Norwegian sighting in Kalamazoo

[Björn Carlsson <bjorn.carlsson@sapagroup.com>]

Their trip has continued and Friday last week they pulled into Kalamazoo, MI. I had talked to Espen and made arrangements to meet them at the airport which is close to where I work and on the way to my apartment. On Friday afternoon I got a text message on my cell phone that they were now at Cole Auto Mall. This turned out to be a car dealer who had about half/half newer cars and classics. The guys had been intrigued by glass boxes with classics in them, much like toy cars in their packages, in the parking lot and gone inside. Anyway, it was good to see Espen in person for the first time since 2000, during the international meeting in Denmark. I'd not met his friends Morten and Jan before but we all instantly got along well even though the other guys were more into US cars than Italian. :-) We stocked up on breakfast supplies, left the guys' luggage in my apartment and then headed out to an area close to the county fairgrounds (where the NSRA Nationals North were taking place). We found an intersection with multiple restaurants, hotels and large parking lots and it was swarmed with cars. We had a quick dinner on site and spent all night looking at cars. At one point a guy started hoovering around us and approached me as he was also from Sweden, on site to attend the Nationals. He had friends in the Detroit area and he was staying with them and attending the Nationals in a borrowed street rod. We retired to my apartment around 10 pm to sit down, knock back a few and catch up on what has passed since 2000. Saturday we got up fairly early and drove over to the fairgrounds. The amount of cars was mindboggling for us Euro guys as there were thousands of cars in attendance. There was a swap meet area too where I found a guy selling new gear reduction starters for $85. Not bad! How about a Ford 4.6 liter engine, never installed, just dyno tested for 1500? We walked the grounds until 5 pm when lots of cars pulled out into the street as if on que. This was a process taking hours with just one two lane exit open. !
 We took 
this as an excuse to have dinner in downtown Kalamazoo and sit down properly for the first time since breakfast. Afterwards we drove up to the same spot as the night before and took in the sights and sounds of cruisers. A Diablo pulled in and parked extremely tediously. Most people I know are more comfortable backing up their cars than this guy was. People circled the car and checked out the engine as the owner opened the lid. I missed my Pantera! At around 9.30 Espen's friends made excited noises and pointed over my shoulder as they had spotted a Pantera driving by behind me. As this was in a low speed area Espen and I set out after him to track him down. We lost sight of the car but soon he returned and I waved him over and he stepped out to chat. Turns out he's a local guy, owner since some ten years. He's considered selling the car as he just doesn't drive it anymore. This was the second time he drove it this year he said. Up close in the dark it looked generally good though, black '72 with early dash and a low wing on the deck lid. Wheels were aftermarket and I want to say 17" but I'm not 100% sure. He soon had to move his car because a Corvette owner didn't want to drive past him through a puddle of water(sic!). He got into the Pantera and drove off and we didn't see him again. We left not much later too after a long day of car spotting. Espen and crew drove off Sunday morning and were today Monday heard of heading towards Toledo.

Tomas