Classic Car Cemetery In The Forest, Sweden

This immense Classic Car Cemetery lies deep in the Swedish forest. It is hard to know how many cars are here, estimates range from 700 to over 1000. This is truly a forest of dead cars, a graveyard of rusting relics.

The scrapyard was once owned by two brothers. They lived in a small house in a clearing of the forest, operating the business from there. They started collecting cars in the 1950s, selling the parts and turning a tidy profit. In the years after World War 2, new cars were expensive. Indeed, even new spare parts were prohibitively expensive for many. Because of this, many Swedish motorists opted to keep classic cars running. As a result, they would source parts from scrapyards to repair their cars.

When Sweden switched to right-hand drive cars in 1967, the junkyard grew. Cars were added in the hundreds, no doubt some of these cars were brought here from nearby Norway. It is likely that this collection includes cars from all over Scandinavia. Perhaps, even from elsewhere in Europe.

The brothers closed the business in the 1980s. Subsequently, they sold some of the cars, but hundreds still remain here. It is claimed that the car graveyard was originally three times the size of what you can see today.

Exploring the forest filled with abandoned cars

This Classic Car Cemetery is filled with interesting older cars. Most of the cars are from the 1950s and 1960s, with some rarer older vehicles. There are many types of classic cars, including; Saab, Volvo, Ford, Sunbeam, Buick, Volkswagen, Opel, Renault, and Fiat. One of the most common cars, is the iconic VW Beetle and VW T1 Transporter camper vans. Other common types are Ford Cortina, Saab 96, Volvo PV444 and PV544.

Folklore and stories surrounding the Swedish Classic Car Cemetery In The Forest

This location is a great example of how an abandoned location can spawn fantastical “origin” stories. One story goes that these abandoned classic cars belonged to World War 2 US servicemen. When the troops left Europe after the war ended, they left their cars here in the forest. One thing that is not explained is why this location was chosen for an en-mass dumping of cars. It is possible that the brother’s did buy cars from US troops, perhaps this is where the tales and facts may become merged.

There is also a beautiful story of the junkyards demise. It is said that the brothers battled the encroaching forest for many years. Once, the cars were parked in fields and the forest only existed in the distance. Over the years, the forest began to encroach on the fields. Soon, the trees were growing amongst the cars themselves. They would fell trees and remove overgrowth, in a constant battle with nature. Eventually, they conceded and the forest won. Nature reclaimed the car cemetery, and has proceeded unchecked for nearly three decades. I love the romantic notion of nature finally besting the brothers, and then swallowing their scrapyard.

(Note: Thanks to everyone who assisted with identifying these rusty cars! Please leave a comment if you can offer any more interesting info, or if you have noticed any identification errors 🙂 )