Last summer, as we spent a few days in Iceland on the way back from France, I shot a few cars but never seemed to be in the right place at the right timeand in the right frame of mind to actually shoot anything coherent that could be turned into a story. After mulling it over for literally a year, I hereby present a bit of a grab bag from those few days…
Looking out of the window from our VRBO on the day of our arrival, I spotted this fine late-model Volvo 240 and ran down to take a couple of shots. These are more or less a standard bearer CC-mobile at home but are getting a bit thinner on the ground. I thought I would see dozens in Iceland but in the end I believe this is the only one I saw (or at least noticed).
It’s quite fetching in red, the color being probably the most sporting thing about it but I’ve always like the positively huge headlights that we got on the last few years of the U.S. version and the European versions seem to be, if anything, even larger.
On our second day we went on a driving trip on a route known as the Golden Circle. Our first stop was at Thingvellir National Park at a large site that has hundreds of little rocks piled up – my picture doesn’t really do it justice, it goes on and on in every direction. At first I stopped the kids from messing with the rocks but then I noticed others making piles so I let them do it as well.
Hopefully that was not a serious faux pas. As I understood it, Thingvellir is the place of the first Icelandic Parliament and has great cultural significance. I might have missed a few things in translation but certainly not the hundreds of pesky little flies, we soon got back into the car and continued.
A short while later we ended up at a different part of the park that has fissures running throughout as it is a place where several tectonic plates meet and the earth is in a constant state of upheavel (in the geological sense). It is a very striking landscape with rifts in the landscape clearly noticeable, on one point during our short hike we entered a part where it was clearly obvious that the rocks had sheared and moved many feet up and down relative to each other while opening a space for a trail to run through between.
There are also a lot of streams, rivers and waterfalls in the area with ample opportunities for little ones to be swept away if not careful. It was a little nerve wracking as a parent with three kids used to the bubble-wrapped safety of all things America.
During our lunch stop, I noticed this SsangYong Musso. While some of our international readers are familiar with this vehicle, I had not seen one before. That’s a pretty serious looking trailer it’s towing, no doubt it has a decent diesel engine under the hood.
Built in Korea, the Musso was first available in 1993, the Turbo Intercooled version (as this one) started being produced in 1997. I’m going to call this a 1997, since they were facelifted in 1998 and this looks like the older style to me. Musso’s are known to be quite rugged offroad. Musso actually means Rhinoceros in Korean, whch is a pretty apt name for a stout off-roader.
It certainly sounds tougher than Highlander for example, but I wonder how something called Rhino would sell over here. It’s not bad looking once you get a bit used to it, it looks fairly similar to the Isuzu Rodeo actually. I didn’t take any interior pictures as this was outside of a cafe with large windows and I didn’t want to have test my non-existent Icelandic language skills.
In the same lot I spotted this Mitsubishi Lancer wagon. Like the Volvo, it is also red and I thought of our own Perry Shoar, who is a big fan of these and did a fantastic series here on CC chronicling the entire Colt series by which name the Lancer is also known. This one has a nice little hitch as well as a very well integrated rear fog light in the lower bumper area.
I believe this is a mid-90’s model but I know some of you more familiar with these can pinpoint the year and probably even the engine, we never got this version in the U.S. I have NO idea what the van next to it was, it looks interesting but I only had eyes for the red wagon at the time.
Our next stop was at Geysir, where last year I reported on the pretty little Deutz tractor in front of the gift shop / restaurant complex. This is yet another area where one is best advised to keep a tight leash on the little ones with plenty of opportunities to be parboiled and ruin the vacation.
All geysers are named after “Geysir”, which is located here and is considered the granddaddy of them all. Geysir doesn’t blow very often any more since too many people threw rocks and other stuff into the water, but closely nearby is Strokkur which goes off in spectacular fashion pretty much like clockwork. There are numerous other hot pools in the immediate area as well.
As we were walking back to the car in the parking lot, I noticed this British-registered VW bus and I thought it was a fairly rare sight so I stopped to take a picture. Iceland is filled with tourists that bring their campers with them from all over Europe, we saw tons of Germans and some Dutch, but this was the first British one.
I was quite surprised to see that it is apparently a later watercooled version. I believe it is officially a T2c which was built in Mexico for the South and Central American markets but some were also exported to Great Britain in the early 1990’s. They have a slightly raised roof and an inline 1.8liter four-cylinder engine. From what I can tell this one also has a camper-style liftable roof on it.
It was in exceptional condition making me wonder if maybe it isn’t newer, these were also built in Brazil until 2013, so maybe that is more accurate. The lifespan of these was so long I really can’t be sure.
Our next stop was at Gullfoss. I have been to Niagara Falls and all I can say is that Niagara seems like a child’s sandbox creation compared to Gullfoss. It is simply staggering to see how much water goes over the falls and how much noise and spray is generated.
Like the rest of Iceland, you’re pretty much on your own here with slick and jagged rocks and unsecure footing, all the while dodging other tourists trying to get as close as possible to the edge for their own camera shots. Pictures can’t really convey the scale of the thing. There is also no way to avoid getting soaked walking down to this viewing “platform”, and I use the word “platform” loosely.
In the Gullfoss parking lot was another example of how some people tour Iceland, I noticed that the water bottle still had refreshment left in it, but the bottle of “liquid courage” was in need of a refill.
This was back in Reykjavik at the harbor. Simply put, Iceland is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited, it’s pretty much a tie for me between this and New Zealand which is also stunning. There is so much to see and so many places to go, most of them utterly devoid of crowds, allowing one to just be immersed with nature. But even the man-made or man-modified areas such as The Blue Lagoon spa area are simply amazing.
If any of you do the U.S. – Europe trip in either direction I would suggest you look into Icelandair flights that for us wound up being less expensive than any other option last year and included a no-charge stopover in Iceland on either leg. With one terminal and a one-hour transfer time, switching places was zero hassle and being able to visit here for several days was well worth it. And the service, in-flight entertainment, and food were far beyond the standards of any of the American carriers.
Iceland has a vibrant car culture, most of you have heard of the monster glacier trucks that drive around (true), but there is also a definite American car scene here, we saw numerous vintage rides mostly in excellent condition. Of course, when actually looking with my camera they all disappeared with the exception of this Ford Bronco parked in the downtown area.
Well taken care of but hardly coddled, this seems like an excellent way to enjoy driving on and off road here. With generally low speed limits, but very expensive fuel, people seem to keep car travel to a minimum.
What did we drive? Well, since Iceland’s summer season is very short, rental rates during the season are unbelievably high. The best strategy seems to be to reserve the absolute cheapest and smallest car that will fit your needs and then hope for a free upgrade.
We had reserved a Chevy Cruze Diesel Wagon at the bargain rate (for here) of around $90 for each of our three days. When we arrived we were met by our rental representative and presented with this Chevrolet Captiva 4WD 7-seat TurboDiesel (extended wheelbase compared to the U.S. market 5-seat version).
At first I was dead set against it and tried everything I could to convince him to let us have the Skoda Superb parked next to it, having been predisposed to disliking it by negative reviews of the U.S. market Chevrolet Captiva (rental fleet only, rebadged Saturn Vue which was itself a rebadged Opel Antara). However once I noticed the third row things started looking up. My wife telling me to stop behaving like an idiot and just to enjoy the larger car helped as well.
Once driving, it was actually quite good and I ended up very pleased that the five of us (three of them pictured above) were not cramped into a Chevy Cruze. The Captiva was quite spacious, very comfortable, plenty powerful, and had a full set of features (power everything, trip computer, good radio). The engine was a turbodiesel, of which I am ashamed to admit that I did not take a picture or even open the hood to see if it was a 4cylinder or a 6cylinder at the time.
As I said earlier, my pictures on this trip were a bit haphazard which is why there are no interior shots either. I assume after some research it was the 2.2liter which produces 180hp and 300lb-ft of torque in the Opel Antara with the automatic. Plenty of power and if the US version had been equipped likewise would probably have caused some reviews to be different.
These pictures were shot at the last minute when we were back at the airport (one terminal, seen in the background of the second to last picture). The rental return instructions were to “Fill with fuel, park in lot A, leave the parking pass and the keys under the floormat, leave car unlocked, don’t worry about it and enjoy your flight.” What a fantastic country and people that more of the world could use as an example.
That bottle of Jameson looks mighty tasty. I like to call that Bad Decision Juice…
You’re really making me regret our decision not to stop over in Iceland on our recent trip to Europe, even though we did fly Icelandair. If I’d read this a couple of months earlier, we would have. Next time.
Our experience flying Icelandair was very good. I managed to snag seats at the very first row of economy, which had first-class legroom; I could totally stretch out. What a difference that makes, especially when you’re tall. And the stop-over in Iceland was quick and fairly pleasant, if a bit crowded in such a small airport.
Icelandair flies only 757s, which are narrow-body planes, and the airport in Reykjavik is small, so the whole experience is rather different; reminded me of flying in the 70s. I can very much recommend it.
At the time we made our reservations, I was feeling a bit stressed for time; now in retrospect, a couple of days in Iceland would have been a great ending. As I said, next time.
I really cannot overstate how wonderful the whole experience was. Iceland is NOT cheap by any stretch of the imagination but such a beautiful place. And Icelandair is a great airline, they really make flying as good as it possibly can be these days. I was nervous about the 757’s at first, as I was concerned they’d be old and ratty, I could not have been more wrong. Everything was first-rate. The icing on the cake was that the flights were quite a bit cheaper than flying direct and that airport is a little gem.
I’d actually been to the airport before, back in 1977 when we were over here for a year temporarily, on one of the flights back via World Airways we flew with a stop in Iceland from Miami IIRC. We only made it to the terminal in Iceland, I think the plane was being refueled and they had everyone get off. At that time (I was about 8) I recall a gate and a very large open floor space with a few other gates off of it. Quite primitive but it did the job. Soon we were back on the plane and continuing to Frankfurt. That’s how I pictured the airport until this last summer. Now it’s like a modern small regional, think Orange County or San Jose for a rough comparison, one terminal and a ten minute walk maximum between gates. It’s slick, they have all the flights to/from the US on one hand and then all the European flights on the other, both sets of flights meet up in Iceland and switch passengers and the planes then go back to where they came from.
757’s, like the 747 and old 707, were some of the best aircraft ever screwed and riveted together. I would be more worried about the pilot and how much “liquid courage” he had before the flight or stashed under the Captain’s chair…
Don’t forget the 727 – one of the best planes and most successful designs ever built!
I’ve always liked the 727. Only ever flew on them when I was a small child, though I do have some memories of the “People’s Express” 727 that we traveled on when I was 5 years old. Ever since then I’ve had a somewhat irrational attachment to trijets. Not to mention that the 727-200 was just a great-looking plane, at least for a passenger jet.
Jealous of anyone who’s been to Iceland. The VW camper is a British conversion by Danbury in Bristol who imported the base vehicles from Brazil right up to the end of production (last year?). The number plate shows it’s a 2007 one. Their web site refers to 1.4 litre Polo engines.
I was not aware of these…sure seems like a lot of weight to hang out there ahead of the front wheels!
That’s a nice variety of cars and scenery !
About the diesel engines. The only brands that offer 6-cylinder diesel engines (in cars) these days are Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Maserati, Jaguar and Range Rover.
Mainstream brands don’t offer them (anymore).
Don’t forget VW (Touareg), same engine as Audi/Porsche.
(edit) Oh, and Jeep in the Grand Cherokee and Ram if you count the Ram as a car-like vehicle
Right !
We can also bundle them:
Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen: same V6 engine.
Jaguar and Range Rover: same V6 engine.
Maserati, Jeep, Ram: same V6 (VM Motori) engine.
That leaves Mercedes with their own V6 and BMW with the only inline-6 diesel engine.
It should be Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford and Peugoet/Citroen. They all have the same V6 diesel engine in various models. ie 407 Coupe, Ford Territory, Land Rover Discovery… 🙂
That’s the first time I’ve heard of a Ford Territory !
It’s a shame Volvo no longer makes anything like the 240. In their quest to compete with upscale brands, they completely abandoned the customers who kept them in business for decades.
they’ve all moved on to subarus but i definitely miss the 240.
dat bike
edit
I’m lazy today but I seem to remember SsangYong using older Mercedes engines at the time so they at least got that right.
Again I’m not sure but I think the diesel version was a 5 pot turbo affair.
The kind of tandem axle trailer the Musso is towing looks very familiar. A galvanized chassis, a flatbed on top of it, and with drop-down aluminium sideboards.
Here’s a similar trailer:
Thanks for the post. The scenery is really beautiful. As you mentioned it seems that individual safety is left up to an individual’s good judgement. Quite a contrast to the USA and especially a state like California where everyone is fearful of any liability.
The two-toned van parked next to the red Lancer wagon is most likely a Toyota HiAce.
ooh, a ssangyong musso! the name just rolls off the tongue. a korean german mashup… what’s not to like?
Early models had engine issues and major warranty claims.
Great bicycle, a Koga Miyata Randonneur, obvious choice of many a world traveller (or island / Iceland hopper). The front end seems to be somewhat more tough looking than the standard Randonneur: different fork, no mudgards. Smart for the terrain, as the full size plastic ones tend to be somewhat fragile and prone to snap off. Would it be a traveller after all, with 28″ tires? Great Brooks saddle, too. That and the bottle are all proof of a cyclist who knows what he/she’s doing. In the wild Iceland weather I’d choose a whisky with more body than the very smooth Jameson though.
Based on the registration plate, the VW camper is a 2007 model from Brazil or Mexico, though why you’d want to has passed me by.
UK plates are easy to interpret, really
Brazilian, 1.4 water cooled 4 cylinder, probably a Danbury conversion, and probably cost around $50,000.
Interesting rental, the people who had the Ford Kuga I had a play in recently ended up buying one of those a Captiva by Holden but petrol not diesel, they say its a big improvement over the Ford product, I cant comment on that but they do sell lots of them here so there must be a reason.
Agree with the group on the Brazilian origin of the van. I believe I recall reading an article from a Brazilian contributor on the other site. He mentioned they were exported to the UK. The latest generation probably but not sure the year. That trailer towing SUV would fit in here. 4Runner and trailer are how I get things done. Wish I could have bought a diesel.
Iceland is one place I’ve never been. Much to my chagrin it will probably stay that way. I used it and a couple other places when teaching plate tectonics and/or volcanism. Also used it in technology classes when I was teaching the basics of off road vehicles. They have some V8 powered buggies that are driven by absolutely insane people. There are some excellent videos but I left them to my successor when I retired.
Good mix and a good narrative. Very interesting.
Anyone else see what I see in the grill and headlights of the ssangyong musso? *Hint* Think late 80’s GM sports sedan…
That’s what I see anyway.
I loved Iceland. Did the same as you and extended our stop over to a week and hired a car. Stunning scenery everywhere and not too expensive. Well, coming from New Zealand it wasn’t anyway, it seemed about the same $ for kronor.
We rented the cheapest car we could, was 200 euro for a week, a 1.0l Toyota Echo/Vitz/Yaris. It already had 300,000km on the clock and still drove like a dream and was powerful enough to try and keep up with the locals (90kph speed limit, yeah right!!). We even took it a bit off road too. Am already planning a return trip, there is so much more to see!
Good to hear about Iceland air I found out about them last year when planing a work trip to the Netherlands. That trip didn’t end up happening but it may happen in the future and they fly out of Boston so not to bad from here in CT. I’ve always found Iceland intriguing hope to get there at some point.
Arches and Canyonlands National Park in Utah especially Canyonlands are devoid of the safety I am used to seeing which was amusing and exhilarating all at once. Many places are just wide open and walking off a cliff to your death is easier than you think or wandering off and dying of heat stroke or being attacked by a local critter.
Someday I hope to visit lovely Iceland, thanks for the photos.
“When we arrived we were met by our rental representative and presented with this Chevrolet Captiva 4WD 7-seat TurboDiesel (extended wheelbase compared to the U.S. market 5-seat version)…At first I was dead set against it…having been predisposed to disliking it by negative reviews of the U.S. market Chevrolet Captiva (rental fleet only, rebadged Saturn Vue which was itself a rebadged Opel Antara). ”
As I understand the Wikipedia entry on the Captiva, the vehicle Jim drove isn’t really the same vehicle sold as the Captiva that was sold in the U.S. The one Jim drove is a design of Daewoo origin, while the U.S. model was of Opel origin. To make matters more confusing, some markets actually got both versions, distinguishing them by calling them “Captiva 5″/”Captiva 7” (the numeral indicating the number of passengers it could carry), or by calling the Opel-based version “Captiva MaXX”.
Captivas have been badged as Chevrolets in most markets, but in Australia and New Zealand they have been badged as Holdens.
Wikipedia has confused you. Although the Opel Antera version had somewhat different external and internal styling, and only used the swb, these are all essentially the same vehicle. It was developed by Daewoo; Opel was in no position to spend the money to develop a unique CUV of the same size and class.
The US version (Saturn VUE, Captiva Sport) has the Opel Antera’s styling, but under the skin, these are all the same thing. At the time, GM was giving Daewoo a lot of development responsibility, and that’s where this vehicle originates from, in all its (confusing) variations.
Too bad we don’t have the 7-passenger Captiva turbodiesel here in the states. I like the design and the turbodiesel would be so cool to drive!
Iceland is certainly an interesting place to visit – I had 36 hours in Reykjavik 2 years ago on a business jaunt, and had a interesting wander around the town centre.
I still entertain people (mostly myself really) by showing a photo, suggesting it looks like a small town library or doctors’ practice and then letting on that it is the oldest parliament in the world.
Fun place, and wonderfully friendly people.
Did you try whale meat?
Iceland also have some of the nicest police in the world —
https://instagram.com/logreglan/
Going this Sunday! Rented a VW Caddy converted into a small camper. We’re excited for sure. Toronto-Paris then Amsterdam-Iceland-Toronto $688 canadian return, taxes included! Can’t beat that. Late season worries us a little but the Caddy comes with a heater.
Glad you enjoyed visiting my country. You´ve managed to shoot a fairly representative sample of the car fleet.
It´s been a while since I´ve seen a Gen I Bronco. Growing up in the 70s, these Broncos were EVERYWHERE over here, along with Jeeps and Land Rovers. And the Russian stuff…
Has there ever been a normal looking SsangYong?
Thanks for the recap of your incredible vacation. What beauty!