Yesterday Stockholm was invaded by vintage cars – it was time for Gärdesloppet, or Prins Bertil Memorial, again. My last few sketching visits to this event ended like this, but fortunately the weather was fantastic this time.
I and a few other sketchers gathered early in the morning at one of the city´s public transport bus garages, to be picked up by a Scania-Vabis bulldog bus from 1938, heading for the event at Djurgården. It is quite an experience to get a ride in a vehicle like this – the wooden interior, the sound and even the smell are all a piece of motor history, and it´s great that this fellow is still rolling, 76 years after it´s premiere tour.
Later on during the day, we got the opportunity to tag along in the Bulldog for the veteran car parade through Stockholm. I did a wobbly (I must say suspension technique has developed since 1938) sketch from the front passenger seat, where you can catch a glimpse of the other old bus at the party, a Scania-Vabis Metropol from 1953. I was surprised to see that people of all ages were standing along the streets actually waving to the buses as we passed by. That is so cute.
Thanks a bunch to Thomas, Björn, Jens and the other drivers, for generously letting us into your precious vehicles!
As Gärdesloppet offers a huge field full of vintage cars from all times, it is kind of hard to choose which ones to draw in just a few hours. Apart from the bus, I went for a Citroën DS, because they are one of my favorite cars and I never see them in the streets anymore, and a huge Oldsmobile – because American cars from the fifties are just mad and a lot of fun to draw. But I could have gone on for another day or two. I didn´t get to draw any of the race cars, or the old Renaults, or the Jaguar E-types, or the Saab Sonett, or, or…
All drawings: approx 21 x 14 cm, UniPin fineliner and watercolours in Stillman & Birn alpha series sketchbook.