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Published: September 20th 2023
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Visiting a car cemetery
In August 2022 we had a few days when we had nothing better to do than to go visiting a car cemetery in Värmland County
Car wrecks en masse
In 2013 Ake
visited a car cemetery in Kronoberg County in southern Sweden. After he published a blog entry about that visit he learned that there is at least one other similar site in Sweden. This other one is near Årjäng in Värmland County. The idea of going there to see this car cemetery has been on our minds for a few years. In August 2022 we had a few days where we had nothing better to do so we decided to go on a little road trip with the ultimate goal of looking at rusty cars in Värmland.
Some of you who read this might feel that car wrecks dumped in the nature is nothing but an eyesore. If you feel like that we would recommend you to stop reading because there really isn't anything else featured in this blog entry. We, on the other hand, found this old car cemetery interesting and think of it as a kind of modern ruin or an outdoor museum. If you feel the same then this blog entry is for you.
The car cemetery is not in Årjäng town but in Båstnäs, a small
Båstnäs car cemetery
The car cemetery is in Båstnäs, a small place less than two kilometres from the border to Norway. place less than two kilometres from the border to Norway. We write "place" in lack for a better word. It certainly isn't a village. It is so nondescript that we feel that we can't even call it a hamlet.
The car cemetery, or rather the abandoned wrecking yard, holds around 1,000 car wrecks. Some of the cars sit in an open field more or less overgrown by grass and other plants. But most of the cars are hidden in woods around the old wrecking yard.
The cars come from an old wrecking yard that was opened in 1956. The wrecking yard's geographical position close to the Norwegian border turned out to be very good for business. Norway has never had any major car manufacture industry. For economic reasons Norway long had (still have today?) high import taxes on cars. So in the 1950-ies and 60-ies Norwegians who wanted to buy a car had three options:
1 They could buy a very expensive new or a used car in Norway.
2 They could go to Sweden and buy a used car of the same brand and make as their old one. They then
The wrecking yard was opened in 1956
The cars come from an old wrecking yard that was opened in 1956. fit the old Norwegian plates on it, drove across the border and hoped not to get caught. Because this was of course not legal.
3 They could go to Sweden and buy a used or even a new car. Take the car apart in at least three good size pieces. Declare the pieces as scrap metal and bring them into Norway. When they came home they put the pieces back together and had a functioning car.
Alternative 3 was a totally legal way to get yourself a functioning car for a low price. Here is why the wrecking yard in Båstnäs could grow big and profitable. Since it was located very close to the border it was easy for Norwegians to come over, buy a used car, take it apart and take it home. The owners of the wrecking yard were able to do good business for many years. But as years went on fewer and fewer Norwegians crossed the border to buy cars. Eventually the wrecking yard wasn't profitable anymore and was closed down. All the cars they had were then abandoned and nature started to take over the place.
We hardly
We think this is a SAAB
We hardly know anything about cars. In the pictures we think we can identify some SAABs and a few Volvos.
know anything about cars. In the pictures we think we can identify some SAABs and a few Volvos. One car has the name "Triumph" written on the hood. Most of the other cars we have no idea which brand they are.
Two vehicles we found are vans that were used for mail distribution. They were named
Tjorven in Sweden and Kalmar on the international market and were produced in the late 60-ies and early 70-ies.
We read in the news that in October 2022 one of these vans was burned down in what is believed to be an arson attack. In November another arson attack took place in the wrecking yard. This time three cars, one house and some small sheds were destroyed.
Hope you enjoy looking at our pictures from Båstnäs car cemetery/car wrecking yard. We can assure you that we enjoyed going there and seeing this site.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
A Graveyard
I love looking at these photos. I love cars and these are some beauties. If they could tell stories.