Elmia Motor Show
Since 1971, Elmia in Sweden has been home to Scandinavia’s biggest modified car and bike show, with over 75,000 people coming to see more than 700 cars and 300 clubs and trade stands each year. This Easter saw the biggest event yet, with a vast number of incredible cars and, you’ll be pleased to hear, among them were some spectacular BMWs from across the Continent.
For some reason, that thin strip of water that separates the UK from the rest of Europe seems to have made a big difference when it comes to modifying and there were certainly some very European-looking cars that won’t be to all tastes, but luckily there were plenty of spectacular BMWs that managed to appeal to everyone.
So, where to start? Well there were a few familiar machines among the cars on display so let’s start there. We hope you remember Kevin Sköld’s ultra-sexy air-ride E28 from the June issue, because it was only a month ago, and it was present at the show, and now sitting on a set of gorgeous step-lipped Work VS-XXs, their centres finished in the same rich red shade as his OZ Breytons. Tony Suominen’s bagged and S2000-swapped 1502 might not be so familiar, possibly because it’s in this very issue (p58) and you might not have read about it yet, but you probably should because it’s nothing short of spectacular. That candy red supercharged, air-ride E30 M3 is definitely going to raise a few eyebrows but it’s an astonishing machine and one which you can look forward to reading about very soon, along with that extreme orange drift E46. Wild steering lock? Check. Outrageous engineering? Check.
7.1-litre LSx V8-swap? Oh yes…
Team ARG had brought along a seriously tough E36 with a massive turbo strapped to its M50 and we loved the exceedingly brown E30 packing an S62 under the bonnet – nice. There was no missing the stunning orange E36 rocking a wide-body kit, Schnitzer splits with some serious stretch and the stance to go with it. The 8 Series might not seem like the obvious choice for a drift car, but when it’s running a turbocharged Jaguar straight-six, of all things, with 700whp and 738lb ft of torque, it’s quite good at going sideways.
There was also a staggering wide-body Z4 racer along with yet more turbocharged E30s, including a mad, wide-arch example with a vast splitter, to an ever-so-slightly more subtle two-tone effort. There was also a Liberty Walk E92 M3 on show, which suggests Europe is starting to catch the bug albeit slowly, an E36 pick-up conversion, an extremely slick slammed 7 Series and a, um, Frozen-themed E46 Cab. Elmia definitely doesn’t disappoint…
