Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.06.2004, Qupperneq 14

THE CARS THAT SHAPED THE
GENERATIONS
WANDERINGS
Land Rover
Originally created in the aftermath of World War II
as a bulletproof all terrain vehicle for the army, it soon
found popularity among farmers, and nowhere more
so than here. Hordes were imported in the late 60´s,
and some of these are still in service.
Subaru Station
Subaru is a Japanese word which means “Unite.” In
the late 80´s they did just that for the average Ice-
lander. Every other nuclear family in Iceland seemed
to be transported around in one of these. They fell
out of favour, as most things do, but you can
still see them being used by carpenters
for moving materials
around.
Volkswagen Beetle
Designed by Hitler but became the favourite car of the
hippies. The 60´s only came to Iceland in the 70´s,
and the beetle became the car of choice for the
generation that saw cars as a mode
of transport rather than
status symbols. It has
recently gone out of
production.
Toyota Landcruiser
In Iceland, where the weather tends to be very
unpredictable, the rich don´t drive limo´s or sports
cars. They drive jeeps which allows them to
leave the city as well as to look down at
others in traffic. This is the slightly
cheaper
version for
those who
can´t
afford a
Range
Rover.
Lada Sport
In the days of the Cold War, Iceland traded more with
Eastern Europe that any other country bar Finland.
This took the form of bartering, and fish was
shipped east in exchange for Polish chocolate,
Czech cartoons and Russian cars. Ladas
and Trabants were frequent sights on
the streets.