A Texan goes to Finland...(and finds great people and a kick ass VW scene!)

[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

Hi all,

As some of you here might know, I went to Helsinki, Finland on a business trip last week.

The weather over the seven days that I was in Helsinki could not have been better. Temperatures ranges from the low 50's to the low 60's (~10-17°C) and it was sunny every day. I was comfortable wearing jeans and a light long sleeve shirt, or t-shirt.

My adventures started right after arriving at the Helsinki airport and picking up my rental car, which had a keyless ignition - you get an alarm-type remote and a "Start/Stop" button on the dash. No one at the rental counter mentioned how to start the car, so I figured that it must be simple, and probably proximity based.

I jumped in the car with the keyless entry remote in my pocket, pushed in the clutch and pressed the start button. Nothing happened. Hmm, maybe I need to move the remote up near the dashboard. I spent a few minutes waving the keyless remote around the dashboard and pressing the start button - no bueno.

Since I didn't want to make the long walk back to the rental counter (and risk looking silly while asking how to start a car), I had the brilliant idea to check the owners manual (duh). I open the glove compartment, whip out the manual, and find that it's written in Finnish! Luckily, pictures are language neutral, and I was able to figure out that there is a small spot in the dash where the remote plugs in, and doing so makes the start button light up and available to start the car.

The drive to the center of downtown Helsiki and my hotel was a bit of an adventure. Most street signs were small, attached to the corner of buildings, and written in Finnish and Swedish. After a few U-turns and other manuevers in traffic that I'm sure were illegal, I found my way to the hotel (whew!)

I spent the first part of my free time over the weekend checking out the sites of the city while on foot. Prior to visiting Finland, I had no idea of the country's history. I learned that Finland had been under both Swedish and Russian rule prior to gaining it's independance in 1919. I'm not an architecture expert, but the Russian rule for a period of ~110 years seemed to have a lot of influence on the building styles, and looked similar to many pictures of old Russia that I have seen.

Here are a few pics of the city that I took while walking around during the week:

VW advertising in Finnish at the Helsinki airport




Flew all the way to Finland from Texas, only to find a restaurant/bar called Texas, which was right around the corner from my hotel


Helsinki Cathedral




Out for a Sunday cruise in Helsinki


Russian church with amazing architectural detail inside and out


What's for lunch??


Mmmm...


If you wanna' see MORE PHOTOS, check out this link...

[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

The following photos are of the island fortress of Suomenlinna (more info at link 1, link 2, and link 3), which I took a short ferry ride out to:

















If you wanna' see MORE PHOTOS, check out this link...

[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

On Sunday afternoon, I met up with Tomi "Heebah" A. and Jaakko T., who had arranged garage tours and meetings with a bunch of the Finnish VW crowd. Tomi and Jaakko arrived at my hotel in their killer Cal-Lookers. I rode with Tomi in his very streetable, 12 second ride. Tomi and Jaakko's cars not only have "the look", but they also haul ass and are regularly driven for long distances.

Tomi and his sweet, Cal-Looker


Jaakko and Tomi near Jaakko's clean split


Tomi and Jaakko took me around to four different garages around Helskini, where the local VW guys store and work on their cars. These garages are located in the basements of the building of Helskini. They have a lot of character, contain many cool VWs (complete and under construction), and most have spare rooms equipped like club houses - couches, refrigerators, stereos, and some even have saunas (!).

While "on tour", I met a bunch of great Finnish VW guys and got to check out their cars and projects. I also spread a little VW "love" from US around in the form of Cal-Look.com shwag, t-shirts and stickers from the TVWDRA, and autographed pics of Dyno Don (thanks John Plow, Carl Nolen, and Dyno Don!)

The Finnish crowd made me feel very welcome and gave me some very cool gifts, which will help me preserve the great memories of my trip (thanks Tomi, Tero, Jussi, and all!)

Here are some pics of the people that I met and cars that I saw:

Kotten and his wildly chopped drag car


The mysterious Tero V. and a couple of his 'Lookers


A crew of Finnish VW guys gather around a turbo charged, fuel injected, intercooled sleeper!




Jyrki L. and his eleven second, Pauter blocked street car












Another Finnish crew and their 'Dubs








If you wanna' see MORE PHOTOS, check out this link...

[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

I started off the last day of my trip with a walk down to the Market Square. I spent a fair amount of time there checking out a lot of unique sights, stuff, and smells. I had a fresh seafood lunch from one of the vendors, then capped off an awesome week with one of my coolest-ever VW experiences.

I drove out to Jussi J's shop in the afternoon (~60KM north of Helsinki) and checked out his car, shop, and many cars/parts. Jussi owns the '51 which has been in the #1 spot of the CLF top twenty for the last two years, and I had the pleasure of hand delivering the CLF top 20 plaques to him. Jussi has a ton of cars and parts. I had a great time talking with him and the guy that does his motor work (sorry, I can't remember his name), while also eating some delicious, handmade Finnish pastries and chocolate.
 
Jussi and I then went over to the house of a friend of his, named Juhani. Juhani has a nice place out in the country, and owns a very nicely restored early 70's 911, a couple of killer ovals (including a sweet Cal-Looker) and a 1302 Beetle that he runs in a vintage rally car series. The rally car is awesome - super clean inside and out, full cage, race seats, belts, etc. It "only" has a 1600cc motor as per class rules, but it's sporting IDAs, big valve heads, lots of compression, and plenty of performance.
 
Jussi took me for a long ride in the car around the twisty country roads (hauling ass the whole time), then onto a dirt road in the woods that he drove around on rally-style. Talk about some fun!
 
When I thought it couldn't get any better, Jussi pulled back onto the main road and told me to take the wheel. I was very surprised, and proceeded to wring the car out for ~20 minutes (in the dark!) on the twisties. I've never driven a 1.6 liter powered VW that hauled like that one does. It's a rocket and pulled to seven grand like nothing,  had gears which were plenty tall, and it handled like it was on rails. Whoohoo!

Here's the number to beat for next year's CLF Top 20








Jussi, his car, and the plaques that he received for being #1 on the Cal-Look.com Top 20 for 2006 and 2007


Juhani L's ovals




This is the VW rally car that I got to ride in and drive








Tires for running the car on the ice ring


Shots of the car in action at winter and summer rallies








The stories related to the last two pics both put huge smiles on my face - driving the rally car and receiving a "LUFTSICK" license plate. Thanks again Jussi, Tero, Tomi, and Juhani!




If you wanna' see MORE PHOTOS, check out this link...

[louisb]

Looks like a great trip and a beautiful country.

--louis

[BeetleBug]

What a great report from Finland!! I reckon they did not manage to trick you with their Sisu Viina since you clearly remember the names and also managed to take som photos 

[Rennsurfer]

Eric, first of all... thanks for such a great story and pictures of some seriously cool cars and sights. Secondly, I'm assured now that Cal Look ain't going ANYwhere. You've just confirmed that. Good job on the quality reporting & photos. What kind of camera did you use?

[LuftsickTero]

Thank you for the amazing report, it was good to have you here!

[danny gabbard]

cool pictures and its always nice to see other people in other places into the hobby. Looked like more fun than business , Thanks for posting

[Broidi]

Thanks Eric for your cool pics & report! It was nice to meet you and we´re happy that  you liked the garagetour.... Next time we´ll fire up the sauna and offer you some refreshments that BeetleBug mentioned! 

Jaakko T

[Nico86]

Nice cars and landscapes, I like the rally bug !

[bluestar]

Great report , they are some amazing car in this country , you are a luky guy .

[yvre]

I've had the pleasure to meet a few of these guys, and I agree with you with the fact that they're one very cool bunch. But how can peopIe that look so serious build such nsane cars??? 

[vwcab]

That must have been a hell of a trip,beautiful land,and even more beautiful cars.They are awesome!
I think,I go next year to Finland on holiday ,and not to Spain

[62 Ragtop]

Great report and write-up Eric!! Nice to see the international bonds of friendship in the VW/Callook community!

Finns are great people (I've worked along-side Finns for +10years) and they do put out some amazing cars!

Thanks for sharing!

BR,

[Heebah]

It  was nice to meet you Eric.
Glad you liked the Hellsinki VW-Tours!
Even though your guide suffered from SisuViina after effects

-tOmi aka Heebah-

PS So if any of you fellow Loungers is going to visit Finland and wants to have a garage-tour, just email me.

[Sarge]

BEAUTIFUL!!!  Thanks for the nice story and photos, Eric.  It never ceases to amaze me how many different countries The Look has affected!

[TOM / EINHEIT 11]

great story cool pics...........and a punch of grazy,, FINNLANDAS,, ( guess what i like most its ,,H,, Revenge, the same name i took for my nextyears dragbug )

www.einheit11volkswagenclub.blogspot.com

[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

What a great report from Finland!! I reckon they did not manage to trick you with their Sisu Viina since you clearly remember the names and also managed to take som photos 

Hehe - no Sisu Viina, but the Belgian Hoegaarden beers that I had were very good. I even managed to talk one of my waitresses out of a giant Hoegaarden glass (must have been my accent that did the trick... )

Eric, first of all... thanks for such a great story and pictures of some seriously cool cars and sights. Secondly, I'm assured now that Cal Look ain't going ANYwhere. You've just confirmed that. Good job on the quality reporting & photos. What kind of camera did you use?

Thanks, Fred. Pics were taken w/a Canon 20D and a 24-105 f4 lens (hope to upgrade to a 50D when it becomes avail, after I return home from Australia where I am now)

Thank you for the amazing report, it was good to have you here!

You're very welcome, and I appreciate your help in making my trip to Finland a good one.

Thanks Eric for your cool pics & report! It was nice to meet you and we´re happy that  you liked the garagetour.... Next time we´ll fire up the sauna and offer you some refreshments that BeetleBug mentioned! 

Jaakko T

Sounds like trouble...

I've had the pleasure to meet a few of these guys, and I agree with you with the fact that they're one very cool bunch. But how can peopIe that look so serious build such nsane cars??? 

The pics don't do the cars or people justice. Although the Finns are not smiling in some of my photos, they were very friendly and fun to hang out with.

It  was nice to meet you Eric.
Glad you liked the Hellsinki VW-Tours!
Even though your guide suffered from SisuViina after effects

-tOmi aka Heebah-

PS So if any of you fellow Loungers is going to visit Finland and wants to have a garage-tour, just email me.

Heebah's garage tours are well worth the price of admission. Be sure to tip your guide...

BEAUTIFUL!!!  Thanks for the nice story and photos, Eric.  It never ceases to amaze me how many different countries The Look has affected!

Thanks, Sarge. I too was pleasantly suprised at the amount of Cal-Look influence in Finland, as well as the size/quality of the VW scene in general. Very cool, indeed.

--Eric

[rick m]

What an awesome travel report!  Gave me some good ideas for my next jaunt across the ocean...wherever it takes me.

Rick M

[vwcab]

Hi Erik,visit next year the "EBI", and taste the CHIMAY beer it's much better than Hoegaarden!!!

[71CALRIPPER]

No credit crunh in Finland then , they are really kitted out