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Saturday November 29, the 1 p.m. news takes you to the heart of a seemingly wild and peaceful Scandinavian forest landscape. But in the middle of the trees, strange steel ruins sit: hundreds of car wrecks that have been stranded for decades.
This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full.
In the heart of the immense Swedish forest stands a strange cemetery with an apocalypse feel. Hundreds of cars are swallowed up by Scandinavian nature. A mysterious setting that has become the meeting place for photographers from all over the world.
Tom Olsen is a Norwegian photographer and regularly comes to immortalize these carcasses. Carcasses of American, Italian, French, German cars: some date from the 40s, others from the 60s and 70s. “Nature takes over,” notes the photographer. Each season, each variation of light gives these old relics a different personality. “Nature and sheet metal can live together. I think nature always wins in the end. And as long as the struggle continues, I enjoy it until the last minute”, continues Tom Olsen.
The story of this scrapyard is told by Tomas, the owner of the place. In the 1950s, his father imported damaged cars from all over the world. Objective: to resell them in spare parts to Norwegians who, at the time, were not allowed to buy foreign cars. The border with Norway is one kilometer away.
Over time, Tomas has become an expert on wrecks and has an opinion on French cars compared to German ones. “I’m sorry to say this, but all French cars have lost their chrome. Sorry, but French cars are not good quality”observes Tomas Ivansson, owner of the car scrapyard in Båstnäs (Sweden).
Today the cemetery is maintained by Gunnar Henriksson. He knows all the secrets of every car. “There are lots of bird nests hidden in cars. The birds here are very numerous”he indicates.
Gunnar is all the more concerned by the site he collects old Americans. And he bought some carcasses from the owners, which he brought back to his workshop. “I bought it for 150 euros and it took me 45 years to restore it. The engine, the transmissions, the brakes were missing,” denounce Gunnar Henriksson, member of the Tocksfors Car Club.
Those that remain in the forest are no longer for sale. They will end their days there. This is not ideal for the environment, even if the owners assure, with supporting samples, that the soil is not polluted.
