These random pieces of sheetmetal and plastic, assembled behind a body shop, represent the variety of cars I photographed during a weekend trip way south, to the Finnish capital.

In this post, I show you a few of the down-on-the-Helsinki-street sightings that were kind enough to stay still and be photographed.
Make the jump and scroll down for a complete spectrum of what you can see over the span of two days in Helsinki.

I really liked this lowered E92 325i coupé. It wore wide-lipped gold Lensos and was in general a very tastefully modified BMW.

In my opinion, the E92 is one of the best-looking recent BMW:s.

It’s two-door, it’s luxurious, it’s a personal luxury sports car… It’s a 1995 Monte Carlo.

Meanwhile, this 2007 Cayman is the closest thing to a true Finnish car here, as these were built in Uusikaupunki. It’s actually also the closest thing to a true fastback I’ve posted for a while, right?

How would you like an E34 525i with leather? This imported-from-Germany-used 5-series is a clean enthusiast car. There’s a slight amount of rock chippings and the kidneys shouldn’t be all black, but the car and the stance look damn good.

How about an Alfa Romeo 155 Super? In my wedge-preferring mind, I like it more than the later, swoopier Alfas. The engine here is a 2.0-litre Twin Spark.

Then there’s this 1994 Chevrolet Chevy Van Starcraft with a stonking 6.5 liter V8 Diesel. You still see one or two of these driving around.

You also see these Caprice Classic wagons with a stiff rear seat and a 80 km/h limit sticker in the back.

Registered as vans, they came in through a tax loophole for a certain period and were effectively sold for half price in comparison to one with a plush rear seat.

In closing, here’s another Finnish eccentricity: a decommissioned mail-delivery Corolla in eye-searing orange and the wheel on the right side. All of these were 1.3-litre automatics, all of them spent their lives going from mailbox to mailbox (with the pedal in the metal if you had a post office summer job) and all of them have by now been sold on cheaply. The other kind of delivery cars were Opel Astras or Toyota Yaris Versos.

Let’s say you were a Helsinki streetwalker; which ones of these cars would catch your eye, or what would you expect to see?

 

Images: Copyright 2012 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen