Introduction
By now you have probably seen our main coverage of the 2022 Bilsport Performance & Custom Motor Show (Elmia) held in Jönköping, Sweden. If you haven’t, you can read all about it here.
The bar has certainly been raised since the last show in 2019, and since there were a few builds that really stood out to me, I figured they deserved a closer look.
1959 Oldsmobile 98
Let’s start with this 1959 Oldsmobile 98 built by Steven Järudd of Järudd Custom Cars.
Steven is no stranger to Speedhunters, and some of you may remember his 1968 Dodge Coronet featured by Bryn eight years ago. He started his Olds build in 2017 and applied a similar mash-up concept, but this time around it’s America meets Germany.
On the outside it resembles a normal muscle car with patina-rich panels, lowered with big wheels – something we’ve seen before. It’s when you get a bit closer that things start to look different.
The 98 has everything you’d expect in a high-spec modern car – 360-degree cameras in the mirrors, digital gauges and an infotainment touchscreen. All that technology in a 63-year-old car? There must be something going on…
Sure enough, the entire electrical system – not to mention the chassis, floorpan, driveline and interior all came from a 2017 G12 BMW 730D limousine donor vehicle. It was the perfect choice for this project, as the BMW’s wheelbase measured the same as the Oldsmobile’s.
The engine bay has been refreshed too. Here, the 730D’s B57D30 straight-six features an upgraded turbo and manifold that sits neatly under a custom-made engine cover. There aren’t any official numbers yet, but the team at CrazyBySteven believe the engine is producing around 400hp.
Extensive work was needed to adapt the modern interior into the old car. That and making sure the electronics all functioned proved to be the biggest challenges for Steven, but in the end he made it work and he can now enjoy summer rides with all the luxuries a modern car has to offer – and a banging sound system in the trunk.
The Oldsmobile wasn’t the only car worth checking out in the Järudds Classic Cars booth. They also had this custom-built Mercedes-Benz 6×6 X Class. “My client had a dream since childhood to own a 6×6 car,” says Steven of the project. “We did a prototype build on the computer, moved the blueprints over to the cutting board and made the entire project in metal.”
Steven always has crazy ideas up his sleeve, and who knows, maybe one day we will see a modern car with an old school fit-out.
1974 Volkswagen Brasilia
Next up we have a build that surprised everyone at the show. This 1974 Volkswagen Brasilia – also known as Volkswagen Igala in Europe – was built by Josefine Lindqvist and her boyfriend Fredrik Persson, who both work at the Koenigsegg factory.
The fact that not many people have ever heard of this car (it was exclusively sold in South America and some parts of Europe) provided an opportunity to build something totally unique. Blood, sweat, tears and even a surgery did not hold Josefine back, and just in seven weeks the car was ready to hit the show floor.
Taking a look at the exterior, the custom metal wide-body increases the width by 115mm at the back and 105mm at the front. Custom-made head and tail lights in cyberpunk style give the car a modern look, while the wheels are custom multi-piece Modena Autostrada items measuring 17×10.5-inch and 17×12.5-inch front and rear respectively.
Apart from the instrument panel, most of the interior is custom too. The rear seat has been replaced by a half cage and a sound system, and everything else was redone in black to fit the overall theme.
The front seats are custom-made hot rod buckets, and the floor, roof and door linings have all been freshened up as well. Finishing off the interior is the Air Lift Performance-based Gamechanger air ride system, proudly on show in the rear of the car.
Despite how well it came out, and in such a short amount of time, the build certainly had its challenges. For a start, it took Josefine a year to find the Brasilia and get it over to Sweden, mostly due to the insane amount of paperwork required to import a car from a non-EU country. Most of the factory parts needed to complete the project had to be found in and imported from South Africa, and the air ride system required extensive modification to the fit the platform.
For Josefine, the main goal with her unique VW was to show her ability as a car-builder and hopefully inspire other women to have a go too. It’s a superb build, so I for one am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
2006 Ford Crown Victoria P71
My third and final pick is something really nuts. It’s based on a 2006 P71 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and was built by Daniel Werner and his crew.
Seeing the car for the first time, you’re instantly drawn to the engine – a wild twin-turbo, 27L Rolls-Royce Meteor unit. For those of you who don’t know, this engine comes from a tank. Yes, an actual tank.
Work began almost immediately after Daniel bought the engine from a guy in Finland who, funnily enough, had 50 of them laying around after purchasing the bulk lot from the Swedish army. Why such a big engine for this project you ask? Because Daniel simply wanted to fit a really large engine in a normal-sized car. That seems like a good enough reason if you ask me.
The engine is an absolute unit and custom work has been made all around the Crown Vic to ensure it’s capable of handling the massive amounts of power. Speaking of power, thanks in part to two BorgWarner S500SX-E turbos, two dozen 875cc Siemens Deka injectors and four Bosch Motorsport ignition coils – the engine is good for 2,500bhp, which sounds insane.
Exterior-wise, there isn’t that much going on, but it was never meant to be a show car. The body has been kept fairly stock, and I think that’s half the charm of it. The roof has a giant carbon fibre NACA-style air duct to feed the rear-mounted radiator, and the exhaust now sprouts from the right front fender. Wilwood brakes paired with O.Z. Racing Hyper GT wheels give the car a great look.
The interior is an entirely different story, or as Daniel likes to put it: “Strictly business”. There’s a lot of aluminium in use to keep down the weight, and the seating position has been moved back due to the size of the engine.
You might be wondering what the end goal is with this car. Drag racing? Circuit racing or even drifting? Meeting with Daniel at the show, he told me that he wanted to do something no one has ever seen before and did mention something about burnouts. My guess is that it won’t be too long until we see this build on Speedhunters again.
Alen Haseta
Instagram: hazetaa
Keyword: Three Amazing Builds From Elmia