Rollin' Norwegian Style In the Troll Sportcupe
Norway’s automotive industry never got quite as large as neighbor Sweden’s (to put it mildly), but Norwegians can still puff up their chests with pride when they see a Troll Sportcupe cruise by.
Of course, with only 15 made, the opportunity to feel such pride doesn’t come often for Norwegians. I learned about the Troll when a couple of car journalists from Bilnorge showed up at the New England 24 Hours of LeMons race and stated that the Troll would eat up the Adopted From Jets Saab 96, were it possible to find one for a LeMons-level price. The what? we asked.
Yes, the Troll. If you read Norwegian, you can get the whole story at this Troll worship site. The basic outline: it’s a Hanns Trippel (yes, that Hanns Trippel) design, it’s got a fiberglass body, and it’s built on a lengthened Gutbrod chassis. The engine appears to be a Gutbrod 663cc, but according to the Google Language Tools translation from the Norwegian: “There were, however, plans to use the March 1 sylynders SAAB engine that would give 45 hp, and with this it would use a 3-step synchronized gearbox, also from SAAB.”
I’d have a tough time choosing between a Troll, an Autocars Sussita, and a Sofia B, were I to finally indulge my love of cars designed in nations not known for building cars by purchasing one, but the Troll might just have the edge.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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The Troll tests a bit of received wisdom -- we've all heard it said that styling is subjective. You either like it or you don't. But it's all just personal preference. Okay, but I ask you, doesn't the Troll belong under the bridge?
What a hodgepodge of design cues. The lower a part of the body from the beltline down isn't too bad, sort of an early porsche with 300SL fender accents, and an Alfa-esuqe front end. But the roof! It looks like they salvaged a bunch of glass pieces (looks like a truck windshield, and a saab rear window) and built the roof around them. Have to admit though, coming out of the factory this already had the look of a LeMon's entry. BTW, that's not really much of a challenge. 'the Troll would eat up a 96 IF you could ever find one."