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Helsinki Weekend Edition: Lada VAZ-2103 "Zhiguli"
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There’s a neighbourhood in Helsinki called Viiskulma, which refers to the fact five streets meet there. I had a couple minutes to stroll around there, and this red Lada immediately drew me close. It’s in almost absolutely perfect condition, historic-registered, and quite certainly in better shape when it was new. The 2103 body was a…
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Helsinki Weekend Edition: Jaguar XJ6 Series III
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One day in Helsinki, a heavy thunderstorm rolled in from the west and the heavens opened. As soon as it had appeared, it was gone, with the air cleared, all the previous days’ heat just gone and the time just right for a late evening walk around the neighbourhood. Sure enough, I had my phone…
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True Companion: Driving a Peugeot 205 XS to the Nürburgring, Part III
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After our Romanian leg of the trip was done, we headed to Serbia by crossing the Donau River near Gura Vaii. We drove the riverbank road to Golubac, and spent the night in a guest house close by. The border crossing was somewhat intense, as the guards eyed at our vehicles, and we drove past…
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True Companion: Driving a Peugeot 205 XS to the Nürburgring, Part II
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In the previous post, I outlined how we drove from Finland to the southern border of Poland, then to Slovakia and Hungary in a matter of days, and continued south on our long way around to the Nürburgring. So, Romania. We crossed the Hungarian-Romanian border at Oradea, and up until then we had pretty much…
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True Companion: Driving a Peugeot 205 XS to the Nürburgring, Part I
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Every summer, there’s a gathering of gearheads at the famous Nürburgring in Germany. Well, obviously there are gearheads there every day that the ‘Ring is open, but I’m referring to the FinalGear Ringmeet, a yearly thing where a bunch of friends drive to the track and have hilarious breakdowns on the way. I’ve been there…
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True Companion: Living with a 1990 Peugeot 205 XS for two years
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A little more than two years ago, in the middle of the summer of 2013, I bought one of the cheapest cars I’ve ever seen advertised with valid inspection, let alone bought for myself. It was a white Peugeot 205 XS with 230 000 km on the clock, it cost 350 euros and I pretty…
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Helsinki Weekend Edition: 1993 Mercedes-Benz G 350 TD
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This lovely little thing is a Mercedes-Benz W463-body G 350 turbodiesel, short wheelbase model. Quite a name, right? If that’s not enough of a handful, remember the G stands for Geländewagen. I spotted the G-Benz in a nice, peaceful neighbourhood in Southern Helsinki, and it stood out for miles because of that colour.
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Helsinki Weekend Edition: Chevrolet Caprice Classic Wagon
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This weekend, I’ll be posting the wide variety of cars I saw on Helsinki streets just recently. It’s not difficult to see just about anything driving around or sitting still in Helsinki – especially in the summertime, as all the summer-only cars are out and about. Autoweek’s Graham Kozak had a good time in Helsinki,…
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Kei Car Weekend Edition: Suzuki Cappuccino
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Would it have been a terrible oversight not to include the Suzuki Cappuccino this weekend? Together with the Honda Beat and the AZ-1, the trio is what one thinks of when eccentric Kei cars are discussed. And the Cappuccino was even imported to Europe new, which is rare regarding this class of cars.
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Kei Car Weekend Edition: Mitsubishi Pajero Mini
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The Mitsubishi Pajero nameplate was also affixed on a tiny little SUV, endearingly called the Pajero Mini. The design language matched the bigger versions, so sensibly it appeared to be created as a scaled-down version of a full-size Pajero. And as befits the tiny car class, the drivetrain was also 660cc, with a choice of…
