The eleven members who attended the first SDVSA General Meeting of 2004 on January 14 had a lot to talk about. With the VSA West Coast Convention coming to San Diego in September almost a certainty, we have to hustle! Gene Bellegarde is our Meet Coordinator, and he gave us the particulars of the arrangements with the Sheraton Four Points Hotel on Aero Drive in San Diego. We were duly impressed! A contract is being written up which Gene has yet to see, but he has been promised all is ours as negotiated. Finding a venue that suits our needs is difficult enough, but to make the meet a success takes a lot of dedication by many of our members. We will publish a list of committees, which you can join to make your contribution to this major classic Volvo event.

     We had a second time winner of Bob Skoog’s 50/50 Raffle for the second month in a row in Dave Skousen, who would have walked away with $65. You would almost think the game is rigged, but for the fact that neither winner was present at any of the four meetings!

     All members of the National VSA should have received the Fall/Winter issue of the VSA (S.E.ES) newsletter in early January. Included was a ballot for the election of new officers. Unfortunately, the ballots had to be returned by January 23, giving very little time for a chapter-wide discussion of the candidates’ qualifications and subsequent endorsements. We hope that all of our VSA members voted. With new leadership, we expect that the VSA will return to its former glory! We will include an application to the National VSA in the next issue of 1800 NEWS, and we encourage all our SDVSA members to join. Bill Webb’s So. Cal. Western States VSA Chapter is also a worthwhile club to join, as is Dave Hunt’s smaller Orange County Volvo Club (OCVC). We’ll include applications for those local Volvo clubs, too.

     On pages 7-10, we’ve included the Nov. 1965 Foreign Car Guide comparison of the Volvo 544 and 122S.

On page 10, Lii Montgomery reports on solenoid repair.

     Every one who is a member of the San Diego Auto Museum (SDAM) have been notified by newsletter or ‘phone, or both, of a special event taking place on Thursday, February 19. Chuck Jordan, GM designer during the 50s, will talk about ”fins and horsepower” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the S.D. Automotive Museum, probably on the main exhibit floor. The entrance fee is $5.00 for members and $10 for nonmembers.

     This month’s event, the Temecula Valley Wine Tour on Sunday, February 22, is eagerly anticipated by most of the SDVSA members. They keep building more and more wineries in this valley, and Del Skoog is keeping up with the latest “developments”! We are visiting two new ones in various stages of completion this year; however, both have their tasting rooms operational, so we can do what we came for – taste wine! The last one of the three is one we visited before, with a place for our picnic. The three names shall remain a secret to maintain an element of surprise. For all the details of time and place of meeting for this exciting event, just turn the page!

     One of the premiere Volvo events in Southern California, sponsored by Bill Webb’s So. Cal. VSA, usually takes place in March at the Westside Volvo dealership in Culver City. It is scheduled again this year for Sunday, March 21. There is some confusion, however, about the arrangements because the owner is retiring, necessitating a change in staff. The SDVSA does not have an event scheduled for the month of March, so we strongly urge our members to participate in this swap meet and car show!

     When you became a member of SDVSA, you should have received a source list of local parts and service places as part of your membership kit. This has just been updated on 8 February, 2004, so if you want a recent version, contact Kurt Sievert at (619)269-0245, or k.sievert@cox.net.