done to strengthen the body as well as preventing bubbles from forming during the painting.

First Exhibition

Photo taken 1988, Jönköping.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

The first exhibition in Jönköping with the AC Cobra. To the right the chassis for a GT 40.

The Speed Center Store

Photo taken during the 1980's, Sveavägen in Stockholm.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

The Speed Center store at Sveavägen in Stockholm. Speed Center was started in 1984 (at Surbrunnsgatan) after I soled Comfort Racing. At the time we sold mostly Beach Buggy's and kits for the VW Roadster's. Eventually when things were going good I bought the store at Sveavägen. We did really well at the time and we were then the largest company in Sweden selling steering wheels and hubs. Behind the disc Greger.

Visit to the Girlfriend in Skänninge

Photo taken 1965, Skänninge.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

Volvo PV 444, modell year 1957? PV came out with a new PV 544 in 1958, this one was equipped with a one piece front window, additional lights and number plate. I took the picture while visiting my girlfriend in Skänninge.

House Hunting in Spånga

Photo taken in the beginning of the 1970's, Spånga, Stockholm.

Picture published 2013-09-05, Hasse Nyström.

My Porsche 365 and my dad's old DKV. The picture was taken in Spånga right outside Stockholm during a visit to look at a potential house buy.

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