Menus
- When Swedish steel rusts, the "Volvo Doctor" helps
- The most beautiful Swedish cars in history
- First of all, you have to find a Volvo expert
- The VW lover who works at Ford
- Volvo body perforated like Swiss cheese
- The mysterious yellow sports car
When Swedish steel rusts, the "Volvo Doctor" helps
1 of 10
Andreas Drescher has a soft spot for old Volvos, especially the Amazon. Produced between 1956 and 1970, the mid-range car was something like the VW Beetle… Sweden. Today the Amazon is comparatively cheap, and the spare parts supply is also good – a great introduction to the classic car hobby.
Source: Haiko Prengel
2 of 10
The fan scene for classic Volvos is rather manageable in Germany. So people were all the more happy when they saw an old Amazon driving on the street, for example…, says Andreas Drescher. “The feedback is always positive.” Probably also because the Amazon is not a prodigy car for people with a lot of money.
Source: Haiko Prengel
3 of 10
This blue Amazon belongs to a customer from Potsdam. The woman had once done an internship in Drescher‘s workshop. Now she drives classic cars herself. The four-cylinder of the Amazon… with double carburetor makes about 100 HP.
Source: Haiko Prengel
4 of 10
The two-door Amazon from the sixties is lower at the front (of course not ex works, but afterwards). Another highlight: the folding roof that can be folded in on beautiful ones…n summer days.
Source: Haiko Prengel
5 out of 10
The owner of the “Autoklinik” in front of his latest project, a gutted Volvo P1800 from the 1960s. On behalf of a lawyer, he should have the sports coupe by the middle of the 2nd…Completely rebuild 017: “A gigantic restoration job,” says Drescher.
Source: Haiko Prengel
6 of 10
Because Swedish steel can’t rust: After sandblasting, the body of the P1800 was perforated like Swiss cheese. For the left side sill, Andreas D…rescher already got a spare part.
Source: Haiko Prengel
7 of 10
Doors, exhaust systems, even complete engines with gearboxes: Over the years, Andreas Drescher has accumulated tons of spare parts for classic Volvos. Fortunately, the M…iete low for its halls. Most of the garages in Berlin cost a fortune, says Drescher.
Source: Haiko Prengel
8 of 10
Andreas Drescher in front of another customer vehicle. The underbody protection of this Volvo Amazon is to be renewed. That means a lot of work: First, the body of …Ice-blasted at the bottom, then a new protective layer is applied to preserve the classic for the next few years.
Source: Haiko Prengel
9 of 10
This Volvo 262 Bertone is an exotic one: the Italian design company turned the four-door Swedish sedan into a two-door coupe with a vinyl roof. A …Six-cylinder, which was also installed in the Renault Alpine. "This car was already very expensive in the eighties," says Andreas Drescher, who now wants to rebuild the wreck for his private collection.
Source: Haiko Prengel
10 of 10
But not all Volvos can be saved by Andreas Drescher, some of them are not worth rebuilding. This Volvo Amazon Kombi only serves as a spare parts dispenser.
Source: Haiko Prengel
Andreas Drescher has had a lot of cars, but his weakness is old Volvos. With this preference he went into business for himself. You rarely find a professional like him in Germany.
A.Older Swede, Andreas Drescher has decided to do something again. “This is my newest baby,” says the 50-year-old and swings open the door of one of his garages. A body shell stands there jacked up: sadly naked, in a red-brown primed sheet metal dress.
You can’t really call it a car, the skeleton is more reminiscent of a fish skeleton. And yet this pile of scrap metal is something special. What exactly is revealed by a scribble on the rear window. "P1800" someone wrote on the dusty glass with his finger – as if you’d otherwise forget what it was about.
But how can you forget the elegant sports coupe that Volvo built in the 1960s and 1970s? This car was proof that Volvo designers can do more than just draw with a ruler if they want to. Today you have to pay more than 20,000 euros for a well-kept P1800, but prices well over 30 grand are not uncommon either.
The most beautiful Swedish cars in history
1 of 9
Isn’t it wonderful? The PV444, better known under the name Buckel-Volvo, is the most likeable Swedish cruiser of all time. Responsible for …
Source: Volvo
2 of 9
… are these two gentlemen: Assar Gabrielsson (left) and Gustaf Larson founded Volvo in 1915. At first it was all about ball bearings, but …
Source: Volvo
3 of 9
… In 1927, Volvo entered the car business with the OV4 Jakob (left). Another milestone was Europe’s first streamlined car, the Volvo PV36 Carioca from 1935.
Source: Volvo
4 of 9
Two classics of the 1960s: The Volvo 144S started the design era of angular lines, which meant a departure from the more rounded Volvo P121S Amazon. It was also legendary …
Source: Volvo
5 of 9
… the 1961 introduced Volvo 1800E (rear) and its shooting brake version 1800ES launched ten years later – better known under the name Snow White’s coffin.
Source: Volvo
6 of 9
With the Volvo 850 (here the top version T5R), the last Volvo in the typical angular design came onto the market in 1991, today …
Source: Volvo
7 of 9
… more elegant, but no less bulky designs dominate, such as the current large SUV XC90.
Source: Volvo
8 of 9
The Volvo 164 from 1972 and the …
Source: Volvo
9 of 9
… brand new S90 coming out in 2016. Times change, so do cars.
Source: Volvo
Andreas Drescher reassembles broken vintage cars. "Autoklinik" is what he calls his company, which is located deep in the east of Berlin. The industrial park, where the native of Karlsruhe works and welds, used to be a Stasi site. There are large halls for trucks there, but at the time they were just camouflage, says Drescher. “The underground is bunkered.” In fact, not everyone seems to have had access to the site during the GDR era, as the high walls with electric fences testify to.
The German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst is in the neighborhood. The Wehrmacht signed its unconditional surrender in the former officers’ mess on May 8, 1945, ending the Second World War in Europe.
First of all, you have to find a Volvo expert
Today Karlshorst is popular with families who are not in the mood for an apartment in Berlin’s overcrowded trendy districts. Andreas Drescher came to the site in 2000. After years as an employed car mechanic at Mercedes among others, he started his "Autoklinik Lichtenberg", an open-ended car workshop, also for newer vehicles, independently.
It is an open-type car workshop, also for newer vehicles. In economic terms, the order situation is mixed, admits Andreas Drescher, who employs an employee: "You torment yourself like this from year to year."
Perhaps it is because Andreas Drescher prefers to restore old cars with dedication than to read out dozens of control units every day. It doesn’t pay off financially, but it’s a lot more fun.
The VW lover who works at Ford
1 of 10
At the age of 17, Markus Freitag bought his first Golf, a Golf II, special “Fire and Ice” model. Since then, the Rhinelander has been infected with the VW virus.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
2 of 10
He even jazzed a Golf up to 745 hp. Markus Freitag has been known in the tuning scene since this performance explosion at the latest. The 37-year-old also drives a Gol in everyday life…f II, a beige model, not tuned and with a bobble dog on the hat shelf.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
3 of 10
On the way to a VW meeting, Markus discovered the alternative to his tuned uber-Golf, a 1966 Beetle with only 34 hp.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
4 of 10
It was love at first sight: Markus bought the Beetle, named it Emma and restored it.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
5 out of 10
He exchanged the engine, but deliberately refrained from increasing the performance.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
6 of 10
While his uber-Golf managed over 300 km / h, speed is not an issue for the Beetle. On the contrary. Markus loves to travel very relaxed by car.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
7 of 10
In everyday life he spares his Emma and drives his 30-year-old Golf instead.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
8 of 10
In winter, however, neither the Golf nor the Beetle have to go out into the cold. During this time, the auto mechanic drives a "rocked-up Golf" that his heart is not so attached to and that he i…I want to sell again in the spring.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
9 of 10
Things are getting tight in his garage, but Markus has found a place for his next project: a VW bus, special model Samba.
Source: Fabian Hoberg
10 of 10
The 50-year-old bus is still original, but also in poor condition. However, Markus is confident that in two years’ time he will be going on vacation by bus….
Source: Fabian Hoberg
But Drescher‘s weakness is classic cars – especially Volvo cars. That is somewhat extravagant: There are a number of vintage car workshops in Berlin, but most of them specialize in Opel, Mercedes, Ford and other German brands. First of all, you have to find a Volvo expert.
Andreas Drescher also drives a Volvo as an everyday car: a 15-year-old V70 station wagon. However, the car mechanic no longer thinks so much of the Volvo of the time: Like other vehicle manufacturers, the Swedes began to cut costs at some point – which was at the expense of quality.
Andreas Drescher came to classic Volvo by chance. “My first car was a Citroën 2CV,” says the 50-year-old. A VW Bulli T1, two Volvo Amazon, several Opel Admiral, two Audi Coupes, a Ford Capri and various Mercedes followed later. "At some point I made the decision to finally commit myself to one brand with my passion for collecting oldies."
Volvo body perforated like Swiss cheese
He chose Volvo. The reasons for this were as pragmatic as they were emotional. When he bought another Volvo Amazon, he still needed a lot of spare parts. He bought a second model to cannibalize, and it didn’t stop there …
There are now a good 20 old Volvos on his premises – from the hump over the Amazon and 164 to the P1800 in various states. Some are still waiting for a restoration, others are only suitable as organ donors for spare parts.
The naked P1800 is probably Drescher’s most ambitious project. By the middle of next year he wants, no, he has to completely rebuild the car and conjure up a finished sports coupe from the body shell.
The mysterious yellow sports car
1 of 9
Dieter Castenow, 55, from Ratingen near Dusseldorf drives an extremely eye-catching sports car with a double-door bonnet. Most …
Source: Stefan Anker
2 of 9
… do not immediately guess that this is a DeTomaso Mangusta. The 1966 …
Source: Stefan Anker
3 of 9
… The built car is constructed according to the mid-engine principle (engine in front of the rear axle), which can also be seen from the ventilation slots in front of the rear wheel.
Source: Stefan Anker
4 of 9
The idea, design, chassis and body came from the Italians, but the Germans from ZF supplied the transmission. and …
Source: Stefan Anker
5 of 9
… It’s no secret that the 305 hp 4.7-liter V8 comes from Ford: In addition to the DeTomaso lettering, the Ford logo can be found under the hoods, here lin…ks in the picture.
Source: Stefan Anker
6 of 9
In the interior, too, everything is typically Italian: but also clear lines …
Source: Stefan Anker
7 of 9
… lots of little switches to play with. These are especially fun.
Source: Stefan Anker
8 of 9
Dieter Castenow fits well with his 1.76 meters in the tightly cut DeTomaso Mangusta, the …
Source: Stefan Anker
9 of 9
… with a roof height of just 1.10 meters, it is one of the flattest closed cars ever.
Source: Stefan Anker
A lawyer who is enthusiastic about vintage cars has commissioned Drescher with the project and has already transferred money. “Now I’m gagged,” says the coachbuilder with a little desperation. The rebuilding will cost more than 30,000 euros in total.
But actually he is looking forward to the work. The body is already sandblasted and primed. Next up is all sorts of welding work. Yes, even the famous stubborn Swedish steel can rust – after sandblasting, the Volvo body was perforated like Swiss cheese.
Can you save every car? “Basically yes,” says Andreas Drescher. But that’s only possible because he doesn’t write down all of the working hours for his customers. "Otherwise I would be a millionaire by now."
My life as a Petrolhead – every Monday we introduce you to “Welt” a person for whom the car is much more than just a means of transport. If you would like to be photographed and portrayed in your car, please contact ps@weltn24.de.
Related articles
-
What Volvo has failed to do in 100 years
The Chinese are doing Volvo really well 1 of 9 Isn’t it wonderful? The PV444, better known under the name Buckel-Volvo, is the most likeable Swedish…
-
New comprehensive guide for power screwdrivers from Bosch
The ultimate manual for classic car screwdrivers Not all spark plugs are created equal. Even the small component has its evolution Source: Robert Bosch…
-
Classic car guide: these 10 things enthusiasts need to know
Ten things that classic car enthusiasts need to know The nice thing about old cars is that there is practically no vehicle that cannot be rebuilt, no…
-
The speedometer spy as a secret weapon against speedometer manipulation
This is the secret weapon against odometer manipulation If you want to know how many kilometers a used car really has on the speedometer, you can hire…
-
Volvo P 1900: The first European roadster was a huge flop
The first European roadster was a huge flop 1 of 8 In June 1954, the first three Volvo Sport P 1900s celebrated their world premieres at what was then…
-
Volvo plans to launch an electric car in 2019
Volvo is making electrification a top priority Vision a la Volvo: In 2019 the Swedish manufacturer wants to bring an electric car onto the market Source:…
-
Volvo 245 station wagon: everyone wants to buy this classic car
Everyone wants to buy this old Volvo “I love the look,” says Daniel Kranz of the design of his Volvo 245. The car looks like it was drawn with a ruler…
-
Volvo PV 444 and Saab 92 – the Swedish people’s cars
Of desirable humps and great trolls Volvo started developing a small post-war car as early as 1942. This Volvo PV 444 (humpback volvo) dates from 1956…
-
Oldtimer: “Humpback Volvo” – Swedish beauty with knack buttocks
“Humpback Volvo” – Sweden beauty with cracks buttocks Head of Travel 1 of 12 The legendary humpback Volvo was considered a dream car for young couples…
-
Driving report Volvo V60: Swedish cruiser in the test
The Volvo V60 shows the way to autonomous driving The driver is a minor matter in the V60 – at least in certain traffic situations Source: Jakob Hoff The…
