This is the time of year for our membership drive (ugh). If you have not paid your $20 yet, please do so right away. We need you! Please send your check made out to SDVSA to Kurt Sievert at the address in "The Box" on page 3. You can also pay at our general meetings held every second Wednesday of the month, beginning at 7:00 p.m., or at any of the well advertised events on page 3. We will also contact all former members in hopes that some will rejoin. We are also updating the "membership kit" list of local resources. Please, if you have any names of capable service establishments or sources for old Volvo parts, etc., let any of the characters in "The Box" on page 3 know.

We had 11 members attending the January 13 general meeting. A wide range of club topics was discussed. The winner of Bob Skoog's 50/50 raffie with $40 in the pot was Bob Skoog! A well deserved win!

If enough of you out there on the internet would like to receive future 1800 NEWS by e-mail, contact us at gfreske@aerostuctures.bfg.com. We have to have enough response to make it worth while to scan any pictures, etc., and make the whole thing electronic.

Our January SDVSA took place on the 21st, with the dinner meeting at Kooky's Diner. We decided to have a 'phone tree before every event in the future, because the attendance indicated that some of you forgot. Nevertheless, five 1800s and one 740 gathered to have their owners indulge in '50s-style car hop food. The Volvo talk was flying rapidly and intensely between mouthfuls of burgers and milkshakes.

We are all looking forward to February's Temecula Wine Tour on Sunday 21. 

This affair is rapidly becoming a major SDVSA yearly event, so don't you dare miss out! Del Skoog have once again made meticulous plans for this SDVSA outing, and details of her machinations are outlined on the next page.

At the next SDVSA general meeting, on Wednesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the Auto Museum meeting room, we will have another Pizza 'n' Video session. We have received several Saint videos which do not just show the 1800 in passing, but displays the "chase car" capabilities of our pride and joy. Free drinks will be provided by the club, but each of us will have to spend about $4 -$5 on the pizza. Where else can you buy dinner and entertainment for that price!

Also in March, we have the tour of Swedish Speed and Penis Auto Speedway on Saturday, March 27. This should be an interesting and fun event, as promised by the flyer on page 4. Be sure to RSVP as outlined. Instructions on how to get to Swedish Speed and any last minute details, such as caravaning plans, will be provided in the March 1800 NEWS.

And on page 5, we have another all-Volvo event. This is just to whet your appetite, and more information on this special event will be available in the April issue of 1800 NEWS.

At this time, you are aware that Ford Motor Company has bought Volvo's passenger car division (page 6). Maybe in the long run it turned out better for us as old Volvo hobbyists that Genuine Classic Parts assumed production and distribution of our spare components. Ford would be very unlikely to support us with ancient parts. We've heard from '50s Ford truck collectors that they have trouble obtaining parts, so they all have Chevy engines and drive trains in their Ford trucks!