Norwegian gearheads on the right Way

Fiat 131 , also known as the Mirafiori, 2000 TC Sport, and 131 Abarth, was a remarkably popular taxi model in Pakistan, India, the Middle East, and even featured prominently in Sahara-based films from the '70s and '80s. Surprisingly, I never knew that this particular model was licensed and produced by manufacturers in these developing countries. It wasn't until recently that I discovered these cars were manufactured until as late as 2010 in Turkey, Egypt, and Ethiopia by Turkish Tofaş, Egyptian NASR, and Ethiopian Holland Car (also known as Holland DOCC). The Fiat 131 was also produced by the Polish FSO Polonez, or Polski Fiat, where it was known as the Fiat 131p, with the 'p' denoting Polonez or Poland. The original Fiat 131 was produced from 1973 to 1984 by the main Fiat company as the successor to the Fiat 124, remaining in production for over a decade. It paved the way for models like the Lada 2107/Lada Riva, Lada 2105/2104, Lada 2106/2103, and served as the pre...

The Volvo PV 444 may be 80 years old this year, but in the picture above, you're seeing a real Volvo PV444 turned into a hot rod, back in the 1950s. Almost feels like it could've been Notodden back in 2003. The Volvo PV 444/544 , y'know, that was like one of the first ever true blue hot rods, at least here in Norway. The PV 444 was first rolled out back on September 1, 1944, right there in Kungliga Tennishallen in Stockholm. Shoot, that's like 80 years ago now, but they didn't start pumpin' 'em out 'til 1947. These bad boys could muster up to 85 horsepower, which was pretty darn good for back then. 'Specially considerin' how light and maneuverable cars were back in those days, and the roads? Ha! They were nothin' like what we got today. So, 85 ponies felt like plenty. Now, the later model, the PV 544, didn't really up the ante much. Only squeaked out about 10 extra horses, cappin' at 95 horsepower in the final Sport model from 1965. T...

Last year marked a whole 20 years since the original VW Bug rolled off the assembly line down in Mexico back in July 2003 , after a whopping 65 years in production. But did y'all know the roots of the Beetle trace back to Bea Barenyi and his concepts at Maschinenbauanstalt in Wien as early as 1925 ? That's nearly a hundred years ago, or it'll be a century next year, for cryin' out loud. And last year also marked 90 years since that magical moment in 1933 when ol' Ferdinand Porsche kicked off that partnership with the infamous Adolf Hitler, kickstarting the REAL German Beetle. Some folks might reckon the VW Bug didn't hit production until after the war, but them Germans actually started some production as early as 1938 . It was on a small scale, mostly for them high and mighty in Hitler's dictatorship and Nazi regime, but still, we're talkin' a few thousand of 'em. They churned out a whole bunch of military Beetles, them Kubelwagens too. Nowad...