Photos Unboxed: Our Gatebil Adventure - Juiceboxforyou

Most of you have already seen the Vlog we did on Gatebil 2018. When this site used to be all about articles and photo, I had much more time for writing. I’ve been shooting pictures for many years, and I’m not necessarily great at it, its just something I enjoy doing along with capturing whatever I can on video. Flip and I shot a lot of photos on this trip, and I felt like they needed to be put up onto the site. At the time of writing this, the Vlog has already gone live so these photos are just a slower recap of what could be described as the craziest Car event in Europe.

I didn’t really pull the camera out of the bag until we took a detour in Amsterdam so the lads could load up on the Greenstuff. We were doing long hours on this trip, so it was nice to stop in at least one of the iconic cities we were passing en route to Gatebil. Amsterdam was right on our way, so a quick hour around the Dam was a nice break from the road.

The thing about road trips like this, especially with an expensive car on a trailer is you really can’t just abandon this stuff anywhere. Many of the cities you would usually fly into as a holiday destination quickly become your worst nightmare if you are trying to pull a van, trailer and race car down narrow streets. Barry decided he would stay with Reubens Laurel outside of the city while we activated tourist mode. This was pretty much the only place we stopped on the road as we were aiming to get to Gatebil early Thursday to have a good spot for the crew.

When we arrived the first car that stopped us in our tracks was this superb looking Eclipse. This car was one of the only non JDM Mitsubishi built in America and exported to a couple of LHD countries.

From what I can gather, these sported the same 4G63 engine as the Evo and had a lot of room for modification. They were quite popular during the fast and furious era and quickly vanished from the scene as all things “JDM” took over. It was great to see such a great example as soon as we got to Gatebil.

Early the next day, we made our way onto the track to try to catch a few snaps of Reuben. He had finished his car last year, and I was gutted we couldn’t go and capture the weekend. I was knee-deep in a freshly purchased AE86, so funds were non-existent.

I had been to Gatebil in 2012, it was the first time for Myself and Reuben, and the event completely blew us away. Reuben had been back every single year since then, its pretty much his second home.

This Gatebil is the main event of the year and attracts the largest crowd. Its held at the Rudskogen Motorsenter in Norway just over the border from Sweden. The weekend is sheer insanity, you would be hard pushed to find a more diverse selection of cars at any motorsport event around the world.

From Ex D1 cars like this old Nomuken D1 street-legal machine…

To Icelandic Porsche 944’s converted to drift specification.

The Gatebil event even has its own “Gatebil Taxis’ which are two E60 m5’s which give passengers a drift tour of the track.

Reuben was right in the mix. Anything could come around that corner. You can just about make out a dodgy Volvo station wagon in front and a Supra right behind him, arguably two of the most iconic Scandanavian drift machines.

Reuben’s car is a street machine, I’m not sure if many other vehicles on the track were still road legal, but this had just been tested for inspection a couple of weeks before the trip!

Gatebil never fails to surprise, its such an unexpected selection of cars, with the most unusual engine setups. I’m pretty sure this Merc was diesel-powered.

Damn! I’m only noticing the IADC Irish drift banner on this Volvo as I write this, this guy must have driven all the way to Ireland to compete in a few rounds. Pretty much our trip in reverse!

Before drifting, Gatebil was all about the world powerslide competition in 4WD crazy HP Audis, for me, its probably the highlight of the weekend.

Watching these 4WD Audis on steroids is one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed, it almost looks surreal.

Gatebil is hard on the brain and body, the heat is consistent throughout the weekend, along with the steady supply of drinking and lack of sleep. It’s mostly a three-day drinking festival with cars thrown into the mix.

I sometimes forget that Reuben can drift a car, he has gone years without being behind the wheel, but when he’s out on the track, it’s like he never left. It was great to see him throw his humble Laurel around such a big track.

On the Friday evening after a day in the blistering heat on track, this JDM spec AMG E300 rolled right up to our area in the pits.

It was sporting some custom arches and a set of Leon Hardiritts From. A car built in Germany, style in Japan and imported back across the globe to Sweden!

One of the coolest parts of the event is the team drift. The first year we attended, they only allowed single cars to enter the powerslide comp, but in the last few years, they have created a new challenge and called it the Team drift. This makes for some epic photos.

Freddie Aasbo and his crew usually take the win as they can pull off the closest proximity skids.

How’s that for triple drifting? This shit is pretty impressive!

Did I mention I can’t get enough of these 4WD Audis? 

Brian Joyce and his mates also travelled from Mayo to Norway, quite the spin. Brian had just purchased this z20 soarer from Japan, and it landed not too long before they hit the road. They kitted it out with some period-correct HKS graphics.

I managed to snap this pic of Patrik taking a quick snooze in between the madness.

Gatebil is one of those events where everything is happening all at once. There is way too much to see in the paddocks and on the track. We took a cruise around on Saturday, the main day of the event to see what was lurking off in the pits.

There were some cool Lambos parked close by our Tent. The Countach is one of my childhood dream cars and seeing one in real life returns me to a sort of childlike state.

Reuben trying to stay hydrated amongst the madness.

His car was having some cooling issues due to the heat, The radiator blew, but the guys from J-spec hooked him up. They had a new heater out to the track from Sweden in less than a few hours. It was fitted, and Reuben was good to go in no time.

Gotta represent with that Irish flag and an OG Juice box tee.

I think each of us crashed at one stage or another, a couple of hours of sleep was needed and then it was back on the beer.

Like we mentioned before, you never know what to expect at these events. The Scandinavians love pulling off the most unusual conversions. I’m pretty sure that’s a six-cylinder Mercedes engine in an s-chassis.

The Scandanavians love old American classics. There’s more of them on the road here than anywhere else in the world.

This bend is great for photos. Cars are usually on full power pushing out of this long left swooping corner.

The Gatebbil taxies have a hard life, they are pretty much out on the track from the start to the end of the event, as far as I’m aware those v10 engines aren’t the most reliable either, so its quite impressive.

As much as Americans love the Supra, I think Norway owns this chassis. When I think of these cars, I instantly think about all the crazy examples that live in these Nordic countries. There are over a Dozen 1000BHP examples ripping the track shredding at any given time at Gatebil.

After a few face-melting hours on the race track, we decided to go for another lap of the paddocks.

This is a classic Gatebil build, a Dodge Viper v10 engine shoehorned into an S2000 chassis. There are lots of wild builds like this that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. Apparently, the guy built this for his girlfriend.

Amongst the crazy builds, you will find the odd period-correct Japanese machine. This R30 skyline looks like it rolled off of the streets of Tokyo.

Some people end up having bad weekends, I guess its all part of the game. 

While you are having a hard time trying to absorb what’s happing on track and in the paddock the organisers of Gatebil thought it would be a good idea to throw a car show into the mix. We usually never make it this far down the track as there are way too many distractions up in the pit area. Flip, and I made it our mission to head down this year and see what was on display.

These guys drove all the way from the UK to experience Gatebil in their AE86. The owner had just fitted a new rear axle. Brave!

Across from the 86 was this incredible AA60 2 door Celica sporting a show-stopping engine bay. I can’t believe we didn’t get a picture of the car itself. The engine bay was way too distracting.

Next to the Carina was this Japanese Import 86, the owner was having a bit of difficulty registering the car in Norway. Apparently, their laws are much tougher on Japanese imports.

As we were shooting the AE86, this Viper dressed in that Iconic twin stripe rumbled past. For an American reader, this might seem like a common enough sight, but we were in Norway. The mix of cars here is something else!

This Navan kitted Zenki sitting on chunky XT7’s was a little slice of perfection. Its LHD too, so it was refreshing to see all the JDM bits added to a European car.

Did we mention Gatebil is one big party?

We got the call that Reuben was heading out to take part in the world powerslide competition. We made our way out onto the big bend and set up for a couple of photos. Reuben had the Irish flags on either side of his back windows. This little event meant a lot to him, he basically built this car to this spec a year previous just to take part in this madness.

The first few cars came thundering into the bend. Its a very long right hand turn and makes for some epic pan shots. Most of the vehicles here are wild, built with over 1000bhp melting those rear tyres as they try to put on the best show for the crowd. This Supra is a classic Gatebil machine!

The other end of the spectrum is this Volvo 240 coupe. Volvos are about as Scandanavian as you can get. I had no idea how goods these cars were at drifting until the first time we came to Gatebil back in 2012. This is probably one of the only places in the world where you will see insane examples like this. I’d highly recommend it to any car entusiast. I’ve been to Formula D and to D1 in Japan, but there’s something so badass about seeing a Volvo melting tyres at Gatebil. It’s a whole other experience.

And just as that Volvo finished its run, our good old friend Reuben made his way onto the bend. His home-built road car was playing with all these crazy big horsepower Scandanavian machines. His little 16’s screeched as he tackled the big curve in his pride and joy. What a feeling it must have been.

It sounds corny, but at that moment, I never felt so proud. Already achieving this goal a year previous it didn’t matter, I was getting to witness this for the first time. I remember the very first year we went there, we couldn’t stop talking about how wild this place was, and here was Reuben, six years later taking part in the madness, flying the Irish flag, in Norway with his Japanese car called Laurel. Fantastic.

The next day we left the car at Gatebil, the car was going to live in Sweden for the next year and take part in some epic adventures. We grabbed a ferry which took us from Sweden to Germany and tried to make the most of our trip home.

The journey home is long, and after a hard-packed weekend, it’s hard to find the enthusiasm to keep going, but we were on our holidays, or so we kept telling ourselves, so we drank ourselves silly on this overnight ferry.

I love the type of scenarios cars have lured us into over the years. I’m not sure id have ever taken part in such an adventure if it wasn’t our love for four wheels and an engine. These cars have taken all of us to some of the most unique places on the planet. Its something I do not take for granted. There’s nothing better than a road trip with mates.