Greger Strøm

Greger started his automotive career working as an apprentice at Nilsen & Robsahm in 1931. His dream was to become an aircraft mechanic, but that cost money. Money he didn’t have. Advertised as Norway’s most modern Ford repair shop, Nilsen & Robsahm was a race-friendly dealer where many of the racers in Oslo at the time worked or had worked. Photo by Anders Beer Wilse, courtesy of Nasjonalbiblioteket.

After four years of apprenticeship at Nilsen & Robsham, Greger went on to work for Lillestrøm Bilcentral, where this photo was taken. Photo from The Greger Strøm Collection.

Greger with his co-workers at Lillestrøm Bilcentral. Greger is the guy to the right in the photo. Lillestrøm Bilcentral was a Ford dealer, selling and repairing Ford automobiles. Photo from The Greger Strøm Collection.

Greger and Engelhardt Løchen worked together at Lillestrøm Bilcentral. Løchen had a 1929 Ford Model A roadster that he raced, and one of Arvid Johansen's Record heads wound up on his car. Taken at Lillestrøm Bilcentral, this photo shows Greger and Engelhardt as they are working on Engelhardt's engine. Engelhardt is sitting on the bumper of his car, while Greger is standing behind the engine. Photo from The Greger Strøm Collection.

A photo of Engelhardt Løchen in his 1929 Ford Model A roadster. According to the book Bilsport i Norge, where the photo appeared, it was taken at Momarken in 1934. Greger is standing behind the car with a cap, and according to Right On Nr. 71 the photo was taken in 1935. Photo courtesy of Greger Strøm, from Right On Magazine.

Greger behind the steering wheel of Eugen Bjørnstad's ERA at the Avus-racetrack in Berlin in 1937. The same year he decided to build his own race car. Photo courtesy of Greger Strøm, from Right On Magazine.

Greger Strøm Special No. 1. Greger's Nordic Special Racer was built in 1937. It attended one race at Leangbanen in 1937 where it beat Norwegian racing legend Arvid Johansen.

Greger knew that his engine wouldn't produce many more horses than a stock engine and that a low weight would be crucial for his success. He started the race at Leangen in second gear, knowing that Johansen always started in second gear as well. During practice, Greger had carefully measured which gears would give him the best start. His racer weighed less than Johansen's Model A, so he quickly achieved a leadership position. Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

"Now comes Arvid," Greger kept telling himself as he was pushing the Ford 4 Special to the maximum, "he must be tired of playing with me now..." According to the book "Bilsport i Norge," Greger didn't look back, but he could hear the intense sound from the four straight exhaust pipes that Johansen ran out of the hood side on his hopped-up Model A. Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

The next day, Adresseavisen reported that there was excitement up in the tower when the white racer shot out and maintained the lead in front of Johansen. "If he really beats Arvid, it would be a major achievement," Disponent Isberg, the President of Norsk Motorklubb, told the reporter during the race as he was following Greger being chased around the track. Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

Johansen never caught up with Greger, and the young mechanic won his debut race in front of 7000 cheering spectators at Leangbanen. In 1995, Greger told the magazine Right On that right then, it felt like he had won the Indianapolis. The helmet belonged to Sverre Gjørmesli, a member of NMK Orkla, and it had the letters ORKLA on the forehead. Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

The Monday after the race, Greger returned to Gaden & Larsen as a hero. David had beaten Goliat, and the local newspaper described Greger as a sensation. Disponent Isberg honored him at the award ceremony, and Adresseavisen printed his speech; "Mechanic Greger Strøm, with his homemade racer, came with such an unexpected surprise. It is a great honor to see the great achievement getting its reward." Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

In 2023, Christian Strøm still had the award his dad won at Leangen in 1937. Christian started working for his dad in 1964, building race engines for Ford Norway. While Greger had a stint career racing automobiles, Christian became a professional luger, representing Norway at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo and the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Photo by Sondre Kvipt - Kustomrama.

A newspaper clipping from 1938, showing Greger Strøm of Trondheim, Norway, surrounded by admirers in his second build, The Ford 8 Special. The expectations were high before the race, and the local newspapers had warmed the audience up, announcing that Greger would achieve even higher speeds this year with his roaring V-8. Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

Greger and John Tobiassen fighting for the lead position at Leangbanen in 1938. Greger took off from the start, quickly securing the lead position. Tobiassen turned out to be a confident and daring competitor, and Greger had a hard time maintaining the lead. Spectators kept their breath several times as the fierce competitors passed each other by on the dusty track. Photo from The Greger Strøm Photo Collection.

Greger built The Stousland Special in the early 1950s. The build was completed in 1951.

A photo of Greger Strøm from 1995. This was used in a story by Ronnie Krabberød titled "Giganten." Photo by Ronnie Krabberød, courtesy of Right On Magazine.

Greger Rolf Knudssøn Strøm of Oslo, Norway. Greger was the son of an opera singer. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1915, but the family moved to Oslo shortly after he was born.

Petter Fabrikken

In Norway, Greger's parents got divorced, and the young kid moved to the small community of Stange with his mother. "There was a blacksmith in town that dad called Petter Fabrikken," Christian recalled. "Dad enjoyed hanging out with the blacksmith, and he used to spend every evening watching Petter work."

Growing up in Oslo, Greger had already in the early 1930s seen men such as Arvid Johansen and other run fast in homemade and hopped up automobiles. He had also seen some of the few "real" race cars that had been sold to Norway.

In the mid 1930s Greger worked as a mechanic with his buddy Engelhardt Løchen. They drove an original 1929 Ford Model A roadster with a Record head.

Eugene Bjørnstad

In 1937 Greger rode his bicycle to the Avus-racetrack in Berlin to see his idol Eugene Bjørnstad race his ERA. He got to hang out with Eugene and his crew in Berlin, and he even got a ride with them back to Norway after the race.

First Car

Back in Norway, Greger decided that he wanted a race car himself. At the time he didn't even own an automobile, so in the spring of 1937 he bought his first car, a 1930 Ford Model A four-door Sedan. Greger paid 1800 NOK's for the Model A. At the time a normal Norwegian salary was 1.50 NOK per hour. The sedan would be the starting point for Greger's first race car. The inspiration for the build came from a Finish race car built by Einar Alm. Einar's racer had competed at Bogstadvannet in 1935, where it actually beat Eugene Bjørnstad's Bugatti, ending up on 5th place. Arvid Johansen, who competed in the "Sportsvogn" class at the same race, was also beaten by Alm's time. Alm's race car was very light, and it was basically built from plywood and cloth.

Greger Strøm Special No. 1

When Greger built his first race car, he lived in Trondheim, working for a company called Gaden & Larsen. Greger wanted his race car to be a surprise at the race at Leangbanen, so it was built secretly. He drove the stock Model A around for a while before he eventually parked it under a tarp at the parking lot where he worked. He started by removing the front axle. The front axle was modified so it could be mounted above the frame of the race car. After the front axle had been modified, he put it back under the Model A that he hid under the tarp. He continued by removing and modifying the rear axle so that it could be installed under the frame as well. New brackets for the spring were welded on before he could put the rear axle back under the tarp as well. The engine was removed and fitted with a French built camshaft that Greger had borrowed from Arvid Johansen, as the camshaft wouldn't fit with the Record OHV head that Arvid ran. The engine was bored as much as possible before new pistons were installed. The head was shaved for higher compression. A Scintilla-magneto was also installed so Greger could skip the heavy battery. The weight of the flywheel was reduced by 15 kg, about half of the original weight. Greger ran it without a fan. The front brake drums were retained, but they were empty inside, so Greger had only brakes in the rear of the car.

First test run of the engine turned out to be a failure. The camshaft provided enough speed, but the carburetor was not able to give as much fuel as it needed. Greger split the carburetor and modified the jet so it would run faster and provide a lot of power. The modified carburetor required high speeds. The rear end and transmission were kept stock on the inside. The result, according to Greger, was around 3000 rpm and 60-65 horsepowers. A Ford Model T frame was used for the build. The frame was fitted with the modified Model A axles. The final build weighed about 600 kg, something that resulted in a good acceleration. Top speed was around 100 km per hour. About a week before the race, the chassis was drivable and ready, but he had no body. The rolling chassis was rolled out on a Saturday evening after work. People were amazed to see what Greger had been up to, and even the boss honored Greger for what he had built. It was time for Greger to ask people for help, as he was still missing the body and various other parts. Greger had built the structure for the firewall. Hermann Eriksen built an aluminum grille, while a body man made most of the body parts. Greger kept the stock radiator, but he moved it behind the front axle. The stock steering gear was kept as well, but it had to be repositioned a little towards the center of the car.

It didn't take long before everyone knew that Greger Strøm of Gaden & Larsen had built a race car. Until that Saturday, Greger had secretly worked on the chassis after work hours and during the nights. Some days he snuck back into the shop after dinner. There were some holes in the fence that he could use to sneak back in after dinner. A handheld lamp was used for light. A hacksaw and welder were heavily used, and even though chairman Langnæs lived on the second floor of the same building, nobody knew what was going on.

Friday night before the race, half of the panels on the tail of the car were missing, so the body could not be painted before Saturday. It was painted white on Saturday, the day before the race. Several newspapers had heard about Greger's creation, and on Friday both Dagsposten and Adresseavisen came to take pictures of the race car. Two men had to stand next to the car on the photos to cover up the unfinished tail.

During a test-run at Leangbanen the day before the race, the middle crankshaft-bearing broke, and the race car had to be towed back to the shop. With help from Birger Knutsen and others, a semi-finished bearing was adapted and mounted. They finished the engine up 3 o clock that night.

Greger understood that a low weight would be the secret of his success. Even though he had borrowed a camshaft from Arvid Johansen, he knew that the engine wouldn't produce much more horses than a stock engine. He started the race in second gear, and a had a lead position from the beginning. Arvid Johansen was competing in the same race, and Greger knew he had to keep him behind him as long as possible. Arvid didn't catch up with Greger during that race, and Greger won in front of 7000 spectators. In 1995 he told the magazine Right On that right then it felt like he had won the Indianapolis.

After the race, Greger installed the front and rear axle on the Model A four-door again. He returned the camshaft to Arvid Johansen, and the engine disappeared. The race car was left rotting away. In 1995 nobody knew what happened to the Greger Strøm Special No. 1.

Greger Strøm Special No. 2

The following year, Greger had started another build. This car was also built secretly, as the new foreman at Gaden & Larsen was very strict. This time Greger wanted to go all the way, with a homebuilt tube-frame. Low weight was again what Greger aimed for. Tubes for the build were bought and sneaked into the shop. Work was done in the evenings and weekends, and the parts were hidden during the day. The parts-manager was informed, and he helped Greger ordering parts. Parts were also borrowed from the shelves in the shop. When it came to the engine, Greger got a broken 85 horsepower Ford flathead V-8 in a trade-off with a bus-company in town. Rebuilding the broken engine cost half of what it would have costed to buy a new one. The body was built at some acquaintances place in Namsos. When rumor hit the town about a race car being built in Namsos, the local newspaper decided to stop by the shop. The journalist wanted Greger to take the car for a spin around town, and he fixed a permission from the local police and fire department. The police and fire department shut down the main street of Namsos so Greger could show off his creation. The race Greger wanted to attend at Leangen was one day away, so the same night, Greger jumped into the car and drove it the 124 miles from Namsos to Trondheim. He had temporarily license plates and used two flashlights as headlights. The flashlights were tied to the front end, and they lasted for about an hour. After that, he drove the rest of the distance in the dark.

The race at Leangen started good for Greger, but with around 100 meters left to the finish line, the throttle linkage broke, and Greger lost the race. It was a frustrating situation for Greger who was in it for the win. As with his first car, the Greger Strøm Special No. 2 was also parted after the race. The engine was sold, but Greger never got his money. Borrowed parts were returned, and the rest of the car was left rotting away. Nobody knows what became of the remaining parts of this race car as well.

In 1939 Greger was back in Oslo, working for Fram Motor Kompani. WWII stopped all racing activities in Norway the following year, and after the War, it was a shortage of products in Norway. There were also import-restrictions on cars. Arne Hinsværk was a known race-car driver in Norway after the War, and he ordered a Ford V-8 special racer from Fram Motor Kompani. The car, known as Greger Strøm's third special racer would soon enter the history books as one of the most-winning Norwegian race cars ever. A tube-frame was constructed from scratch. The front and rear axle were Ford components, and they were placed above the frame. Arne's race car had brakes on all four wheels and a two-circuit brake system. The engine was a 100 horsepower flathead V-8 from a 1939 Ford that Greger hopped up with a Mercury crankshaft. The car, a two-seat roadster, was built in all publicity at Fram Motor Kompani. It featured fenders and headlights, and it was registered for usage on the street. Being built at a Ford-dealership, the car was fitted with a 1947 Ford grille. The price tag was 15.000 NOK.

Greger Strøm's Race Cars

Greger Strøm Special No. 1
Greger Strøm Special No. 2

Cars Built by Greger Strøm

Snövit
The Stousland Special