313

[Halsten Aastebol]

At 10:46 16.05.01 +0200, Olaf Solstrand wrote:

>I've also seen on the Norwegian TV show "Norge Rundt" some people making a 
>real car exact similar as 313. If anyone knows more about that story, 
>maybe they can tell what model THAT was?

That car actually exist, yes! It's an almost exact replica of 313 as seen 
in the comics. Only difference in appearance at first eyeglance is black 
tires instead of white. The engine however is not a "1920 Mixwell engine" 
as described in "Volcano Valley", but rather a more well known engine from 
an Opel Kadett.

Here is the story of the car:
The idea came up in late 1990 in connection with the planning of a car show 
(Motorama) to be held in 1991 in Trondheim, Norway. The car was build 
during the winter and spring of 1991 at Geir Jonassen's workshop in 
Trondheim. He used panels from the Donald Duck weekly when sketching out 
the construction drawings. Based on the assumption that Donald is 1 meter 
tall, the car was calculated to be 2.8 meters long. It was stretched 
somewhat compared to the comics in order to make sufficient space for a 
door. In the comics the distance between front and rear wheels are greater 
when the door is open! Stretchy thing!
To be able to turn the front wheels, the fenders had to be modified.
The body was made from steel plates with the help of Geir's brother Ola and 
their father Finn.

Olav Andresen assembled the car at his garage and mounted the engine and 
pedals. The engine was like I said above from an Opel Kadett. The wheels 
are of the same type as used for tractor trailers manufactured in a nearby 
village.

Spraywork was done by Rolf Naess and Morten Bordal at Naess Billakkering, 
Melhus.
Interior was done by Aage Henriksen.

The work was completed in only 8 weeks, and the car was ready and running 
in time for the Motorama.

At the 2nd of May, Donald Duck was given driver's license valid for the 
municipality of Duckburg. The car was approved by the automobil authorities 
in Trondheim and given, of course, the number 313.

All this information is presented in an album written (in Norwegian) by 
Arne Asphjell and Geir Hasnes called "Duckmobiles". There are also some 
pictures of the car. It has been my intention for a long time to scan these 
pictures and put them on the web. Maybe it will happen.
The rest of the album (31 pages) is dedicated to the automobiles of the 
duck universe.It has chapters like: Donald's car, Daisy's cars, Gladstone's 
cars, Grandma's car, Scrooge's cars, Gyro Gearloose, The Beagle Boys' cars, 
Traffic, Veteran cars, Luxury cars, Prize cars, Other vehicles, Equipment, 
The Future. All examples are from Barks stories, and they are compared with 
real-life models. Really interesting!

Nowadays, I think the car is in Bergen.

Halsten