Bo Sandberg
Bo "Gamen" Sandberg (13 December 1939 – 15 December 1994) of Stockholm, Sweden. Bo was born in 1939, and he had been to the United States at an early age, as his dad ran a forwarding company, and Sven sometime was allowed to travel with his dad on the chartered planes.[1]
The Sandberg family lived in an apartment at Svarvargatan Kungsholmen in Stockholm. Bo had many nicknames, and was known as both "Bosse" and "Gamen" (Vulture). He had a big interest in birds as a kid
therefore the name "Gamen".
His younger brother Sven Sandberg also became a big custom car builder.
At age 14 Gamen began buying and restoring mopeds. After a while he started to customize the mopeds, giving them a personal touch. When he got his drivers license, he swapped the mopeds for cars. Gamen grew early an interest for the American car culture, and already in 1957 he founded The Road Devils, a "raggar-club." When Gamen went to the US with his dad, he brought magazines and stuff back home, to himself, and to his friends.[1]
Bo was a driving force behind the second generation of Swedish hot rodders and customizers.
Bo is probably the most influential and inspiring person in Swedish Rod and Custom history.
When he was old enough, Gamen moved from their parents on Svarvargatan 8, Kungsholmen, to a house at Flensvägen 27 in Örby, Älvsjö.[2]
Around 1964 / 1965 Bo and Göran Silfors started a custom parts company and body shop called Yankee Junk. The name of the company was not popular overseas, so they changed name to Yankee Custom Parts.[3]
Bo worked for a while at Ernst Nilsson, a Volvo repair shop in Stockholm. Later on, he also started the Swedish rod and custom magazine Colorod.
He ran the magazine from his shop at his home at Flensvägen 27 in Örby.
Bo married 1965 with Mette Njös. She did some paint work on the cars and also helped with upholstery work. Together they got the sons Lee Sandberg (b. 1966) and Leo Sandberg (b. 1969).
Bo and Mette separated in April 1973 and Bo met Ludmila. They lived a short time in England and in Spånga when they returned to Sweden. In Spånga he had a garage at Rinkebyplan.
He was an 'Associate' in the famous club L.A. Roadsters.
Bo passed away unexpectedly at a home dinner in December 1994. His main artery broke. After his death his son Lee Sandberg inheritated the T-23 Hot Rod.
In 2020 Mats Lilja told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he used to live near to Gamen's place in Örby in his early teens. "Me and some of my friends used to hang outside his workshop, and I particularly remember the trike that he had. Gamen had made a poster of him and his wife posing on the trike and I got one of those from him. I was very proud," Lilja recalled, adding that it was a very big thing for a 13-year-old boy. According to Lilja, the rumor was that the trike was the first trike ever built in Sweden. By then, Gamen's dad was running Vasa Päls, the biggest fur dealer in Stockholm and Sweden.[4]
Contents
Some of Bo Sandberg's vehicles
Bo Sandberg's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster - Purple Passion
Bo Sandberg's 1959 Ford Thunderbird - Surfin Bird
Bo "Gamen" Sandberg's 1959 Ford Thunderbird - Wild Bird
Bo Sandberg's Cool Cat
Monsieur de Paris. Trike with VW engine
Project Trans-Am. Trike with Porsche engine
Cars Painted by Bo Sandberg
Sven Sandberg's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe - The Glowing Coupe
Göran Silfors' 1936 Ford Sedan
Hans Broberg and Kjelle Gustad's 1938 Chevrolet Convertible
Arne Lindstrand's 1955 Chevrolet
Sven Sandberg's 1956 Ford Sunliner Convertible
Motorbikes Painted by Bo Sandberg
Ted Westerfors' 1962 Ducati 125CC
References
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