KLE's Passat Pirat

One of the reasons, why I started Chromjuwelen.com five years ago, was to show unusual cars and the people behind them. One of them, who doesn't give a rip about what others say, is KLE. KLE has a preference for oddball German cars, especially the stuffy Volkswagen Passat. Today I had the pleasue to meet up with KLE—who paid Hamburg a visit—and his latest creation, the "Pirat". Though I don't like every detail on KLE's cars, I think his jalopies are some kind of lowbrow art cars.

Please make sure you visit KLE's blog, he keeps a very painstakingly record about every modification. Btw, the other car—a badly modified Ford Granada—belongs to Helge Thomsen.

Meilenwerk Berlin

Actually I wanted to be in NYC this week. But thanks to the latest vulcano activities my flight had been canceled. Damn. But every cloud has a silver lining—and I finally managed it to visit the Meilenwerk in Berlin. Just click on one of the cell phone pictures to start a Flickr slideshow. Btw, I really like that 1993 Toyota Crown ...

1955 "Gauloises" Citroën 2CV

The presentation of this tasty luxury Snail is long overdue. When Björn Gerdes (Imagency Hamburg) got in touch with me early summer 2009, he was searching for a Citroën 2CV to carry on the legendary tradition in building special Gauloises 2CV. The car should combine both: French nonchalance and latest entertainment electronics.

Fortunately we could help Björn. Or to be precise: Oliver Kaps, Style Deluxe Hamburg, was able to help him. Oliver not only found this beautiful 1955 Citroën 2CV, but also did the customizing. The upholstery has been done by Peter Theobold. Well, with it's new dress this simple daily transport car—which was a revolution in the segment of small cars—isn't any longer able to enter a Concours d'Elegance, but it is much more laid-back instead.

For more photos just hit one of the images.

Tuning World Bodensee 2010

Just a few shots taken with my cell phone. Tuning World Bodensee = a lot of very clean Veedubs. I like.

Check this article from my autobild.de-colleague Andreas Rogotzki for better pictures.

1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe. Mad Max movie correct.

Yes, you're right. It's a 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe. And yes, it'll gonna be Mad Max movie correct, when it'll hit the road. Ladies and Gentleman, it's my great pleasure to introduce the magician behind this awesome project: Helge Thomsen! And—btw—it's a movie correct "Jim Goose" Kawasaki Z1000 as well. Of course.

(Just click one of the images above to see more details.)

Leningrad Cowboys Go Mexico

I am green with envy. 2009 Mr. Pixeleye went to Mexico and accompanied the Leningrad Cowboys when they raced the legendary La Carrera Panamericana. Slideshow!

"La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

Ya no puede caminar;

Porque no tiene, porque le falta

Marihuana pa' fumar"

Farewell, Facebook

I am not sure when it exactly happened first. But there has been a certain moment when Facebook started to annoy me. Too much information, too much things I don't wanna even know and too much digital bullsh*t—like Farmville, Mafia Wars and stupid quizzes. At that point I realized Facebook is a big, fat time wasting machine.

Facebook is—compared to travelling, for example—like package holiday. So if Center Parcs or the Aida turns you on, go ahead. I won't. Or, to draw another comparison: Facebook is like a huge shopping mall. But—put your hand on your heart—have you ever found the really inspiring shops in a mall? Nope. Also, Facebook isn't a tool or service like Gmail, Flickr or Twitter which helps me getting my things done.

I am blogging since five years. And if you—just in case—like what I do, read my blogs or hook up on my Twitter. Maybe you want to tell me I am a dumb*ss—simply use the comment function below my articles. It works exactly the same as you probably know it from Facebook. Ok, you want to shoot me a message? Easy. Send me an old-school email. You'll find the address on my contact page. And apart from that, there are tons of other ways where you can get in touch with me. This one is really wicked: what about joining up in real life?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm out. I act as my own guinea pig and deactivate my personal Facebook account. I am interested in how it feels not being a member of the biggest community you can find nowadays. So if it feels ok (like deleting my XING account two years ago), maybe I'll never bring it back ...