ABOUT

Youngsters meet up on the village outskirts, racing their tractor cars, burning tyre marks into the warm summer asphalt. The smell of rubber, oil and souped-up engines fills the air when the engines speed. The cars form into a circle as the boys take turns in the middle. It is a game – showing their skills – showing off to the girls. Strength is measured and proved – as if in a strange ritual mating dance. The car of choice is known as an EPA tractor, a Swedish term for an older car converted for use as an agricultural machine. These became common in the 1930s and were previously called ‘car-tractors’.