The WEIRDEST Car Culture in Sweden - Raggare

There's been an infamous car subculture in Sweden ever since the 1960s, that focuses on old American cars and American culture. I decided to visit one of the biggest car meets in Sweden, Västerås Summer Meet, to learn more about old cars and the people who collect them.
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This video is filled with amazing old models, from Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and many more. But you can also see some old Volvos and SAABs among the American cars. That's because the subculture "raggare" can both refer to serious collectors of old American cars...and the Swedish equivalent of hillbillies.
Raggare can often be found in more rural areas of Sweden, and they have a very mixed reputation. Not entirely positive, most of the time. And that reputation is something they picked up back in the 1960s already. In this video I explore the history of the raggare culture, as well as how it's evolved throughout time.
So, if you want to learn more about why Sweden has a group of people fiercly devoted to American cars, check out the video to learn more!
And of course, I can't really talk about raggare without talking about Ronny & Ragge, Byhåla, and Eddie Meduza as well...

[@ASDASD34RDFS]

I've grown up around this car culture. Uncle is a certified raggare who grew up in the beginning of the sub-culture and who still lives by it. He has done a lot of typical raggar-stuff. Like borrowing a brand new car for a "short trip" which ended up in a scandinavian roadtrip for 2-3 weeks back in the 70s. My mother was taught by him, and one story is that my mother had gotten an american car that was non-running. My uncle insisted on helping her fix it, and her being oblivious, did not notice him turning the car into a dragracer. Once rolling the car had to be sold because it was so powerful you could not drive it on the street. My entire family consists of ex-raggare and one of our memorable events each month growing up was going to an old 80s rock café where there were old american cars, elvis presley music and beer.

[@stefancarlberg7806]

Kanon Video . Bra att det förklarar för utomstående från andra länder . 10 / 10 :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Tack! :D Haha man försöker iaf!

[@ChristopherGronlund]

This was too much fun! I don't have the burning interest for classic cars, but I grew up around them. (My dad was a mechanic, and friends' dads restored antique vehicles.) So it's fascinating seeing a bunch of American cars in a Swedish field, looking like an old-school swap meet in a pasture in Texas! Obviously, I love all your videos, but things like this -- things I never heard about over there -- are always such a blast! (Now I'm off to find Eddie Meduza songs. I'll have to start with Garagetaper because its cover looks like a parody of Frank Zappa's cover to Joe's Garage!)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I've never really been part of car culture...or any motor culture...so all of this is pretty new for me. But I had a blast looking at all of these cars! But it really feels out of place in Sweden :D Eddie Meduza is actually really fascinating! Critics these days have started to recognize his skills in songwriting (if not always performing the songs) and humor, and there's a lot of honestly good stuff in between the...childish and/or offensive silliness ^_^

[@ChristopherGronlund]

@@ThreeStarVagabond I drive a 2013 Toyota Corolla, so I'm also not into car culture. I appreciate the design, and restoring a car seems like it would be fun, but I leave all that to others I know. And the Eddie Meduza stuff I listened to was very well done.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

​@@ChristopherGronlund I had a Corolla during my road trip recently :D Good old Toyota. If I bought a car I think I'd go for a Volvo or Toyota and leave the tinkering to others, just like you. You lose a lot of the charm by not knowing Swedish of course ^_^

[@ChristopherGronlund]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Yes...his English covers were great, and I DID listen to some of the Swedish tunes -- despite not knowing what he was singing. There's a weird little subculture, here, that loves old Volvos. For a time in the early 90s, my mom had an old Volvo wagon, and people always asked about it. Then I found out there are people who collect and restore them. I suppose I get it: if I were to get into cars, it would likely be strange, quirky things...like the old VW Things. I had a friend who had a BMW Isetta we took turns driving around his neighborhood. Such a strange little car. Last I heard, his dad had it.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@ChristopherGronlund Yeah that makes sense! I mean, I don't think I'd collect stuff unless I had a big house - but quirky things would be it for sure. Never cars though. That just seems like way too much work for the payoff in my view ^_^ Still, cool stuff to go riding in an old BMW!

[@birgerjansson3320]

Yaj Leno has been here in Sweden a couple of time and was judge of the finest car !!! EXAAACTLY !!! 🤩🤠😎👍👍👍

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh damn! That's actually really cool :D

[@Zeatheryo]

Crazy to spell Jay as Yaj

[@sarahtaylor3950]

I had to go checkout the byhåla, it looks like dukes of hazard crossed with Beavis and Butt-head. (I will have to up my Swedish language learning to understand it though). I'm no petrol head, but if someone has put effort into something they love then it will show, some of the cars are really beautiful.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

That's a really good description! And well, it'd be difficult to understand it even if you knew Swedish because they invented a ton of more or less indecent slang words :D Agreed! I mean, the time and effort and money that these people put into it is quite amazing really

[@hasseslaggmek3573]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Träffade huvudet på spiken, en mycket bra och informativ sammanfattning för de som betraktar utifrån och väl filmat :-). Lite nostalgivibbar för att det påminner om det gamla Trafikmagasinets cruisingreportage, menat positivt.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@hasseslaggmek3573 Haha jag saknar Trafikmagasinet ibland, och lite gamla retroreportage som fanns rent allmänt förr. Så jag tar det som en komplimang :D

[@JH-lo9ut]

"Byhåla" (a derogatory term for a small, boring rural village, like "one horse-town") started as a recurring skit in a comedy show on TV, but the characters got so popular, they branched off to become it's own show, as well as a cash-grab album, and a stage tour. The two young, very urban, comedians never anticipated the success of their show and what was originally meant to mock the "Raggare" subculture instead became a beloved symbol of it. They have later complained about being forever associated with these stupid characters they created in their early 20's, and that they let themselves get carried away by the show's popularity. The show is incredibly stupid and juvenile. Yes, it can be compared to "Beavis and Butt-head", but it lacks all the intelligent satire and charm of Mike Judge. I haven't seen "Dukes of Hazzard" but from what I've heard it seems to be a show of considerably higher production value.

[@pkharper3525]

Interesting car meet, quite the variety of automobiles, from the old to a 90’s Dodge truck, I saw a 67 Camero that is quite popular here. Here is some car information you can use, there was a Oldsmobile 442 there, a lot of people think it stands for the size of the engine but it really means 4 speed transmission, 4 barrel carburetor and duel exhaust. Interesting on how this all started but must admit it’s hard to modify a Volvo even if one of my favorite cars is the old Volvo 240. Stay safe till next time.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh nice, thanks for that piece of info! I really went into this knowing nothing at all about cars, except for some brand names :D Cheers, and hope you have an awesome one!

[@lulu.chains.88]

That's so unexpected, it makes me think of those Elvis impersonators in Japan that get together to dance. It's so cool seeing how big events in history can sprout these kinds of niche interest communities in so many different cultures. I love these kinds of videos, getting to see things like this that you'd never know exist unless you're a native. And I will definitely give The Rude Kids a listen too, I used to be very into punk in my early 20's and I don't think I've ever heard any swedish punk bands before.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I know the feeling - I love finding out about weird things from other countries too. So it's really fun to dig up topics like this about Sweden :D But as for Rude Kids.. Well.. It's not exactly the best punk in Sweden. Check out Ebba Grön instead! ^_^

[@lulu.chains.88]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Ngl I kinda like The Rude Kids more 😆 Ebba Grön is pretty good as well and they do sound more "professional" for lack of a better word. It would be awesome to see what the punk scene is like in Sweden for sure!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@lulu.chains.88 Haha that's awesome - and the first time I've heard someone say that :D But yeah it's really fun and I like some of the new bands too even if I've fallen out of it these last...25 years...

[@lulu.chains.88]

@@ThreeStarVagabond I haven't been in the scene since I left Puerto Rico 10 years ago. Idk about you but I feel a bit old for it now tbh, if I get into the mosh pit now I don't think my back and my knees will ever recover 🤣 The last video I uploaded to this channel is of my friends band and it's a really good example of what shows look like on the island, if you're ever curious. The audio is terrible tho

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@lulu.chains.88 Haha I love it! But yeah I get what you mean - I'm skipping the mosh pits these days, but I do like a bit of a crowd still. That looks like awesome fun in the video tho :D

[@Ahibasabala]

4:44 that's some awesome art there

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha yeah that's damn fine

[@spithabitz]

Very accurate how you explained everything, i live close to Dalarna and i can confirm , these cars are everywhere

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I'm in Lidköping right now, and I've seen so many raggarbilar all around town. Haha, it's like visiting a living cliche ;)

[@teejay5295]

The Vasteras Summer Meet is way more civilised than our Summernats that is held annually in Canberra, which is NOT a family event.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha, I think we have some of those in Sweden too. But I thought I'd better cover the "proper" one instead :D

[@ragulper]

If you go out in Västerås in the evening to watch the cars, you will find it's not a family event at all. A staggering amount of drunks hanging out of the trunks, windows, truckbeds and whatnot.

[@tosijjaan]

And backwoods in kajjjaani In the evening its a bloodbath

[@peters2614]

Jag tror att vi befinner oss väldigt långt från varandra på den politiska kartan, men det här är nog bland det bästa du har gjort.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fan, tack så mycket! Och haha, jag är någon rödblå sörja faktiskt.

[@Gudregerar7]

I live in Småland. And the people we bought our house from were “Raggare”. 😊

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha, you can find them all over the country after all :D

[@PhilThomas-yp3gg]

Wow. 1950’s American style greasers in Sweden today. I never knew that was there.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It's a pretty cool thing to see :D

[@bjorreb7487]

Not since the 60's it started in the 50's. Something that was popular and helped startin it was 50's movies by Marlon Brando and James Dean. It was a lot of fights between raggare from diferent cities/villages in the first decades. Mostly about women. Now it's better when we go to eachothers party. I was young raggare in the 60's.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thanks for the correction! I thought it took some time for Sweden to adopt the culture but apparently it happened much more quickly. It must have been such a fascinating time - happy that you got to live it and see it with your own eyes.

[@ESPirits87]

If you go to Värmland many Raggare listens to dansband music like Lasse Stefanz and if you go north of Uppsala in villages up to Dalarna it's more rough like Eddie Meduza, this can vary of course but in general

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fair enough! It's probably really different between different areas within each landskap as well I imagine

[@drakakaka]

The American cars were already in Sweden. Åsa Nisse's Eulalia II was a hot rodded 1932 Ford. Not that strange since they came in crates and were assembled in Sweden. If you decided to call a cab it was probably an American car that showed up and most likely a four door Chevy. Cops drove Plymouths into the seventies. Sweden wasn't the country most Swedes nowadays believe it was. If you happen to come across old abandoned cars, which is very rare nowadays, a lot of them are American. I'm not talking about the most well known junk yards preserved because they were abandoned too late. What most people get wrong about raggare is that it's not an imported American culture. It's imported American cars and very Swedish culture.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Interesting! It seems like there's more to it than I thought. And very cool detail about the Eulalia... I never even thought about what type of car that was, but it seems like American cars were definitely in pop culture earlier than the 50s/60s.

[@drakakaka]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Americans assume "ragggare" is a strange version of American culture and so do many younger Swedes. If you don't know Swedish history it's a logical conclusion but it's not the whole truth. Sweden wasn't a country completely without culture or traditions before "American Graffiti". The reason 1932 Ford is the original Hot Rod is racing. Cheap cars with a V8 engine and a rigid frame meant they were the best choice for stock car racing. The same thing was just as true in Sweden. American cars were sold new in Sweden until 1976 when a regulation called A20 made import too expensive. That's why you see 1975B Camaros and Firebirds in Sweden. I guess you need to be at least sixty to remember when things weren't the way they have always been?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@drakakaka Thanks for the history lesson! Yeah, I tried to read up on these things but it appears that many people other than me were confused about it all. It's really good to hear more details like this

[@midmiddleton163]

Cars are always cool anywhere

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha fair enough! :D

[@midmiddleton163]

@@ThreeStarVagabond cars shows are massive in the US.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@midmiddleton163 I can imagine! It's really a different mentality since everything centers around cars over there

[@ingemarsjoo4542]

In 1966 I visited Stockholm, and saw a read Tatra 603, belonging to the embassy of Chezoslovakia. I was 16 years at the time, and never after that seen that particular model in Sweden (it was never imported to Sweden). Well, I fell in love at first sight. Still I have a secret dream of one day become very rich, go down to Prague and buy a Tatra 603, and then show up at the next "raggar" meeting. Just for the pleasure of seeing the expression in their faces: "What the HELL is that!? Never seen that car! It´s just sooo cool!"

[@grebo8382]

3:37 harass women? Please don't give people the wrong idea of our sub culture. Harassing women is very heavely frowned upon in the subculture and not something the community supports. If you're caught harassing a woman at a car meet in sweden, you'll not come out unscaved. I remember last year's car meet in my home village when some guy was harassing a girl at a party bus and a guy walked up to him, kicked the shit out of him and threw him of the bus on to the hard asphalt of the parking lot. He wasn't welcome back in and the bus drove of and left him there. This year's meet had a similar situation where a man hit a girl in the face, he was jumped 5 minutes later. Drugs are also very frowned upon in the raggar culture. Maybe a bit off topic but might as well throw it out there.

[@graffzon]

Not really weird tbf. We we're sort of spared from both ww's so we never had to rebuild and ppl wasnt as poor as in many other parts of Europe so all American manufacturers has always had dealerships here Ergo American cars were common here since always .

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fair enough! That makes perfect sense - and "weird" is just relative to what one is used to anyway. Thanks for the elaboration on the background

[@thesnesgeek]

Talk about Sing-a-long culture during summer. As well as EPA-dunk.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Both of those really deserve videos all of their own!

[@thesnesgeek]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Awesome, ser framemot det.

[@Skoog.]

Fight??? We dont fight. We get drunk and have fun. Har inte sett några slagsmål dom senaste 23 åren i Västerås.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fair enough! Men det finns andra ställen än Västerås å andra sidan. Just Summer Meet är ju extremt välordnat och lugnt

[@tangfors]

Det är nog mindre av den varan nu för tiden, men för var Raggare rätt ökända för att även slåss.

[@JH-lo9ut]

Ask anyone from a small town who was a punk, a goth, queer or just a bit different... Almost everyone has stories about being harassed or even beaten up by raggare. Maybe there isn't much fighting at your own events, and that is a good thing, but raggare still has a reputation as being bullies, especially against young guys who don't fit within the masculine stereotype.

[@OddballGaming140]

Dang and I thought having a car show every weekend here at a drive in was weird. We dont have greasers anymore we just have former greasers that own a classic car or car nerds that have classic car

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

A car show every weekend at the drive in sounds quite weird as well in my view! But yeah, this isn't really something that one expects to find in Sweden :D

[@OddballGaming140]

@@ThreeStarVagabond well they all hang out here in my town. I could email you if that is still a thing on Saturday XD

[@berserker4600]

So that's where all of our 60's cars went

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

There's really a surprising amount of these cars over here! You can see them in every town during summer

[@SwedishEmpire1700]

Sad thing about this hobby is that once you seen one Impala you seen them all, a majority of raggare do the same car over and over LOL

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha, I'm sure the real car geeks get excited over tiny variations between models and stuff like that - I bet there's more to it according to them at least

[@kallenevanpera9230]

Westeros? Isn't that where GoT takes place?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It's a well known secret that Westeros lies in Sweden! Game of Thrones was a historical piece about the age just before the viking age after all

[@scoot4348]

​@@ThreeStarVagabond lol

[@tha_tram_man]

tillbka i vässan? tycker du om vår stad? flytta hit!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Det är faktiskt en mysig stad! Men nja.. Jag tror jag stannar i Stockholm ett litet tag till iaf :D

[@shawnmcquiggan3887]

how odd of all the State trooper cars someone would pick, Pennsylvania State police would be found in Sweden

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I have no explanation for it! I would have loved to ask actually - there might be a great story behind it

[@scoot4348]

​@@ThreeStarVagabond It would be interesting to know if they're replicas or restored originals.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@scoot4348 Hmm I would have assumed restored originals but now that you mention it... It could be replicas...

[@JH-lo9ut]

​@@scoot4348they are almost certainly restored originals, (though some of them may be built from dozens of donor cars) In Sweden, a car older than 30 years (it used to be 20) is automatically classified as a "veteran veichle" wich makes it exempt from road tax, you only need bi-annual safety inspections, and you can drive it with the same lights and lack of safety equipment that it came with from the factory. It's basically a laissez-faire type regulation with these veichles. They are used for cruising, not racing. If, on the other hand, you build a replica, it still needs to be classified as any other new veichle, wich makes it incredibly difficult and expensive to pass the safety inspection. OK, replicas can be built on an existing old chassi, but that comes with a bunch of hoops to jump through before you can get it registered and classified. Getting hold of an authentic, run-down classic and fixing it up is often way easier. There are a lot of very skilled mechanics and metal workers within this subculture. Most of all, they have built a huge network of people who knows exactly what classic is parked in what barn, whom to ask, how to do it, where to get the right parts and so on. This has been going on since way before the internet.

[@talonisen6794]

Helt sjukt att du inte har med subs/views när du har så hög kvalitet på info i alla dina videor

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha, jag håller med! Men det växer iaf - alltid något :D

[@Cybercenturycentaur]

​@@ThreeStarVagabondAdd some nice and naked Swedish woman, by this way you can easily double memberships.

[@Cybercenturycentaur]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Add some more Swedish woman to double the number of views.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@Cybercenturycentaur Yeah that'd do the trick! But I can't be arsed to try to convince people to join in making the videos ^_^

[@Cybercenturycentaur]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Don't hesitate, I am sure this trick works.

[@tomtumino1664]

Where can I get a copy of that labeled map of Sweden!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I found it on the Internet somewhere ages ago and saved it! Sorry, no idea where the original is from. Here are links to both maps though: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x5empjpxs024g8exj8g33/ab01.jpg?rlkey=21et101lyazanz3ib86aui81o&dl=0 www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kdtz0oky3c8g48a5diapt/pr0ohhpn55s91.jpg?rlkey=836teuzjwadwd04hdkiayugtj&dl=0

[@likeacentipede2321]

So those rat style lowriders are raggare? I would love to know more about that trend. I‘m seeing more and more videos of those rusty, scrappy lowriders

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It is a bit interesting isn't it. It's like meta-anti-establishment in a way, since the original raggare were also a bit anti-establishment

[@Peter-yk2hh]

80s rickba bill and drivexarond figth in the city.

[@janlundmark7702]

Where did you find the value map that flashes by at about 7:50 ? I would like to study it more in detail. Thank you for this accurate antropological study !

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha thank you! Hmm, did you mean this map? I just found it online somewhere! www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kdtz0oky3c8g48a5diapt/pr0ohhpn55s91.jpg?rlkey=836teuzjwadwd04hdkiayugtj&dl=0

[@walkissodra9723]

Nej det är Power Big Meet i Lidköping som är större än Västerås😊

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Är det fler besökare där också? Jag hade svårt att hitta officiell statistik över deltagare och besökare för båda eventen. Det är därför jag är lite vag i att säga vilken som är störst

[@GOLDSWE]

This is just the swap meet and nothing from the cruising etc.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Well spotted!

[@MorochoUio]

🥰😍🚚

[@Bubbeeen331]

To show off their old american cars...and to get drunk...😂

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

A pretty accurate summary 😀

[@Bubbeeen331]

@@ThreeStarVagabond Yeah i know, grew up with the culture😅

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@Bubbeeen331 My condoleances? :D

[@Bubbeeen331]

@@ThreeStarVagabond noo lol you couldnt know xD

[@Cybercenturycentaur]

Make sure you don't burn your nose again.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

You know what? I was almost getting a bit red after that full day in the sun

[@Cybercenturycentaur]

​@@ThreeStarVagabondCool it down with beer!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@Cybercenturycentaur Always works! I did hide in the bar for a bit to avoid the sun :D

[@birgerjansson3320]

! Are you a democrat ??? Do your resurce better, please !!! In the late fifties i was with my dad , when he worked with his excavator in Södertälje "Raggargård" with what they needed ! And i was nursed with a lot off beutiful young girls !!! That,s were good times !!! A REAL MOPAR MAN ALL MY LIFE !!! 🤩😎🤠😭😻👍👍👍

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Now that's some quality testimony if I ever saw it