A One-Off Finnish Station Wagon with a Traction Avant Drivetrain

In Finland in 1952, the Nummela coachbuilding factory (Autokoritehdas K. Nummela), based in Turku, produced a prototype station wagon that remains unique.

Its overall appearance seems to be influenced by the Austin Sixteen, Fiat 1100B Giardinetta Viotti and Willys station wagon.

It was commissioned by Mr. Pentti H. Aaltio, who owned Auran Auto Oy, a company selling automotive parts and accessories, which later specialized in selling cars. He no longer needed an engine, gearbox, front drive shafts and suspension from a Traction Avant that he owned but felt that building a station wagon with durable Traction Avant mechanicals could have potential for a production run of such vehicles. A wooden-framed body with sheet metal cladding was built on a separate chassis.

The dashboard came from a 1938 Hotchkiss.

The prototype was completed in 1952 and christened “Ilves”, after the lynx, a feline of the Finnish forests.

Its manufacture proved long and too costly to produce in volume, hence it never progressed beyond the prototype stage.

Ilves was used by Mr. Aaltio for daily commuting until 1965. After that, the car thankfully escaped the scrap heap but did deteriorate over the decades.

Just before 2000, llves was donated to the Turku Region Mobiliste, a local car enthusiasts’ club.

After extensive restoration work, it finally returned to the streets of its hometown in the spring of 2024.

A big thumbs up go to the Turku Region Mobiliste for preserving and especially restoring the Ilves car!