German Street Rod Association Car Show

---

Car Show Pictures from Germany:

I’ve got the latest scoop from our German Hot Rod informant, Pascal.  The German Street Rod Association (GSRA) is the only German club for street rod owners, which is now up to 300 members and was founded in 1993.  They have a website gsra.de you can check out, but its all in German.  Now, on to the sharp photos by Pascal and the rad hot rods from Germany.

It’s cool how 20′s and 30′s traditional hot rods can transcend time in any part of the world, as we’ve seen from Tano’s ’26 T Roadster with Olds V8 power to these rods in Germany.

One of the traditional type rods that can be found worldwide is the Speed Shop truck.  I wonder if hot rodders from the 40′s and 50′s knew that their work trucks would be turned into street rods?  It makes sense though, I mean, you can hop up the big V8′s they came with, you can slam them, put some chrome reverse wheels on ‘em with baby moon caps and white walls, add the name of your speed shop and logo on the door and boom, you’re set with a very useful and fun hot rod.

Another style of hot rod building, the rat rod, seems to be one of the natural progressions in the rodding car culture.  This one looks right at home on the ground with some black steelies, white walls, weather paint and chopped top.  Good lookin’!

This is a slick lookin’ deuce roadster.  It’s got what looks like a GNRS quality paintjob and rad set of yellow wires.  That spaghetti header coming out of the louverless hood is the first thing that caught my eye though.  Is that 5 or 6 tubes?  Hard to tell isn’t it?  Either way, its gotta be a ridiculous motor setup.

I love this group shot, very nice photo Pascal!  This shot shows off Fords late 20′s, early 30′s hot rod Monopoly doesn’t it?  Let’s see, we’ve got a pickup, a roadster, a 33/34 5 window, sedan and a 32 deuce coupe a la American Graffiti… classic!

This photo here I think is my favorite.  Awesome group shot of about 34 (if I counted correctly) hot rods, probably the finest you’ll see in all of Europe.  Gotta give it to the German rodders, these cars look amazing, all of them top notch!

Thank you again Pascal for sharing your photography with us at MyRideisMe.com.  I can’t wait to see what you share next.

If you want more of these German Street Rod Association rides, check out Pascal’s photobucket link below for more.

www.vipallica.deviantart.com

American Hot Rods and Customs in Germany

The last post I did using Pascal Hein’s photos was German cars in Germany.  Today, I bring you American Hot Rods and Customs in Germany.  It’s an interesting idea to think of an American Muscle car or a traditional roadster as an ”import” car.  As we saw with Tano’s ’26 T Roadster from Japan, there are some very cool American rides all over the globe.  Let’s see what Germany has in store for us…

Here’s a great line up of 20-30′s hot rods.  I spy a sedan, a roadster, and a pickup.  Looks like we’re at a car show on main street USA right?

Low ride height, white walls.  This is a beautiful 40′s (right?) cruiser.  I’m not good with cars from the 40′s.  Anyone know what this is?

Now, something from the 50′s.  A well used 4 door Chevy Bel Air hot rod project.  A little rust here, a little primer there, mismatched doors.  I love it.  You know this car gets driven.

Dig this mild custom Ford Edsel!  Ya, Ford Edsel.  You can’t get any more American than this.  ha ha  As big of a failure as it was back in the day, the Edsel can definitely pull off a Custom look.  I love it!

Here’s more Americana…billet wheels, super low, painted chrome bits (bumper, grille, headlight bezels).  Just a very cool delivery panel wagon hot rod.  The only thing that might giveaway the location is the very european puzzle piece shaped brick road (what else do you call those?).

This is quintessential American hot rod right here.  You’ve got the classic 5 window body, traditional Speed Shop logo, baby blue scallop on satin black paint, checkered roof and Chevy small block with blower on top.  Boom!  Are you sure this is in Germany?

Long live American hot rods and customs!  Thanks Pascal, can’t wait to see what’s next from Germany!

Hechtspeed

Aircoolers in Germany

I think its time for some more aircooler LOVE!!!  Remember our German Facebook friend, Pascal Hein?  We blogged about his cherry Lemon (lemon is what he named the car) classic 1973 BMW 1802 Touring.  Pascal took these pictures at a big VW Bug and Bus Meeting in Germany, home of the “People’s Car” brand.   Most of the bugs you’ll see came from Great Britain, Belgium or from Netherlands. 

I thought I’d grab my favorites from Pascal’s photo website  http://www.vipallica.deviantart.com/. 

This is my favorite picture.  I’m really likin’ this blue Cal-Look big window bug.  It’s got the big single turbo muffler, nerf bars, narrowed front beam with all the chrome trim.  Bugs with a nice raked stance are one of my favorite cars of all time. 

One of the coolest vdubs is the early buses or Kombi’s.  When slammed, they are saweet kruzers!  This rust-a-rific bus is rockin’ some white painted Porsche Fuch wheels on low pro tires.  I think this is a barndoor model.  Also, check out how you can see right through this car with the barndoor open.  ha ha

Gold Member anyone?  Polished Fuch Porsche wheels are always a win on classic Volkswagens.  This is another Cal-Look inspired ride.  Peep the interior.  Check below for a close up. 

Boom!  This interior definitely has a Kustom vibe to it with the purple velvet seats and floor mats.  I am digging on the white steering wheel and pedals.  The dash is custom too.  I love the old metal dashes of cars from yester-year. 

One last photo from Pascal for you.  The Camper Bus.  The ultimate “People’s Car” no?  What’s withthe American Flag though.  Maybe its owned by someone in the US military…who knows.  White walls, flip out front windowns, full length roof rack and full camper interior is a HUGE WIN!!!  Style and functionality.

So, there’s a quick look at German cars in Germany.  Next up I’ve got some American cars in Germany.

Do we have any international members of MyRideisMe.com Community reading this?  Send us pics from your car scenes!  We’d love to share the car culture in your area.

Are you a Member of MyRideisMe.com yet?  No?  Well, join us by simply clicking HERE.

Hechtspeed

Facebook and a Rare BMW 1802 Touring named “Lemon”

You’re on Facebook right yall?  No?  Get with the program!  That’s how MyRideisMe.com and Pascal Hein got together, through the MyRideisMe Facebook Fanpage.  Go check it out and join our Fanpage, right after you read this cool story of course.

Pascal is from Germany and he has shared his classic bimmer he calls “Lemon”.  A 1973 1802 Touring model.  Sit back, grab some Kugen (yummy pastries my German grandma Hecht makes for desserts) and enjoy storytime from the motherland.  Take it away Pascal!

“My Bimmer was built in 1973. The so called “Touring” was BMWs first try to build a hatchback and also the last try until 1993, when they introduced the compact edition of the 3 Series.

Actually people didn’t like this concept in the early 70s so just around 30,000 Touring models were produced and just around 970 of them were 1802 Tourings like mine, while there were houndreds of thousands of normal BMW 02 sedans.
So in 1984 my father managed to buy this car after he wanted to have one for many years. It had two owners before he bought it and had some damage on the rear left side. My father repaired the damage and then used it between 1989 and 1991 as his car for driving to work everyday.

Well he bought his 5 Series then and the yellow Bimmer was parked in the garage at my grandmothers house. As a kid I always saw it and was fascinated by it the whole time. But I never thought we could make it look good and get it running again.

In 2007 I passed my drivers licence test. At that time I thought about buying my first car. The problem was I didn’t know what to buy. Someday I said just for fun to my father, that we could rebuild the yellow BMW and then I could use it as my own car. Even though I wasn’t serious, he took it serious and said yes. Acutally it was his gift for my 18th birthday!

So in April 2008 we tried to get her running again to drive her up the trailer and to get her home. After some tries she actually started. But after sitting in the garage for nearly 18 years she really looked horrible. There was dirt all over and she looked like she nearly rusted apart.

In the Summer of 2008 we started working on the car. The plans were to get her done and to make her pass the safety inspection as soon as possible. First of all we got the engine and transmission out.

Both things were totally dirty so we cleaned them up as good as possible. The area around the engine really looked awful and rusty.

But after we scratched the old paint off it wasn’t as bad as we thought before. After some work it was repainted.

The next and most important thing for the safety inspection was the braking system. We bought all the parts we needed and the whole old original braking system was replaced with new parts. It got new brake discs and pads in the front, new drum brakes in the rear and all those brake lines were replaced too.

But the thing that took the most time was to clean up all the parts of the engine, transmission and the interior. There were also some parts of the body that needed to be welded (the footwell on both sides). And of course we installed a new exhaust and reworked the rims+got new tires (tires mustn’t be older than 10 years or you won’t pass the security inspection). We did all this work in just 3 weeks, because I wanted to go to Switzerland.  Well we passed the security test without any big problems, even though the car still needed some work.

The only thing that didn’t work out the way we wanted to was the vehicle license. Here in germany there’s a special license for vintage cars, which are older than 30 years. It costs less then a normal license (lower tax price) and has some other positive effects to. For example you aren’t allowed to drive into big cities with a car that has no catalytic converter. But with such a vintage car licence you are allowed. The big problem was, that the car must not look bad and has to be in a certain condition. We didn’t have any problems with the technical condition but with the visual. There were some parts of the car we didn’t repaint, so there was just primer on it.

Well, we didn’t get this license so we registered the car with a normal license. After test driving it for about 50 kilometeres, which isn’t really much, I jumped in and drove to Switzerland where I was driving many winding roads for a full week. I didn’t have any technical problems at all.

Later we repainted those primered parts and got the vintage car license.
In spring 2009 we took out the whole rear axle and differential to work. We replaced all the bushings and cleaned and repainted it. We also removed some rusty spots on the doors and repainted them too plus we changed the oil in the differential.

From summer 2008 until summer 2009 I also used it to get to school everyday, sometimes even in the wintertime. But after each day in the winter I washed her, because here in Germany they use too much salt on the roads, even if there’s no snow.

Since September 2009 I have used my other BMW (a 1994 5 Series station wagon), so now my 1802 Touring is my sunny day cruiser.
The first technical problem we got was on a tour with our BMW Club through Austria in June of 2009. One day the so called “Hardy”-Disk (a disk made of rubber which sits between the transmission and the cardan shaft) broke. Well we couldn’t continue our tour with this car so it was brought home to Germany on a truck. It wasn’t a big deal and we fixed it as soon as possible.

We also have some plans for the future: The next step is to replace the old and worn out wheel bearings and drive shafts. We also want to remove the rust in the rear fenders and well…someday it’ll get a new paintjob, but it will be repainted in the same color.

The color is the reason why we gave her her name: “Zitrone”  (German for “Lemon” ). But it all takes time. We still got some other Bimmers who want to be repaired too.

Some technical details:
1,8L 4 cylinder with ~90 hp
4speed manual gearbox
Top speed: 165km/h (~102mph)
Weight: about 1000kg

Words and Photos by Pascal Hein

If you have a cool car, hit us up on our Facebook Fanpage!  We love cars and others will dig your ride too!

Hechtspeed

Hot Rods in Hamburg, Germany

Story and Photos submitted by Gerd Liebschner

Gerd contacted MyRideisMe.com and asked if we’d like to see a little of the Streetmag Days in Germany.  OH YEA!  Thanks Gerd!  Anyone else?  Please leave a comment if you’re finding this story from anywhere in Europe.

The Streetmag Days are a yearly event in Germany ans Austria.  Here’s a list of future,”Tour-Dates:”

Street Mag Show Hamburg 23./24. May
Street Mag Show Dornbirn/Austria 30./31. May
Street Mag Show Geiselwind 12.-14. June
Street Mag Show Hannover 08./09. August
Street Mag Show Grefrath 22./23. August

Meanwhile the whole US-Car Scene is getting more and more popular in Germany. Really beautiful cars! – I think the Hamburg show is one of the smaller parts of the show Days – but it´s really quite near to my home. This year I have been in Hamburg for the first time because I REALLY love US Cars – especially Hot Rods and Pickups. It´s a real nice event. Feel free to visit their official website: http://street-mag-show.de

I look forward to the Hannover show in August to take more shots!

Thanks for the info and pictures. Hot rodding is a challenge in the US… getting parts, doing the work and finding the time and money. Think how hard that’d be in in countries where hot rods, hot rod shops and the junk yards that make it all possible aren’t around!

Look for more info from Gerd, I hope, and more coverage of hot rodding from around the world.

Here’s the rest of Gerd’s Pictures from Hamburg, Germany: