Soft start to the season in Årstaviken
Let’s get it started! This season begun late for me. I missed both the big international events and the local ones. Due to other commitments I always had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it’s over! Let’s load the camera with film and head to Årstaviken!
The beginning of my season coincided with the inauguration of the weekly meetings of Stockholm’s Automobil Historiska Klubben. During the summer, on every Monday, the area around the restaurant Skrovet fills in with classic cars and their enthusiasts. Each week everyone is invited, but some are invited even more because each week has its unique theme. Only the first two meetings are exemption from this rule. The first one was just called “Mjuktstart”: Swedish for Soft Start and the second one to Motorhistoriska Riksförbundet (Federation of Swedish Historic Vehicles Clubs) which represents the historic vehicles movement in Sweden. All the photos in this article comes from those two days.
The formula for this event hasn't changed since last year. I could see only one change, and unfortunately, it wasn’t a welcomed one. Previously, the venue featured with a picturesque bar made of shipping containers. It not only served refreshing liquids but, more importantly, worked well as an interesting background for the cars gathered in otherwise flat parking. Fortunately, the boats are still there, which gives the place some special character.
Last year I was coming to the event to test some of my analog cameras. This year will be no different. I started with one of my favorite bodies: Minolta X500. I had some doubts about the condition of this camera, but fortunately, most of the photos came out ok.
On the second event, I was accompanied by the most technologically sophisticated camera of the manual focus era: the mighty Canon T90 from 1986. It carved itself a place in the history of photography not only thanks to its long list of advanced features, but also because it’s the first of the Canons, as we know them now. It started with the design language that Canon is still faithful to. Even users of the latest mirrorless bodies will find many familiar shapes and buttons. Unfortunately, during the event, I made myself sure that the T90 had no place on my list of favorite cameras. The viewfinder lets the camera down and makes focusing very tricky and unreliable.
Let’s get back to the cars. Those who follow me for a longer time know that I often complain about a small number of Italian and Japanese cars at Swedish classic car events. But I won’t complain now! The sight of three Alfa Romeo Giulias entering the opening event was very pleasant for me. One of them was especially charming thanks to its patina. But my star of the first event was Toyota Century. This majestic limousine, designed for Japanese royalties, shows what a proper luxurious car interior should look like. Leather seats? Please no! Cold in winter and burning in summer. I don’t see why this material has become a standard for luxurious interiors. Japanese noblemen shared the same thoughts; therefore, the Century’s interiors is made from… wool! That’s proper luxury!
The meeting that took place a week later also featured a few Italian and Japanese classics. DeTomaso Pantera, Bertone X1/9 or Alfa 75 were nice but the car that stood out from the crowd was Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Giuliettona from 1956 built by Touring Superleggera. One of 854 built. On the Japanese side I was impressed by the green Toyota Carina from 1975.
My queue of vintage cameras and lenses to try is long, so you can be sure that I’ll join the future Monday meeting whenever I am able to. If you fancy a nice chat about cars or cameras, just find a guy with a weird camera, hiding behind the cars or bushes and say, “Hi!”.
