Ah, July. The tipping point of the year. A month which sees America celebrating its independence, and the anniversary of Silly Putty being registered as a trademark (I kid you not). But in the world of Speedhunting, there’s one major event this month that everyone’s eyes will be on: Gatebil. I’m sure the event needs no introduction and to get you all in the mood, we’ll be dedicating this month to the sometimes wacky, quite often mis-matched, but always joyfully crazy world of Scandinavian car builds. Every single car feature that runs after this post for the rest of the month will have been shot by us in that corner of the globe where the days are long (for the moment), the drinks are expensive and the road signs warn of moose.

Whether the cars are from Norway, Sweden or Finland, they all qualify for entry. So to give you a little taster (or should that be smorgasbord) of what’s to come, here’s a selection of what you can expect. From a smoking Beetle…

… to a V12-powered Cobra…

… to a 1000hp+ Audi S3.

Of course, Gatebil wouldn’t be Gatebil without the KRB Audi, so expect a full feature on that…

… as well as its new stablemate, the Lotus Esprit race car.

What we love most about Gatebil though is the eccentricity; the builds that make you silently mouth WTF, the cars that shouldn’t be right, but just somehow are. From diesel drift cars…

… to tetanus-inducing rat rods. And of course, there’s many, many more where these lot have come from, so keep your eyes peeled!

Of course it’s not just the rides though – we’ll be bringing you full coverage direct from Rudskogen Motorsenter, Norway, as the Speedhunters team descends en masse to the circuit…

… along with our contribution to the carnage: drivers Fredric Aasbø, Mad Mike and Vaughn Gittin Jr.

We’ll be reporting regularly on site from our booth where there’ll be plenty to see, so if you’re going to be at the event, make sure you drop by and say hello!

Of course, Gatebil isn’t the only thing happening in July, so make sure you keep your eyes out for some quite literally breathless coverage from the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

The world famous peak has already seen its record fall to the all-conquering Loeb, but Larry will be bringing you more coverage from the event over the rest of this week.

Of course if all this talk of engine-swapping and tyre destroying has you turning your nose up in disgust, coincidentally enough, on the exact same weekend is the polar opposite on the car culture scale: Goodwood Festival Of Speed.

The British historic  festival celebrates the best of motoring, with a range of supercars rubbing shoulders with historic race vehicles, and well-known motorsport figures from past and present. Jonathan will be trying his best not to trample the lawn and capture all of the action for you.

Larry will be bringing you the latest coverage from Formula Drift as they hit up Seattle for round 5 of the championship.

Jonathan proves he just can’t get enough of endurance racing by heading to Belgium for yet another in the form of the 24 Hours of Spa.

This makes it his third 24 hour endurance event in less than three months. He must have an aversion to sleeping.

Meanwhile, Dino’s in for a bit of an endurance slog himself; firstly covering two events in one day, in the form of the JCCA Summer Meeting at Tsukuba and following that up with some rotary action at 7s Day…

… before donning his race suit himself and taking part in the idlers 12 hour endurance event at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.

Brad will be heading to the CRC Speedshow, reporting on all the goings on at this event in New Zealand, from the crazy drift demos…

… to the Custom and Classic show, showcasing the finest of the hand-picked customs on offer.

Mike will be checking out the Played Out show – the stateside event put on in California by the Players crew, who are obviously not content with putting on not just one, but two packed and amazing shows in the UK.

Of course, we’ll be bringing you all a multitude of other feature stories from around the world too, from Mike’s tour of the Toyota Museum…

… to inside looks around the leading car builders. So whether you’ll be making it out to Gatebil or not, make sure you join us this month in celebrating the build culture that’s sprung up in this area of the world. Because although there’s plenty going on in July, quite soon now, the daylight hours will be on the decrease and then it’s only a matter of time before three countries’ worth of petrolheads are plunged into darkness, whiling away the hours in their garages, lit only by the glare of the welding torch, bent on crafting yet more insanity. Who knows what mayhem will spring forth… we can’t wait!

Suzy Wallace
Instagram: speedhunters_suzy
Email: suzy@speedhunters.com