MUSTANGMANIA INVADES ICELAND TWICE- PART 1
MY FIRST INVASION OF ICELAND
I have to Admit that i am one of that lucky guys that has the opportunity to travel around the world as a daily job, and have few hours free to enjoy some special moments for me.
I have been in Iceland twice, and actually i was not sure it was Iceland, due to the amount of american cars around.
But why Iceland is so linked to USA? The reason is pretty easy, The U.S. Navy base at Keflavík International Airport. The base has been active till September 2006. It was active since 1947, so you can easily image how many american cars, vans, trucks, suvs transitioned there ( and have been bought by locals).
During my first visit, The Kristinsson’s twins ( both male, car photographers and extreme petrolheads) Showed me few “ManCave” in Reykjavik, all of them, obviusly Mustang-oriented.
The First Mancave where we walked in is owned by the biggest Saleen Guy in Europe: Hilmar Jacobsen.
Hilmar has some of the Rarest Saleen Stuff you can see outside USA. His Masterpiece is a Mustang Saleen 25th anniversary, one of 25 built, that is even more rare, due to few unique mods he requested during the purchasing process. Another Saleen with the shaker supercharger was lifted in a corner( Hilmar is a drag racing guy, and uses that car for fun).
After a quick introduction and few beers, a foxbody shell took my attention: A roll cage, with indipendent rear suspensions ..”what about this?” I Asked. “This is a project i am doing with a friend, for the track days. It will have a S197 V8, with saleen supercharger and a 5 speed manual transmission”. I was astonished. It will be as quick as hell.
In the meantime we heard a very familiar sound: a supercharged V8!
Gudmundur Arni Palsson parked a lovely grabber orange Saleen in front of Hilmar storage.
After a quick introduction, and few pictures, Gudmundur said “well, it is time to go to my mancave!”. I quickly jumped in Hilmar Saleen. I have never been in a 25th anniversary. I was shocked: it looked like an evolution of a S197. The power you got with a gentle squeeze of the accelerator is something above my expectations, much more powerful than a S197 GT500.
After a quick ride through Reykjavik , we reached a quite, nice residential area in the suburbs. Gudmundur opened his garage, and there was a 1980’s camaro, under restoration. After few jokes about the camaro(that was parked on a strange platform..) we took the stairs for the mancave: a big room under the garage, with all-black 1969 MACH 1 on an hydraulic lifter.
“If i press here, we could smash the camaro?” i asked. “Yes, but don’t do it: the camaro is my wife’s car”, replied Gudmundur.
They Guys brought me back at the hotel, with the promise they will do something bigger for my next visit. I tought it was a nice sentence, but not possible..but something happened..
