Båstnäs Car Cemetery

Båstnäs Car Cemetery (Ivanssons Bilkirkegård) is a surreal, post-apocalyptic relic tucked into the woods near Töcksfors, just across the Swedish border from Norway. The site began as a scrapyard in 1956, when brothers Thore and Rune Ivansson started importing used cars for resale and parts during a time when high import tariffs made vehicles in Norway prohibitively expensive.

The business thrived for decades. At its peak, over 2,000 cars filled the site—sold, scavenged, or slowly forgotten. As demand faded, so did the clientele, shifting from Norwegian car owners to vintage enthusiasts searching for rare parts. Eventually, even that dried up. More than 800 cars remained behind—left to rust, sink, and slowly be consumed by moss, vines, and silence.

Today, wandering through Båstnäs feels like stepping into a zombie film or a frozen moment from a forgotten future. Car shells lie half-swallowed by the forest, windshields cracked like brittle timepieces, and dashboards overgrown with lichen. It’s a place where nature reclaims metal and memory—a visual poem of time, neglect, and the strange beauty of ruin.

The cemetery is open to the public year-round and maintained by the Töcksfors Car Club. There’s no admission fee, but donations are appreciated to help preserve this eerie automotive mausoleum. Visitors are reminded to tread gently—this is history as much as it is wreckage.