Ake Murvall's
Ambassadeur 5000 Story
Dear whoever…
In regard to the Åke Murvall reels and notes article…
I feel like the big designer tried to speak to the world, but his
words failed to be appreciated by the
“Gods” of our time…
Based on the experience I have had following the release of the
article, with people, who has not had
the decency to speak to me personally, but has had the eagerness to
mail several ABU fans informing
them of their dismissal of the article; and the experience with
others, even worse, but anonymous,
being threatened and made responsible for huge losses they risk to
suffer from the content of the
article, researching ABU stuff no longer give me any pleasure. The
factual claims would have been
easy to fight off by simply showing high resolution photos, I didn’t
in the first place to make sure no
fakes could be made from the details which became visible, but the
issue is bigger than this and I
realize now that the world of ABU collecting is a rotten one where the
truth and the emotions for
ABU has been overtaken by the greed for money and dominance.
I am a professional researcher and the level on which I see that some
of the so called ABU
researchers operate is so far from the level I find acceptable, there
is no sense in bringing any news
or facts to these people. They will much rather fight to keep their
status quo than accept new
knowledge if this doesn’t suite their interests.
Fishing and ABU has been my hobby for 50 years. Right now I would much
rather think of the joy of
being by a river or out on a quiet lake with my rod and my reel, than
I would think of any more ABU
research. It’s not worth the effort when you face being accused, as I
have, of telling lies, looking for a
way to promote the value of my collection, and not being willing to
bow down to “Godly dictates” on
what a reel is and isn’t. I cannot bow down, not when Åke Murvall
spends 3 pages in his note book to
explain that the reel in question is his favorite to become the new
Ambassadeur 5000. I owned the
Murvall reels and his notes before most of the self-acclaimed ABU
researchers of our time even
started. I know what Åke entered into his book, how can I agree with
anyone’s dictate when I know it
doesn’t correspond with what Åke wrote and has his reels as
documentation? One man has seen a
blurry photo, blurred for a reason, and that’s all he needs to see to
decide what is right and what is
wrong. The facts are very different from his story, but my attempts to
explain had no effect. What
has been stated about the handle of the green reel is wrong, his
description of the color is wrong, his
decision it is a modern Record replica is wrong, his claim that I have
paid a fortune for my reels is
wrong. Then he speaks of the 6000 stamp on two of my reels, claiming
the 6000 wasn’t even planned
or invented at the time the prototypes were made, wrong again, but
then, in the next sentence in his
writing, he blames me for not mentioning a green 6000 prototype he
know exist. How can a reel both
“not be invented or planned” and exist as a prototype at the same
time? Ok, there is perhaps an
explanation, if the 6000 prototype was made after February 1953 it
would not be mentioned in Åke’s
notes. But then it is not a color test prototype, the decision to use
red had been made long ago and I
fail to see why ABU would have needed a green prototype. So what is
this reel? A private job? I don’t
know. I simply did not mention any green 6000 prototype because I
cannot find a single word about
such a reel in Åke’s notes. The last thing I have been faced with is
the claim that Åke’s foot numbers
on early reels are all wrong. The person who states this has photos in
his files proving that what Åke
writes is not correct! Well who are we to believe? Accusations goes on
saying: “I think, that someone
didn't play well on him (me)” suggesting I have been lured by someone
to believe in falsified material,
…is the way I read this. Well, that man can be no other than Åke
Murvall, very, to say the least, hard
for me to believe, especially since this happened in an age where ABU
reels and the collecting of them
was not influenced by big money and extreme object values, and the
fact that Åke never charged me
anything for his reels. But what about the photos in the mentioned
files? I don’t care to speculate, only
find it a bit strange this person doesn’t see or mention there is
another alternative to the one he
proclaims as certain truth.
In my small world in Norway this kind of behavior is quite honestly
shocking. I offered to make
available high resolution photos of the green reel, but even that
wasn’t enough. No time to wait with
the discrediting of me and my work, and I can only ask why? What was
so urgent about getting rid of
this article and stamp it as not trustworthy? I have a vivid
imagination about this, but I will not share
it.
Let it be said, the worst here, I have received anonymous threats. It
makes me realize, there are no
end to what some people will do to protect their interests, and facts
are certainly not good enough
reason for these people to back down.
The answer to all this is quite simple on my side – if it’s no joy
anymore, simply stop. And that’s
exactly what I will do. No more work on any follow up story about two
strong personalities standing
face to face through the Ambassadeur project, no other ABU research.
And Wayne, please remove
the article, and me, from your web pages. I feel like the “Gods” of
this business don’t want my
interference in their playground. I think it is best not to bother
them…
I have my reels, Åke’s notes, they will never be sold and quite
possibly I will have a laugh from time
to time reading about new facts from the “knowers” of this business.
Truth will be this will leave the
fields wide open for many sorts of fakes and reels which aren’t worthy
of a high status. Big money
will change owner for false reasons and in the long run this will ruin
ABU collecting. I have seen a few
dubious reels already being offered for sale, it will only follow
more…
With kind regards from
Per Erlandsen.
A sad day
indeed for those little collectors who value truth
Wayne/abuadmiral
The AM article will modified and will be be re-posted with some extra
pages, within weeks
Len Borgstom had the following to say,
for the benefit of "knockers" as well as those who appreciate
the sharing.
Per,
I do not know you well , but i have seen what you and Wayne have
done. The following email to Wayne should
interest you!
“I
could not find anything that I considered wrong in that great work
by Per and yourself. It is really the best documented information
about the Ambassadeur that I have seen. Please do not give up!
Len”
As
someone who has lived through the Ambassadeur success story, I
am so impressed with your enthusiasm and what you have done.
Congratulations!
Lennart
Borgstrom