Several weeks ago my wife and I went to Iceland again for a week after having found a great package deal. We were glad to find that it had lost none of the charm it had when we went a couple of summers ago, if anything it was even better with snow and, of course, the U.S. dollar’s resurgent strength. Compared to Colorado, the temperature was very similar and there was less snow than at home, setting up the perfect conditions for a long walk around Reykjavik.
My initial goal was only to photograph vehicles that had some rust on them, i.e. cars that were at least beginning to approach beaterdom. As it turned out, there were some others that were far too interesting to pass up, so here they all are in no particular order. Put on some warm gloves and join us for a walk around this marvelous place!
Starting things off right across the street from our hotel is this marvelous SsangYong Korando in a very Geo Tracker-esque shade of Purple.
SsangYongs are surprisingly common here, or perhaps not that surprising as they are considered to be somewhat robust, usually with a fair amount of Mercedes mechanicals.
Just around the corner was another Korean cousin, this time a Hyundai van with 4WD mechanicals. Overall this is about the size of a modern Toyota Sienna but quite a bit narrower. Still, it looks like it could easily seat at least 7 or 8 in relative comfort. Fill up the box on the roof, attach a trailer and you are set for a great cross-county trip.
There are a ton of this generation Grand Cherokee still running around Iceland, certainly more than I see back home in Colorado. All versions too, including the upper-crust Orvis edition.
Here’s a Hyundai Terracan SUV, very reminiscent in shape and size to the Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero. It turns out it is related to it. Equipped with a diesel engine and what looks to be a BOF chassis, Hyundai appears to have some serious off-roading machinery for sale in other parts of the world, what with this and the van that we just saw.
When’s the last time you saw a Lincoln Aviator? Beautiful color too. This one had passed me earlier and I couldn’t get to my camera in time so I was glad we caught up to it a bit later.
It wouldn’t be a walk without a sighting of a funny-looking French car. Another one of those tiny on the outside but huge on the inside jobs that they seem to do so well.
A Renault Modus, it’s about the size of a Nissan Versa.
Why can’t we ever have nice things? Ford Fusion wagon (Well, a Mondeo in this case), so sensible an idea.
Panther love never sleeps. Mercury Marquis, at your service. This was one of my more surprising finds but hardly the only one of its kind.
Here’s a well used Opel Corsa 5-door. Another super-cheap little city car but still trimmed out to a decent standard, note the plastic wheel arch trim etc.
This one’s sporting the mid-level 1.4l engine. Not bad for a late ’90’s car, still running around almost twenty years later.
Did you think I would see this Cadillac Deville with a Northstar V-8 around the corner? Neither did I. This one obviously is driven regularly and doesn’t need much but a bath.
Icelandic folk are probably the world’s biggest 4WD enthusiasts. Gotta love this mint green short-wheelbase Econoline 4×4. It’s a good thing the country has relatively low speed limits, this thing has got to be frightening on the open road with a cross wind.
These Mitsubishi Lancer’s are pretty popular, the last time we were here I shot a red one and this wasn’t the only one I saw this time either. I always think of Perry Shoar when I see these for some reason, I believe he is a big fan of these and everything else Lancer (or Colt).
Rust is definitely starting to nibble away at this one, but for around town it seems to be just fine.
A Chrysler 300? A Dodge Magnum? NO! The best of both worlds, a Chrysler 300C Wagon. Why, oh why, Chrysler, why deny the home market this piece of magnificence?
Maybe I’m a snob, but for me this Chrysler version is infinitely more appealing than the Dodge Magnum ever was.
This is one of SsangYong’s more recent efforts, the Rexton. It looks significantly less “challenged” than most of the rest of their offerings and seems to be somewhat popular. I see some Land Rover and also some Lexus in the shape, kind of like the way that the original Kia Sorento was very reminiscent of the Lexus RX300 back in the day.
The front is not unattractive either, although I see more Infiniti influences up here, especially the grille. If SsangYong ever tries to set up shop in North America, this is probably their best opportunity to try it with.
A Suzuki Jimny! Actually, these are far from rare here, but this one of the most beater-ish ones I saw. Many of these are/were rentals. It appears that people don’t realize how small they actually are (Yes, pretty much a Samurai). We saw one with four people in it on the airport road. Everybody except the driver had their luggage on their lap.
It could be fun to drive for a bit. Around town? Sure, probably like driving a Wrangler back at home.
The colorful variety struck me, funnily the Subaru of all cars wears the most boring color. Followed closely by the BMW at the end.
Ooh, a first-generation base model Honda HR-V! In a color that can really only be described as “radioactive urine”. At least it brightens the day, just don’t eat the snow around it.
These always struck me as very practical, kind of like a super-sized Honda City. But make no mistake, they are not large, probably a bit smaller than a first-generation Rav-4.
Somehow I got on a street with some very rusty cars, I got the impression that some of these were imported from elsewhere and were perhaps accident reconstructions. There were several without plates and some with mainland European ID. This is a relatively recent Toyota Yaris with a surprising amount of rust.
The same Yaris from the front. Definitely getting nibbled at….
But nothing like this! This was by far the rustiest thing I saw during our entire stay. I’m guessing this first generation ML320 still runs fine, but it is hideous to look at.
Here’s one of those non-plated cars I was talking about. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these Hyundai’s.
Yes, that’s right, a relatively low-status car with a very pedigree’d designer behind it.
Hyundai Matrix. Hmm. This is kind of what I think a Homer Hatchback might look like. But really, it’s likely been designed as a city car. Small wheels and tries, low beltline, high roof. Super practical and likely low running costs.
Maybe I was in a not-so-great part of town, I didn’t notice the graffiti when I took the shot, my eyes were filled with this excellent example of a late 1980’s or early 1990’s 190E 1.8. The lines on this thing are aging better and better every year.
A block away we came upon this. It doesn’t get much more majestic than this, the S-Class Coupe.
And yes, it is the V12. Someone isn’t afraid of $10/gallon gas. Notice the rust spot?
It wasn’t just a regular S600 either, this one had the full Lorinser tuner package on it as well. I’m guessing this wasn’t the original owner’s car anymore, being parked out in the elements as it was.
Somehere in Iceland there must be a busy transmission shop. Dodge Caravan’s were pretty popular and regular sightings, in all generations.
It wouldn’t be a CC walk without a Corolla sighting, actually there are two in this picture. The red one though probably represents the best generation of Corolla ever.
Here’s a pretty sad-looking Open Vectra wagon. I always thought these were quite attractively styled, certainly they look more attractive to my eye than the Saturn wagon that they morphed into for the US market.
Still, Vectra’s never really got much love anywhere else either, this one has seen some hard times.
I got extremely excited when I saw this from a distance, I could not believe what I was seeing. A very early Renault 9 (our Alliance).
This appears to be the 9G version, I can’t find any info on it but it looks sportier than normal with the red stripes and the spoiler. For an early 80’s Renault, this was in very good condition. I haven’t seen one of these in many years. I noticed something on the back window and wondered if maybe it was some kind of college sticker or maybe something celebrating Renault in either F1 or Rallying.
Yeah, that’s right, after I worked up the nerve to wipe the snow off someone else’s car, I realized that the Renault 9 was the Car Of The Year for 1982. I wonder how long the bloom on that rose lasted. Anyway, this was probably the highlight of my day. My wife thinks I’m a dork, but I know you all understand.
I’ve always liked this generation of Opel Astra. The styling is spot on and just gives an impression of a solid little car with that perky little tail.
No Suzuki Jimny for this guy, a true commuter uses a Land Rover with replacement fenders and wider rubber. For some reason I thought Land Rovers were made from aluminum but apparently not.
Here’s a typically worldly scene in Iceland, cars literally come from everythere, in this case the Forester from Japan, the Golf from Germany and the Chrysler Cirrus from the US.
Here’s a better shot of the Cirrus although the sleet was starting to come down a bit harder. I saw more of these here in Iceland than I’ve seen at home in a long time. It’s weird.
And here’s a Nissan Terrano, also sold as a Ford Maverick in Europe. Smaller than a Pathfinder, these seem to still be running around in some quantity although starting to show their age.
SsangYong Musso. These seem to be very capable both on and off-road. You can find them anywhere here, in town or out in the country.
They are starting to grow on me looks-wise. I see a lot of Isuzu Rodeo with a dash of Range Rover in the rear.
Here’s a VW Touran (not Routan). Imagine a Golf up-sized a bit to be like a Mazda5 or Kia Rondo. Kind of a Euro Mini-Minvan.
They’re good-looking and I’m sure drive pretty solid. Overall a very good form factor for every purpose and again surprising that this stuff doesn’t catch on in the US.
Yes, this Unimog was in daily service, we saw it driving around all the time.
That bed is extremely usable with the folding sides and the tarp on top gets the job done too.
Just in front of it was this well used Nissan Micra.
With a replacement hatch from an apparently much sportier version judging by the spoiler.
Yes, even Lada has a piece of the pie here, we spied this Niva on our way to dinner later that evening.
It was in excellent condition too. This was my first “in the wild” sighting of one of these and I was struck at how it was a size larger than I had imagined it being. One day, I’d love to drive one, they’ve always interested me.
I’ll leave you with this shot. I’ve never seen a Volt at a gas station before and was surprised to even see a Volt here at all. Iceland has one of the most diverse car markets I’ve ever seen, literally everything is sold here. Both Toyota Tacoma AND HiLux, pretty much the full range of anything available anywhere in the world can be had. All in a country with about 350,000 people. I looked it up and in 2014 less than 10,000 (not a typo) new cars were sold in total. What an amazing country in so many respects. I hope you enjoyed our walk today, time to go warm up in front of the fire…
Where are the Dacia Dusters?
We saw several, they seem pretty perfect for the conditions. Actually while Subaru is also well represented, the local equivalent of the Subaru Outback seems to be taken up by the Skoda Octavia TDI 4×4 wagon. Pretty much a VW Jetta wagon with AWD and jacked up an inch or two. VERY popular.
Great news!
Pretty much a VW Jetta wagon with AWD and jacked up an inch or two. VERY popular.
Reportedly coming to the US for 17 as the Golf Sportwagen Alltrack
I just checked Skoda’s website. The current Octavia 4×4 wagon is called the Octavia Combi Scout. It has a 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs) towing capacity. It’s available with a 1.8 TSI engine (180 hp, 6 speed DSG) or 2.0 TDI engine (150 hp, 6 speed manual).
The VAG-Group offers a wide range of 4x4s, not only on their SUVs.
Behind the wheel.
Diversity, in the best sense of the word.
We also had a great winter trip to Iceland in January 2015. The local low cost air carrier Wow has great cheap connections on to Europe. I think Iceland might be one of the last countries with a strong Suzuki presence.
A mint green short-wheelbase Econoline 4×4. Now there’s a kindred spirit!
That rustbucket W163 is about right. That represents Mercedes of the late 90s-00s in a nutshell.
Wow, great selection of CCs. Damn Corollas are like cockroaches — they’re everywhere and nothing will kill them — even in 4WD SUV territory.
“Logically” I’d expect to see a lot of Volvos and Saabs and not much else. Obviously my “logic” is all wrong!
Yep, very few Saabs anymore and not too many Volvo’s. There’s an older XC90 in one of the pics (in front of the Chrysler wagon) and we saw several of the new XC90’s. Of course a few 240’s are still running around along with some V70’s and S60’s. The police cars are mainly Volvo V70’s and S60’s.
Except for the models that are not available in Canada you could substitute Hamilton Ontario in the title and no-one would know the difference. The decay is so similar.
I love old corollas. Buy them cheap for cash, they run forever without any drama and allow me to spend my free cash on two classics and a motorcycle. win win win. Naturally Accent and Sentra are also good corolla substitues.
An interesting, diverse selection of cars. It makes sense that most of the cars are on the practical side due to the harsh operating conditions in Iceland. It must cost a fortune to keep those big American cars and SUVs running at $10/gallon! I imagine the tax on cars must also be expensive as in other Nordic countries.
Note that a lot of these were specifically chosen by me as beaters and also the parts of town I walked around in were fairly densely populated and some of my shots made it all look a bit bleaker than it actually is. It’s a very charming city/country with lots of gorgeous sights and neighborhoods. There are plenty of large cars as well as newer, expensive ones. Plenty of new Range Rovers, Volvo XC90’s, Audi and BMW SUV’s and sedans running around as well.
Enjoyed indeed! And that Econoline 4X4 is just screaming my name!
The Hyundai SUV is a Terracan which, I believe, is based on Mitsubishi mechanicals
Thank you, you are correct and I updated the text.
Likewise the Hyundai van is a direct copy of a Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear
Very interesting. Sort of reminds me of the Mexican car market, also a weird mix of European and North American market stuff. They also have a Hilux/Tacoma choice.
And that ML in the main shot is brutal. Maybe it’s just because they didn’t last long enough to rust here, but I’ve never seen one like that.
Very neat collection. My favorite is the Suzuki Jimny, although that yellow-gold 318ti next to it is a close second. The Jimny is actually what the redesigned Samauri us Americans remember became. I think a canvas top model would be great fun!
“Don’t eat the snow…” hah
I haven’t been a Curbside “visitor” long enough to have read about the previous trip to Iceland, I have to admit it’s not the 1st place I would re-visit for a vacation.
I was stationed in Iceland at the Reykjavik International Airport as part of a U.S. Navy unit in 1977-1978. I got up there in the middle of winter and was surprised by how little snow there was compared to my home in Pennsylvania and by the temperatures that rarely dropped below 30 degrees…..before the wind chill, which turned out to be ungawdly. 3 or 4 times during the winter the furnace at our barracks ran out of oil, so woke up to no heat/no hot water. We also experienced a few “white-outs” that forced us to stay indoors no matter where we were.
What may or may not be obvious to folks looking at these pictures is that with the exception of the shot of the gas station….there are no visible signs to tell the casual walker/driver the location of a business. We were told by our guide on a trip to Reykjavik that all Icelanders know where everything is, so signs aren’t needed
Neatest thing about driving in Iceland (and I think other countries have them, too) is the traffic lights that blink to show they are about to change….no last second surprises.
Hey, I just scrolled back through the pictures and I’m wondering if that dark blue Lincoln Aviator is a recent import by a U.S. service member as the license plate looks different from nearly every other vehicle pictured and it (co-incidentally?) has D E as it’s “designator.
I think the Aviator’s plate is “OE”, not “DE” but the main difference is the format to fit within the opening. The Caddy has the same different shape format. Some European countries offer this different shape for cases like this. Is there still any US presence there, I thought that all got wrapped up about a decade ago but there may be talks to reintroduce a small detachment currently.
Things appear to have changed though since your time there. All the restaurants and stores were well marked with signage not really any different from anywhere else in the world.
It WAS nice to get the orange warning light after the red letting you know that it’s about to turn green. Such a simple thing to do, and saves time as everyone puts it in gear and is starting to roll when the green arrives.
It’s probably changed a lot since the 70’s. Iceland is a wonderful place for a vacation for anyone who loves A) Nature, B) Geology, C) Friendly, outgoing and cultured people, D) uncrowded spaces and E) something a little different from the usual packaged dreck.
Here is last year’s, by the way: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/international/summer-vacation-classic-an-icelandic-grab-bag/
I just finished Arnaldur Indridason’s newest book “Beyond Oblivion” which was set on the U.S. Navy base at Keflavik circa 1979. If you like Nordic Noir (i.e. Jo Nesbo or Stieg Larsson) you should check it out.
Thanks I will check that out, I’ve read a couple of the Erlendur series, this sounds right up my alley. I think the title is “Into Oblivion” though.
I got into Iceland originally by reading an old Desmond Bagley novel from the 60’s “Running Blind”, turns out it was made into a miniseries as well. Also one of the early Tom Clancy books has a significant subplot taking place there as well.
I once landed there in around 1977 on a layover (or fuelstop?) on a Miami-Frankfurt flight. Back then the terminal was one large open room, now it’s significantly expanded and very modernized. One of the funnier moments this time was waiting in the terminal for our flight home and we realized that the music playing was “Today Was A Good Day” by Ice Cube. Great song, but not the most appropriate thing to be blasting through the terminal food court. Nobody got worked up about it, although I imagine if she were there Tipper Gore would have clutched her pearls and gone into hysterics…
Yes you are right about the title. I was too lazy to go into my office and confirm the title. I’m a huge fan of the Erlandur books.
I also remember flying into Keflavik in 1971. I was six and my family went to Europe to see family. We flew on a charter 707 from British Midland Airways with a refueling stop in Iceland. I went on a cheap weekend deal with IcelandAir in 2011. It was an amazing weekend. Unfortunately package prices from Seattle have doubled in price so it isn’t quite as doable.
What we just did was a 5day 5night Northern Lights Package that Icelandair was (is) offering. Roundtrip from Denver, hotel right downtown, Northern Lights trip (bus), Fontana Spa evening for around $1400 total for both of us (which included an added night over the standard program). Great value. Last year we spent a few days on their layover program on the way back from France. The place is so small (relatively) that this time we pretty much remembered where everything was and just kind of winged it while driving around…
I now wonder what flight we were on in ’77. I’m sure it was a charter too, probably World Airways or maybe Condor.
I don’t know that that Yaris is “recent”, looks to me like a first generation from the early 2000s. Gotta be at least 11 or 12 years old.
We always thought of the Ssangyong Rexton as the Rectum. Childish, I know but…..
Nissan Terano, ah no, its a Nissan Mistral 2.7 diesel Automatic only a genuine biodegradable car the trannys are shit,the Terrano is the JDM Pathfinder,. that Hyundai 4WD van is a Mitsubishi Delica Space wagon clone, we have thousands of the Delicas here but none of the Korean clones interesting, amazing to see rust on a Mercedes they are too cheap to galvanise them.
The model Jim features was known as the Terrano here in oz as well. Mistral was its JDM name. According to wiki, its actually the Terrano II; the 85- onwards Pathfinder appears to be the Terrano ‘I’.
Unimog for me please.
The reason for the Chrysler 300 wagon may be that (relatively) big black station wagons seem to be a big deal in Europe. After I noticed this Alfa Romeo wagon in Würzburg, Germany, something I thought I would never see, I realized that there seemed to be quite a few shiny, clean, new black station wagons around there, Nuremberg, and Vienna; mostly Volvos and Mercedes.
One can also say: Station wagons are a big deal in Europe.
Regardless size, color or brand. The smallest are in the B-segment (Renault Clio wagon), the biggest in the E-segment (A6, 5-series, E-Class).
Some background information about Chrysler and Dodge in Europe…
After Chrysler Europe collapsed in 1977, Dodge nameplate was transferred to Renault for the European market when the French company took over the truck division of Chrysler Europe. Thus, Chrysler could not use Dodge nameplate for a few decades until 2006 when Chrysler reintroduced it.
Some of Dodge vehicles were renamed as Chrysler when sold in Europe prior to 2006, including Neon, Viper R/T, and Magnum station wagon. The latter is built in Austria by Magna Steyr under licence for the European market.
Corsas of that generation are simple, rugged and dirt cheap to fix. Plenty of Barinas like that still running around down here.
The Landrover, or Land Cruiser with huge tires is a distinctly Icelandic modification for serious off roading.
Landrover Defender bodies are mostly aluminum, but the bulkhead that the windshield and doors attach to and the capping at the top of the lower body are steel and rust, along with the door frames, chassis and 4 door station wagon B pillars.
This post made me go back to my photos from when I was there in 2014. The cars there also intrigued me, the interesting mix of models sold in American and European markets. I also did see quite a few panthers around, from Grand Marquis to Town Cars. One of my favorite finds was this LHD Rover 2200 (seen here in front of a RHD Jag).
Is that the German embassy in the background??
It has the German and EU flag in front of the building..
I think it’s the German ambassador’s house. Judging by the parked cars, the British shouldn’t be far from there.
A very diverse set of cars.
Regarding the Land Rover: many of its body panels are of aluminum, but certain key parts are steel, including the whole bulkhead/cowl/ windshield area, which is made of steel for strength and safety, and which is rusting on this Landy.
There are other parts made of steel too, including the protective cappings/moldings on the body, which is also showing rust. The hinges too. And all these steel parts are what are showing rust on this one.
The real ruster is the frame, which is notoriously poorly protected, and can be badly rusted out in as little as ten years.
Paul, in fact aluminum is very prone to galvanic corrosion (salt !), perhaps more so than steel. It doesn’t rust, it just is “eaten away” by corrosion, disintegrates into dust. And Land Rover has a tendency to use steel bolts and other fasteners in their aluminum bodies, often without proper insulation from aluminum (in aircraft industry, they use special insulators for every steel fastener). One steel bolt in permanent contact with aluminum is enough to cause this (pic)
The aluminum trim on my truck is pitted with corrosion on all the areas that were covered by a slide-in camper (tail light bezels and on the back of the cab). Apparently there was a fair bit of condensation in those areas.
This was in Van Nuys, California, so I can’t imagine there was any salt present. I wonder if the previous owner had been plugging his camper in at camping sites and that could have caused the galvanic corrosion you mentioned.
What if Ford just called that Fusion wagon a crossover in order to sell it in the US?
Good article.
If anyone has an Iceland fascination they want to indulge (and have a VPN service) BBC TV in the UK is currently showing an intense Icelandic police drama series, ‘Trapped’.
Lots of snow, and Japanese 4×4’s galore.
I like seas, I really do. But men, what horrible things sea salt and marine climate can do to a car !… That Mercedes-Benz is not all that old…..
The cars look very, very familiar (globalization !!!), as if they’ve been taken from the streets of the city I live in. The Korrando and Musso can even be purchased brand new in Russia (as TagAZ Tager and Road Partner respectively). The only car I’ve never seen in the wild is the Volt.
Interesting, and brings memories from my trip there a couple of years ago.
It’s certainly a diverse.market. The figure of 10,000 car sales sounds about right for a country with a population of 300,000. It is likley also that the Cirrus was built in Austria rather the US and he Mondeo estate is a previous generation, and therefore not related to the current Fusion
A long walk around Reykjavik might be a little repetitive though 😉
Did you have any whale meat?
I’m quite certain that the Cirrus was never built in Austria.
“Homer Hatchback”……I love it!! ???
you went on vacation to iceland in the winter? awesome!
i never can get enough ssangyong. the musso in your article is badass!
I spotted two Toyota Avensis Mk1 (T22) sedans in this extensive collection. It was the 1997 replacement of the highly popular Carina E, Toyota’s D-segment car in Europe. The biggest engines available in the Avensis Mk1 were either a 2.0 liter gasoline or a 2.0 liter turbo diesel engine.
It was one segment below the Camry, which was Toyota’s executive sedan here.
The Hyundai 4×4 Van… this may be the only Hyundai/Kia that I’ll ever like, especially so if it has the intercooled turbo diesel with hood scoop.
I could probably be tempted by a SsangYong Musso or Rexton.
“A Chrysler 300? A Dodge Magnum? NO! The best of both worlds, a Chrysler 300C Wagon. Why, oh why, Chrysler, why deny the home market this piece of magnificence?”
you guys really need to get over it with the “wagon” whining. The Magnum was an absolute flop, there’s no way they’d waste the time and money trying again. nor would Ford bother federalizing a Mondeo wagon when customers would ignore it in favor of its platform-mate Edge.
I had a Dodge Caravan like the white one pictured with snow all over it. Mine did not have the colour keyed door handles, or the dark shaded tinted windows. But it did not have rust, at least not much of it, and certainly not in the front. It wasn’t the transmission that gave out, it was just age. A broken mirror, a wire harness, and master cylinder (and battery) all conspired to send me the terminal message that is was time.
Great shots – I downloaded the photo of the 300C wagon, as was evident today on another fine post.