Viking Magazine - July 2015 - 25

Road Trip!
The American Car Club of Norway
The 17,000 members of the American
Car Club of Norway (AMCAR) are
dedicated to the hobby of American
car collecting. Norway's largest car
club hosts hundreds of car shows and
cruise events throughout Norway and
members make frequent trips to the
United States. To put the size of the club
in perspective, AMCAR would rank
among the top five largest car clubs in
the United States. This year, AMCAR
celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The club began in Trondheim,
and one of the main reasons for the
development of such an organization
was Norway's heavy vehicle taxation
and restrictive registration laws.
According to Henning Kjensli, a
longtime member of AMCAR and a
special consultant for the organization,
in the late 1970s it was almost
impossible to register any classic
American cars in Norway because
they needed to meet certain safety and
emission standards which American
cars built decades earlier did not meet.
In 1986, due to the lobbying efforts
of AMCAR, a special import exemption
law was put in place for cars that were
manufactured 30 years or earlier, which
meant vintage American cars could
now be registered in Norway. Since that
time, tens of thousands of American
cars have made their way over to
Norwegian car enthusiasts.
The position that AMCAR has
in Norway is very influential. The
club is actually one of less than 10
official partner institutions that
have the opportunity to weigh in
on new legislation bills proposed
by the Norwegian Department of
Transportation. " Having a club like
AMCAR has been crucial for the
Norwegian car hobby, " says Kjensli.
" Without AMCAR, you would have
had extremely few classic American
cars in Norway. "
Celebrating the American
Road Trip
Every year, four to five car tours from
Norway to the United States are
organized, allowing members to get
a glimpse into the culture and history
where their classic American cars
originated, catch car shows and visit
popular tourist stops. Kjetil Sveistrup,
owner of Hop-A-Long Travel founded
in Trondheim, has worked closely with
AMCAR for several years to organize
the company's trips to the United States.
" The most popular trip is the Route
66 tour we have every summer. This
is also my favorite. It is a three-weeklong
journey through the heartland of
America, all the way from Chicago to
Los Angeles, " says Sveistrup.
Next year's events include a
legendary Blues Highway tour,
beginning in New Orleans and ending
in Nashville, and a 90th anniversary
Route 66 tour. " Many travelers return
year after year. The atmosphere on the
American car trips are good and
joyful with people coming of all ages, "
says Sveistrup.
100 Years of the Lincoln Highway
In the summer of 2013, the famous
Lincoln Highway-the first
transcontinental highway in the United
States-celebrated its 100th birthday.
To commemorate the event, car
enthusiasts from all over the United
States and around the world made
the 3,000-mile trek through 13 states
from New York's Times Square to
San Francisco's Lincoln Park in hot
rides such as Corvettes, Desotos and
Studebakers.
" The event experience was nothing
short of spectacular, " says Kjensli, who
helped AMCAR members participate
in Lincoln Highway Centennial Tour.
" Traversing the United States on backroads
from Manhattan to San Francisco
in a classic car is an extremely unique
sonsofnorway.com VIKING JULY 2015 25
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOP-A-LONG TRAVEL
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - July 2015

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