What Arild Guldbrandsen is doing with his ’74 Chevelle will make you rethink a few things.

Back in the old days, a hot rod was a collection of unwanted parts, usually put together by some hooligan. They were driven often, they were driven hard, and they almost never looked good. So why is it that the reaction of most hot rodders to Arild Guldbrandsen’s ‘74 Chevelle Malibu is so negative? By all accounts, true hot rodders should be eating it up and begging for more, but apparently since it’s not a ’69 Camaro with $20k in suspension parts and another $20k in paint work (and thus not in the wine and cheese tent at Barrett-Jackson), it’s something less than “cool.” Just forget for a moment that’s it’s a mid- ‘70s GM A-body, and that you know I have a Jones for them. Here’s the deal, and you judge:

Arild lives in northern Norway, so he doesn’t know any better. When a friend gave him a rusted-out ’74 Chevelle with no engine or trans, he got to work. He picked up a salvage 350 with a Performer cam and intake from a rusted out El Camino, and mated it to a stock Turbo 350 with a shift kit. When his house and kid came, the project got put on hold. After a hiatus, Arild got back into it again, this time fixing some of the rust. Check out the C-pillar. Notice how there’s no opera windows? The rust was so bad, he welded it up flat, and it looks really cool that way. Also, check out how Arild removed the filler panels behind the bumpers, tucked the bumpers in, and flushed the ends to the body work, NASCAR style. He did all the work himself to save money. Arild says he pared about 250 pounds from the car with judicious use of a torch. Other cool stuff includes Koni shocks, a bigger swaybar from a ’79 Trans Am, widened stock Rallye wheels (13 inch wide in back, 10-inch wide in front), and some lightweight seats.

Now here’s the kicker. Arild drives it everywhere, including to the local road course, which is Arctic Circle Raceway. Yep, that’s right, it’s so far north, it’s above the arctic circle. (Unlike here in the US, Norway actually subsidizes racing activity, and built the track with citizen volunteers, knowing full well that it pays off.) Arild says he’s put as many as 300 miles on his Chevelle—in one day racing it at Arctic Circle! I saw an in-car video of Arild racing his Chevelle at the track a few years back. There was no attribution, so I always thought it was from somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Arild was having the time of his life, passing cars that should have been faster. Arild also seems to be very adept at drifting the two-ton coupe around those sweeping turns, as you can see from the photo. Arild also drives it year-round, which means in the snow for most of the year. You gotta love it!