If any ounce of you is either a sports nut (with me it’s more pounds that ounces) or you just like really greats ads… or cars, then this is for you. If you like all three, this may be a bit of heaven for you.

So, Gunde Svan, if the name doesn’t ring a bell then you’re probably one of those weird sports lovers that discards wintersports as something silly and not to be counted on, in the bigger picture. Well start counting, because Gunde Svan is probably the best cross-country skier ever. Now i know people in the know (including my mom), will start screaming Bjørn Dæhlie, but for me he was never nearly as elegant or up against the russians (& the rest of ‘em) as much as G. Svan was..

He won 6 medals at the Winter Olympics (4 gold) and 11 medals at the World Championships (7 gold). In 2007 he was asked to lead his native Swedish national cross-country skiing team… which brings us to the advertising and car part.

Cross-country skiing is stil pretty big in Scandinavia, so it makes sense to first of all hire Gunde Svan, and second of all use him in the commercial for your official car partner.

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First time i saw this advertisment my first reaction was that this was probably the best car ad i had laid eyes on in years. They normally all look the same to me, boring being the key ingredient! But this is pure class and beautiful on top of that!

But then it struck me as a little weird that Volkswagen was the sponsor for the Swedish cross-country team. Where did Volvo and Saab go wrong? It’s so obvious that it should have been either of those brands, and i’m very curious as to why they managed to drop that ball. It would be the perfect marriage.

It must hurt them a little inside, when they’re parked in front of the TV every sunday to watch Bingo Lotto (look it up), and they see Gunde Svan driving a VW… Saab and Volvo – stand up!

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