Hidden away far up in the northern end of DTU Lyngby Campus lies PF Auto—DTU’s Automobile Club. It is here that DTU staff and students have been replacing exhaust systems and grinding rust off their vehicles since 1968.
The time is 12 noon on a Sunday. The place is DTU Lyngby Campus. Peace and quiet reign. However, the complete tranquillity does not extend to all parts of the DTU Campus on this sunny Sunday. If you make your way to the northern end of the Campus and turn off onto a small side road, you will suddenly start to hear noises. An electric humming, hammering on metal, and excited chatter that becomes louder and louder the closer you come to the pale yellow brick building.
The workshop
The only indication of what is going on here is a little yellow sign bearing the text ‘PF Auto’. But as soon as you step around behind the building, there is no longer any doubt that this is all about cars. There are around ten of them here, in varying states of repair, surrounded by piles of tyres. The entrance to the club itself consists of three large garage doors.
We have now entered the inner sanctum of the club: the workshop. The scent of burned metal and motor oil hangs heavy in the air. Everywhere on the concrete floor you see small piles of metal shavings. The walls are lined with work benches and rolling tables, and above them are wooden panels holding adjustable wrenches, socket sets, and all kinds of other tools and equipment.
Suspended just below the ceiling is a little Mazda dotted with areas of grey primer where the paintwork has been sanded off ready for repainting. In the far corner, work is underway on a 1972 Volvo 144, whose rear wheels have been removed. And next to it is a more modern silver BMW. Space has also been cleared for a Saab.
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Deputy Chairman of the club, Christian Vorm, works the angle grinder at the back of the workshop.
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The members
Today, around ten of the club’s members are here working on their cars. The old Volvo 144 belongs to Club President Frederik Kornbeck Bøgh. He is holding a yellow control box that looks rather like an outsized remote control. Machinery starts to hum and the dark blue Volvo rises gently towards the ceiling. The rear wheels have been removed, providing free access to the worn bushings that are to be replaced by brand new polyurethane components:
“The new bushings are a lot more rigid, so they’ll tighten everything up. And they should last for the rest of the car’s lifetime,” he explains.
The generations
In the workshop, Frederik Holten-Tingleff is replacing the cylinder liners on a silver Saab. He has been coming to the club since he was three years old when his father was a member. In fact, his father still is, and drops by occasionally.
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“I’ve been down here pretty much every day—and I’m 30 years old now. So I’ve spent a fair few hours in this workshop,” relates Frederik Holten-Tingleff.
The same applies to a number of the other club members. Many of their fathers are still members today, and have now passed on the legacy.
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Pizzas and anecdotes
It is late afternoon, and a couple of the club members have just returned from a pizza run. The members quickly make their way to the small meeting room that also contains a kitchen area. The eight pizzas disappear slice by slice while the members regale each other with workshop anecdotes:
“I remember the first time I had to reverse my dad’s car into the workshop. All of a sudden, I felt the back of the car dip. I saw that the back wheel had dropped into the trench under the lift, and absolutely panicked! The others helped me push it up again, and luckily I hadn’t damaged anything,” says Frederik Holten-Tingleff with a laugh.
The pizzas have been consumed, and one by one, the members return to their cars. Not everything was completed today—not by a long chalk. So it is certain that the members will be making their way to the yellow brick building again tomorrow and, it is hoped, for many generations to come.
Edited article from DTUavisen no. 6, June 2015.