14/2!

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 02/14/2018 at 15:40 • Filed to: Volvo 142, A-Traktor

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St Valentine’s Day, but let’s go with Valentindagen or alla hjärtans dag because today has a Swedish influence.

Yes, it’s time for something boxy, sensible and a little staid. The Volvo 142. Varsågod.

This is a rest of the world one.

If you’re persuaded by Americanism you’d have got one with added orange lights and then more again, like this. No, I don’t know why so many were required.

If you’re persuaded by Swedishness, matters can become more interesting, especially if you’re under 18 and therefore too young to drive a proper car there. If you’re 16 you can drive a tractor instead. This a tractor. Specifically, it’s an a-traktor.

So are these.

Yes, they began life as unsuspecting 142s but after a bit of modification they’re now traktorer as defined by the relevant legislation so if you’re a Swede aged between 16 and 18 off you go. Slowly.

kanadanmajava1 > Cé hé sin 02/14/2018 at 16:08

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In Finland you can get tractor (and for mopeds and light four wheelers too) license when you turn 15. But we don’t have a-tractors. And this is not yet. In the next year we are going to get some kind of “limited version of regular cars” for youngsters. Likely they will be regulars cars with some kind tamper proof limiter and slow vehicle warning signs. Legislators haven’t yet even decided if they are going to be limited to 40 or 60 km/h.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > kanadanmajava1 02/14/2018 at 16:55

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At least give them 65km/h... that’s almost exactly 40mph. In most residential and semi-rural areas in the US, the speed limit is anywhere between 35 and 45mph.

Cé hé sin > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 02/14/2018 at 17:36

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Adds to list of things unusual about America:

Speed limits ending in 5. Never (well, rarely) seen them anywhere else.

victor > kanadanmajava1 02/14/2018 at 18:56

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I miss Finland and my Espoo/tampere comrades. My old boss just in process of leaving Seattle and moving back.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Cé hé sin 02/14/2018 at 22:09

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Well, there’s a lot of 60 and 70mph signage, but it’s very rare to see 40 or 30mph signage.

kanadanmajava1 > victor 02/15/2018 at 06:13

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I work and live in Espoo. It’s basically a forest that has a large city inside.

kanadanmajava1 > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 02/15/2018 at 06:16

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The other vehicles that 15 years car drive are limited to 40, 45 or 60 km/h. The rest of the road user would probably like them to go as fast as possible. Those light 4 wheelers are quite small and easy to overtake. But regular sized passenger goin 40 km/h might be a bit troublesome.

victor > kanadanmajava1 02/15/2018 at 10:49

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Yeah, absolutely beautiful area. Depending on where I stayed in Helsinki , sometimes I took the local park roads to the office. Now that Microsoft is done with Nokia, no more opportunities to visit there for work.

kanadanmajava1 > victor 02/15/2018 at 11:13

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The Microsoft-Nokia connection was a quite sad story. Stephen Elop is a very hated man in this country. I grew in up in a city called Salo. It was the place that had Nokia’s phone factory. Nokia used to be the most import employer there. Now nothing from Nokia except the semi empty buildings exist in there.

victor > kanadanmajava1 02/15/2018 at 14:01

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I got to work with some of the finest people in the world while in the phone business. Microsoft Talo was sadly quiet towards the end. I actually know quite a few people went on to hmd and other companies. So, most of the people I know have landed very well. That part makes me happy.

By the way, Stephen elop isn’t very much liked at Microsoft either