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Per Erik Olsen's 1933 Ford Tudor

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Per Erik Olsen pictured with his 1933 Ford Tudor in Kongsvinger, Norway, around 1968. Per Erik bought the abandoned Ford after spotting it by the roadside on his way back to college, where it had thrown a connecting rod through the engine block. Planning to turn the Danish-assembled sedan into a proper custom street rod, he began restoring and modifying it while studying to become a teacher. The project marked his first steps into the Norwegian hot rod scene and eventually led him to join Nor-Way Custom. Photo courtesy of Per Erik Olsen, from www.olsens.no.
Per Erik's Ford parked outside his student housing during the winter of 19681969. “It was a cold last winter at teacher’s college,” Per Erik recalled. “I was allowed by my landlord to park the project car just below my window where I also kept my daily transport. The Vespa started willingly and brought me the five kilometres to school all through winter — even in minus 33°C.” Photo courtesy of Per Erik Olsen, from www.olsens.no.
During the summer of 1969, Per Erik built a wooden ramp to lift his 1933 Ford for inspection and disassembly. “Summer was used to make a ramp, get a good look at the project and start separating parts, planning work,” he recalled. Photo courtesy of Per Erik Olsen, from www.olsens.no.
Friends borrowing their fathers’ equipment made disassembly and separating body from frame and transport an easy job,” Per Erik recalled. Photo courtesy of Per Erik Olsen.
The body was moved to his father’s garage in town, where work on the car continued. Photo courtesy of Per Erik Olsen, from www.olsens.no.


1933 Ford Tudor owned and restyled by Per Erik Olsen of Kongsvinger, Norway. Per Erik was a member of Nor-Way Custom, one of the country’s earliest organized hot-rod and custom clubs. His Ford became his first attempt at building a proper “American-style” street rod in Norway during the late 1960s.


A Bonnie and Clyde Beginning

In 1968, while riding his 150 cc Vespa the 100 kilometers back to college after a weekend at home, Per Erik spotted an abandoned 1933 Ford Tudor by the roadside. According to his recollections, “it appeared the owner and his girlfriend had tried to drive it to the local opening of Bonnie and Clyde, and during the trip the car had expired dramatically with a con rod out the side of its four-cylinder engine.[1]


Per Erik tracked down the owner, bought the car, and learned about a growing circle of Oslo car builders who were gathering around U.S.-style projects. “They were talking about Hot Rods and working on cars in garages around Oslo,” he remembered. “That’s how I heard about Nor-Way Custom.[1]


Planning a Street Rod

The Danish-assembled Ford originally ran a four-cylinder engine and had been neglected for years. Per Erik envisioned turning it into a Custom Street Rod Two-Door Sedan. He stored the car under his college window during his final winter at teacher’s school, often parking his faithful Vespa next to it.[1]


The Vespa started willingly and brought me the five kilometers to school even in minus 33 degrees C,” he said. During summer vacation, he built a ramp to lift the body off the frame and began a careful teardown. The body was moved to his father’s garage, where he could work indoors.[1]


Rebuilding the Chassis

The original frame showed rust damage, so Per Erik arranged for it to be repaired through an adult-education program in Kongsvinger. Under the guidance of a retired mechanic, the students completely disassembled, straightened, and hot-galvanized the frame before re-riveting it in a jig. The suspension springs were also reworked and re-hammered at a local truck-spring company to lower the car about two inches. “Oroper hot-rod fashion,” as Per Erik described it. Friends helped lift and move the body “the rural way,” borrowing farm equipment and their fathers’ tools to separate body and chassis.[1]


Life and Priorities Changing

The project advanced slowly as Per Erik finished school, married, and rented a flat with a small garage. Around this time, he met Per Arne Knudsen and the Nor-Way Custom group. “Per Arne took very good care of us,” he said. “He was the president — we met in his apartment in Alnafetgata and sometimes in kindergartens near Ekeberg. There we were, grown men sitting on tiny toddler chairs talking about V8s.” Per Erik’s own 1933 Ford served mainly as a learning platform while the club focused on helping Knudsen complete his more radical 1934 Convertible.[1]


From Hot Rod to History

As life changed, priorities shifted. After marrying, Per Erik and his wife bought a house in the countryside, but without a proper garage. The 1933 Ford was eventually sold to someone who planned to rebuild it as a stock vintage car rather than a hot rod. “It was sold on as a parts car,” he later said, “and by what I understand it is now a ’34 five-window coupe in Sweden.[1]


Although the 1933 Tudor never reached completion, it marked Per Erik’s first real step into the Norwegian hot-rod scene, a bridge between youthful dreams and the country’s early hot rod culture.[1]


Legacy

Per Erik’s 1933 Ford project captured the ambition of a generation trying to translate American hot-rodding ideals into Norwegian conditions. Limited resources, cold winters, and near-impossible regulations. The experience led him deeper into the Nor-Way Custom community and ultimately toward a lifetime of mechanical preservation, culminating in his founding of the Norwegian Veteran Motorcycle Club in 1973.


References




 

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