Photos by Noel Hastalis
The 42nd Annual Power Big
Meet was held July 4-6, 2019 in Lidköping
Sweden, at the small local airport there. Thanks to Michael Burke, I
connected with Jan Fridberg, via Oslo Airport, delicious moose stew
lunch at Arne Nilsson’s in Norway, and on to Jan’s
hometown of Malung Sweden. We then drove 5 hours south to the Meet
location on Wednesday July 3rd,
vendor setup day. At precisely 4:00 p.m. the many vendors who lined
up were allowed to proceed to their pre-assigned vendor areas,
stretching along a 2-mile service road. The weather over those 4 days
was cool temps, windy and mostly heavy overcast, but for a sunny
Friday July 5th.
A couple rainy evenings, and rain again midafternoon Saturday, but
the weather discouraged no one from bringing out their classics.
Thursday and Friday evenings we cruised into town, enjoying the other
classic iron and partying crowds, for a very mellow experience. Only
preregistered cars cruised into town.
American
music blaring over the grounds, American flags flying, American
accessories on the cars, American apparel being worn – all-in
appreciation of the magnificent car era in which we grew up during
those years. The abandoned underappreciated 3-or-so-year old used
cars our folks turned in back then were enticing to our Swedish and
Norwegian friends at bargain prices, leaving our shores and crossing
the Atlantic for the past 45 years. Back then, very very few new
American cars were exported to Sweden, so buying ‘used’
became the thing to do. Enjoyed visiting with Per Blixt, restorer of
the white 300-D Fuel Injected coupe we’ve seen recently on Jay
Leno’s Garage. Also, daily visits with Dave Mihalko of Quirey
Quality Design, and Anders Andersson, who’s reproducing many of
the taillight, parking light and backup lights lenses for our
Chryslers. Thanks to all the friendly folks I met there who made my
experience unforgettable! Having
heard that this Meet draws 15,000+ cars, I expected to see a lot of
American iron. Over the 3 days, over 4,000 cars drove in on Thursday,
and over 7,000 cars on each Friday and Saturday, for a total 19,000
or so. Attendees represented all European countries, and many others.
Cars were driven to the Meet from as far away as central Europe. No
overnight camping on the grounds, except for those of us who were
with vendors.
What
I saw was mind-blowing – about 98% of the cars were American
iron, and about 90% of those were ‘50s and ‘60s beauties,
most of which are full-sized cars, and not the preponderance of newer
Challengers, Mustangs, Camaros and Vettes we see at most US shows. I
saw only one Saab, a small handful of Volvos and other European
makes, and just a couple Asian cars. So many beautiful 4-door
hardtops, and sedans too. Many wagons, coupes and ragtops, along with
a few trucks. Several of these cars with bumper hitches, some towing
trailers. Beautifully restored cars, and many drivers, but very few
rust buckets. Lots of funky wheels, and several ‘continental
kits’ but the bodies were rarely modified from factory design
and trim. Visiting with the owners, many of them have large
collections, and the cars they brought to the Meet were but a small
sample. I concentrated my photo-taking on Mopars, but I loved seeing
so many wonderful marques. When was the last time you saw a line-up
of 13 ’59 Eldo Biarritz convertibles in a row, and 4 ’61
DeSotos in one show? So many ’58 Buick Limiteds, ’59 and
’60 Cadillacs. Of course, ’57–’61 Forward
Look Mopars were tops in popularity. Among my favorites were a pink
and beige ’57 New Yorker convertible, a copper over beige ’58
New Yorker coupe, a yellow and dark green ’57 FireFlite
convertible with dark green Hartz top – photos attached.
Here’s
the link to a 40-minute video of the cars at this year’s Power
Big Meet, if you’d like to see more –
1960 wagon in Malung, Sweden
Driving to Power Big Meet in Lidkoping
Entering meet site on Wednesday, vendor setup day
Vendor set up day
Vendor's van, advertising US Car Parts of the Big 3 manufacturers
Typical rear window sticker - car name and manufacturer
Yellow Challenger - 522" supercharged Hemi, owned by the Meet's organizer
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