Taking a road trip with pimped barrels that cost a maximum of 500 euros and are at least 20 years old. That is the goal of the Carbage Run. About 500 cars will leave Sweden for Helsinki on Sunday. The Carbage Run allows participants to see Europe through a different lens. Driving on busy highways, past familiar places, that is not part of this.
Justin Eisen from Schoonebeek is participating in the trip through Scandinavia together with four friends. In Germany they have managed to acquire a car that is getting a complete makeover. The five friends have been working hard over the past week, because there is still plenty of work to be done on the car.
When the group of friends bought the car, they already knew they could use a mechanic. “The car was pretty bad, there were holes in the bottom where I could put my fist in. The engine ran poorly and still doesn’t run completely clean. But we are confident, we hope we will reach the finish line.” , says Eisen.
You have to be able to cope with a bit of nerves during the trip, because a new technical problem can suddenly arise with a barrel. Yet Eisen does not foresee any problems, because with the knowledge he gained during the agricultural machinery mechanic training course, he knows what a car looks like on the inside.
“We take a readout computer with us, so if the car indicates an error, we can read it. But if there is something that we cannot find ourselves, there is a very large Carbage Run group app. You can send a message there and there is always someone who has a solution. So you almost always get back on track,” says Eisen, laughing.
The purchased car can now legally go on the road, because the MOT has been approved. To achieve this, the group of friends welded all holes closed and changed the oil. “Everything was rough and bad, because the oil had not been changed for years. But luckily we got a new MOT,” says Eisen.
Renovating the car cost the group of friends less money than expected. “We spent about 1,200 euros to get the car on the road. Fortunately, we can divide everything by five, which makes a difference,” says Eisen.
He is not afraid to get behind the wheel, but the ladies who come along on the trip have sweat on their backs. “The girls said that it might be wise if one of us doesn’t drink while sitting in the back. If not everyone is drinking beer, someone can always take the wheel,” says Eisen with a smile.
By making a short trip to Belgium, everyone has now been able to drive their car for a while. But with the extreme weather conditions in Scandinavia, the Carbage Run is a different story.
If the friends unexpectedly get stuck in the middle of nowhere, they don’t have to be bored. “We have built in two Playstations, a Playstation 2 and a Playstation 3. You can also watch films on them, so we have plenty to do.” The only thing Eisen has to do is build some extra lights on the car, so that the barrel stands out in the dark Scandinavia.
“I think there is something to do every night. And of course there is plenty of drinking, so it will be one big party,” says Eisen. The word ‘stress’ does not appear in his dictionary. “We don’t do that, we’ll see how it goes.”