Karl-Ola Englund

Price winning A-Ford 1931 in fibre glass.

The MGA from late 1950 is a fulltime project

Famous artist Lena Philipsson likes the car!

The new 1926 T

From the boat museum.

From the boat museum.

Fantastic raceboat built by Karl-Ola.

The outboard engine is a beauty itself.

When you come and visit a real Hot rod legend like Karl-Ola, you soon realize that it will end in a long visit and a long article!

The fact that you are immediately welcomed with a fabulous homemade sandwich cake doesn't make it any worse!
Apparently it seems to be a small tradition to offer a sandwich cake from the Englund family when you get a long-distance visit to the beautiful idyllic town of Karlholmsbruk on the coast in northeastern Uppland, Sweden.

Early years

Karl-Ola (b. 1942), has been active in both boat and car sport since a kid.

- “It started with reading Hot rod magazines from the late 1950s and of course I was inspired.
I was mostly into boats at that time, both wooden boats and plastic hulls that I cast myself.
During a visit to Stockholm I got in touch with Bosse “Gamen” Sandberg who was then importing Kellison bodies from the USA.
- “Gamen” asked if I could cast T-23 bodies too, so I made my own new mold and started manufacturing.
There was the possibility of getting an opening door if you wanted, as well as fenders and steps. These were then sold through Yankee Custom Parts, YCP.”

Boat building and racing

The connection to boats and boat racing has always been strong.
Karl-Ola and his brother Tommy competed successfully with their own built boats in various races, including internationally, with the company Snatra båt.
Sponsors were available through Crescent and Penta. On Youtube there is a fun film “Helldrivers on the sea” Youtube video where the brothers do shows including 30 meter jumps through flames via ramps.

Ski-boats were also tested with V8 engines.

On his property, Karl-Ola has a separate house decorated as a small museum with a fantastic large collection of boats, outboards, steering consoles and other boat-related items.
The emphasis was on home-built so-called "Galosch boats" which were popular in the 1950s and 60s.

But back to the cars ….

- "The house was built in 1965 and the first Hot Rod with the T-23 body was finished in 1967.
There were trips to "Gamen" in southern Stockholm almost once a week, when many parts for the car were bought through him.
I especially remember a copper-colored Ford 32a 5-win that "Gamen" had. He had put a sign with "Hot Rod Show" on the roof and drove around to advertise his exhibition in the Marmorhallarna."

-"The business with plastic bodies continued and I produced a model T-27 coupe type "Grandma Duck" which became popular, among other things to put on a Volvo Duett chassis and have it registered and approved as a Duett with a replaced body.
Sven Sandberg was one of those who built and aproved one of these with different rear parts - turtle deck, flatbed and a home-built camper with four sleeping beds.
I myself built a similar one which was approved when the new regulations came in 1982.

I managed to get the T-23 bucket approved in 1978, it was done together with Weine Andersson's T-hot (formerly Yankee-Car).
It was successful because we could prove that the cars were built before 1970.

- "However, in the sixties before the T-23, I built car based on a VW chassies and a Reva body.

Unfortunately, I ran into an overzealous inspector who demanded certificates from the Swedish importer VW on axles and more. He was just out to mess around but certificates were arranged anyway. That didn't work, he wanted certificates from Germany! When this was also arranged, it was a no-no! I was about to give up but finally called the head office at TSV and explained the situation. There was complete silence on the phone when they heard who it was and then said - You kid - We'll arrange this, we'll be in touch in a moment! It didn't take many minutes before the inspector called with a trembling voice: - "There's been a misunderstanding - if you can bring the car down today, you'll get it approved." I thought – now I’ll give back. During the return visit (which was free) I didn’t say a word to him. He was visibly taken aback and I got the ‘owl’ straight away and left. Afterwards I understood that he had deliberately exploited his position against many others, I believe and hope he was fired for gross misconduct!”

Later years

Another bite of the sandwich cake passed with coffee and biscuit while Karl-Ola continued his story.
We went down and looked at the cars that had been driven up in the middle of the lot.
The T-23 is still in exhibition condition, the body has been replaced with another one with flame paint and a homemade convertible.
Everything was done professionally. Many details on the car such as the lights and more were molded in plastic by Karl-Ola himself and there are many subtle, clever technical solutions.
The 1955 Plymouth engine has long since been replaced with a Chevy small block with an automatic transmission.
The car still has Karl-Ola's own characteristic fenders all around, even though he knows that you can drive without fenders these days.

Next to it is the equally nice green 26a coupé, which is very similar to the red one with the same body that was built in 1982, one of the first to be inspected with the new rules and SFRO. The red one is now in Hedemora.

No time to rest - more projects

“We’ll go into the carpentry workshop, this is where I’m working on the latest project,” says Karl-Ola and we go to a larger building on the site. Here is a rotating stand and on it a plastic body under modification. An MGA roadster from the late 1950s that was cast in parts from a friend’s car and now put together. You begin to understand the enormous amount of work that goes into the molds and the post-processing with grinding and straightening. Where does the guy get his energy from? The entire room is filled with parts and materials for fiberglass casting. On the walls are photos, posters and gadgets, each with a story to tell. “I was actually going to build a new T-bucket, but I lost inspiration and put it away for the time being and am now working on the MGA. It’s in the building next door.”

We go into the next garage and in addition to the T-23 project, there is the unique finished Ford 1931 coupe that was built about 20 years ago.
The body is of course in fiberglass by Karl-Ola himself with many fine details and creative joy.

Among other things, drip moldings have been formed on the roof sides when material was plasticized during casting and then filed/sanded down by hand!
The car received a lot of attention in several magazine reports, but unfortunately there has not been much time to drive it.

-“The ongoing body manufacturing was taken over by Kvarnbergs in Gävle quite a while ago.
They have taken over my moulds and continue to sell. I honestly don’t know how many bodies have been cast over the years.”

The visit ended in the small boat museum where various clubs and interested parties are sometimes invited to coffee evenings and meetings to talk or look at old films and photographs.
One cannot help but be impressed by Karl-Ola’s commitment and energy.

Thanks for a fantastically fun visit!

What is your best memory with the car?

Karl-Ola: – “It must be when you went down to Biskopsudden every Wednesday, in the early 1980s. Lots of cars and fun people.
You got to know the guy who owned the café Ekorren, he never went to the cash register when you bought coffee but just said ‘70 glad’.
We were in an episode of the TV program ‘Mitt i strömmen’ with the cars, Olle Thorslund and others.”

What is your worst memory with the car?

Karl-Ola: - “Honestly, I can’t remember anything bad, it’s been fun the whole time and the cars I’ve built have worked perfectly!
That must have been the problem with the inspection then.”

What are you doing right now? What’s happening with the car?

Karl-Ola: - "Yes, as you can see, I'm very busy with projects, sitting still is not for me.
I think my daughter will take over the T-23 as I move on. She has several Yankee cars herself and a great interest in the hobby, which is fun."

Karl-Ola Englunds cars

Karl-Ola Englund's 1923 Ford
Karl-Ola Englund's VW Reva
Karl-Ola Englund's red 1926 T coupe
Karl-Ola Englund's green 1926 T coupe
Karl-Ola Englund's 1931 A-Ford coupe

Text and photos: Mats Wallander