LAST CHANCE FOR OLD CAR ENTHUSIAST IN SALLA, LAPLAND
Some of you might remember from last year the big hustle that came when Salla announced to have an auction for the cars that refugees used to pass the border between Russia and Finland. Auction was held by the Finnish customs in cooperation with Salla municipality.
Last year all of the cars in the auction were sold and the auction got a huge attention around the world. The numbers show that the news from the auction reached almost 400 million readers and this was only the written information! But last year there were few cars that were under an investigation by the authorities and couldn’t be sold in the auction. Now the investigations have been done and these 18 cars left will be in the second auction. Also 4 cars are coming to the auction from Raja-Jooseppi; the border station in Inari. These cars are sold by the picture and the new owner has to pick the car up from Inari.
Auction starts on Friday 14th of July in Salla village. You can see the cars beforehand on the preliminary audit on Thursday 13th of July between 2 pm and 4 pm and on Friday before the auction from 10am to 2 pm. On Friday there will also be representative from customs to answer any questions. The cars are situated in Salla recycling station, 7 km from the village and the four extra cars are in Raja-Jooseppi.
The story began when the refugee movement started to increase in the end of 2015 and early 2016, it was no longer possible to cross the border with bicycles as the degrees outside went far below zero. The refugees were forced to buy a car to cross the border and stay alive in the freezing weather. Inside the cars you could see how people had been living there: there were wrappers from food and drinks, blankets and in some cars diapers and toys.
- Among the ”East cars” there are pearls for car enthusiasts. Ladas, Volgas and one ”marshrutka” GAZ Gazel city bus. Questions about the second auction have come and the old car enthusiasts are waiting for the last pearls. Hopefully this auction is going to be as successful as the first one last summer: everything went really well and people were on a good mood. It was a happy and also humorous event! Says Heli Karjalainen from Salla Tourism Marketing association.
On the same day with the auction there is the traditional "Salla in the Middle of the Night” - event. It started when companies in Salla village decided to turn the day upside down because the sun is up 24/7 giving the same light at night as during the day. After the auction there will be a lot of happenings around the main street of the village: husky-dogs, different kind of competitions, lottery, great offers in the shops, live music, salty and sweet snacks all the way from afternoon to the night. It will be an event of good mood where is lots of things to do and see for the whole family. This all happens on the village centre, just around the auction area.
More information
http://loma.salla.fi/fi/tapahtumat/
Accommodation, marketing, media: heli.karjalainen@salla.fi
Auction arrangement, devices, cars: asko.viitanen@salla.fi / ari.kivela@salla.fi
Customs: Jouni Hoikanniemi +358 2 95 527 027
House of Lapland is a marketing and communications house for the Finnish Lapland. We work to ensure Lapland’s visibility and appeal nationally as well as internationally. Internationally, we concentrate on marketing Lapland as a travel destination, a shooting location and a lucrative location for arctic business.
