Anders Dahlgren started Door2Door CarBroker in 2004. The business concept is to assist Swedish buyers in finding their dream cars in the United States. Up till now Anders Dahlgren has purchased more than four-hundred cars in forty-four states for clients in Sweden and elsewhere.
Starting August, 2015 Anders Dahlgren will contribute to Usabil.nu and Worldkustom with roadside memories from his American encounters. With a father and grandfather who drove American cars you could say that Anders Dahlgren was destined to become a car buff.
The family travelled around Europe in several Ramblers, a 1964 Ford Country Sedan and a 1968 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, all station wagons. The American cars attracted attention in Europe long before they became classics. Anders ́ grandfather had a green 1955 Chevrolet 210, assembled in Stockholm. As a young boy
Anders dreamed about owning his
grandfather ́s Chevrolet one day. However, the
dream was shattered a December day in 1977
when the car was wrecked in an accident.
Luckily no one was injured but the car was
gone. In Swedish magazines Anders read
about importing cars from the US. And a few
months after the accident Anders had set his
mind on buying another Chevy from the US
and decided to visit a friend in Montgomery,
AL. In spring 1978 a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air became the first car he owned and also imported to Sweden. Anders Dahlgren currently owns four classics; a 1966 Pontiac Catalina Convertible, a 1957 Chrysler Saratoga with only 10,000 miles and a 1959 GMC pick-up, all imported from the United States. But the favorite car is a green Chevrolet Bel Air. It was discovered in a barn in the vicinity of the Stockholm International Airport and just like the family Chevy it was assembled at the GM plant in Stockholm. The deal was completed on April 17, 1994, the same day Anders' grandfather would have celebrated his ninety-fifth birth day, if still in life. The 1955 Chevy was commemorated on a Swedish stamp in 1997. Anders Dahlgren is a member of the Classic Chevy Club of Sweden and was the editor of the club magazine between 1998 and 2002. ¨ Mr. Dahlgren resides in Sollentuna, Sweden.
Wicked Ink Tattoo Chevy!
Inga Gill! My then-girlfriend raised her arms towards the sky, rolled her eyes and exclaimed the name of the Swedish actress: Inga Gill! First I thought it was a strange expression of a religious experience. This was in the late eighties and Inga Gill was still alive. She certainly had a long track record as a talented actress, but was hardly known for being the subject of existential seekers. However, she had played a role in Ingmar Bergman's film the Seventh Seal. Nevertheless, she was the cause of out-cry when we walked by the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. The hotel´s veranda with its big panorama windows is facing the street just above the heads of passers-by. This is where my girlfriend spotted the actress who at the time starred in a Swedish TV series of which my girlfriend was a keen follower, hence the reaction. I had a similar experience some twenty years later while I was stuck in traffic on “Essingeleden” Stockholm´s major by-pass. Traffic was moving, if at all, slowly forward. Amidst the growing frustration of not moving fast enough I had a sense of something familiar slowly floating by above me. Traffic moved a little faster in the opposite direction when a car hauler passed. On
where my girlfriend spotted the actress who at the time starred in a Swedish TV series of which my girlfriend was a keen follower, hence the reaction. I had a similar experience some twenty years later while I was stuck in traffic on “Essingeleden” Stockholm´s major by-pass. Traffic was moving, if at all, slowly forward. Amidst the growing frustration of not moving fast enough I had a sense of something familiar slowly floating by above me. Traffic moved a little faster in the opposite direction when a car hauler passed. On top of and at the very end of the trailer was a red and white 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air that had a rear window decal reading “Wicked Rods” and "Wicked Ink Tattoo" in bold letters. This was the same car I bought for a client a few months earlier in San Antonio, TX. Now we met again on a Stockholm by-pass, a few hours before it would be delivered to its new owner, Sven-Olov Aringskog in Skutskär. How about that! It is sometimes a small world! I stretched my arms up towards the headliner and cried out: Wicked Ink Tattoo Chevy! The freeway opened up again and traffic began to flow.