There is some bad news and some good news for the Volvophiles in our club. First the bad news;

It appears (see article on page 7 and 8) that Mother Volvo AB in Sweden sold the exclusive rights to produce and sell spare parts for all older passenger cars, up to and including the 1800 series, to another Swedish company. This wouldn't so bad in itself, but the new company, Genuine Classic Parts, (GCP) has raised the prices shamelessly, even up to 300%, by some accounts. (Volvo kept the prices on old parts artificially low to encourage restorations). Also, the article says that GCP is going to keep supplying parts to the world wide network of Volvo dealers. However, San Diego Volvo, for one, is NOT going to handle any more parts for our cars when the present supply runs out! This was also confirmed by the #2 man at Volvo Cars of North America, (according to Yankee Parts) suggesting that this will be true for all U.S. Volvo dealers. It might be a blessing in disguise, though, if other companies in this country find it economically feasible to start producing our replacement parts, thus avoiding expensive import shipping and duty costs. As of now, nobody seems to know exactly what's going on.

Now for the good news. The Gov. finally got off the dime and signed SB42, although in a somewhat altered version. The only information we have about the details so far is an article from the San Diego Union/Tribune, which is reproduced on page 6. (We will have the complete text available at our meeting and events in about a month). In essence, this bill only exclude cars built before 1974 from the biennial smog check, nothing more. If you are caught with your pollution O.E. not functional, you are still in violation of the law and are liable for a fine.

However, you are NOT required to have the car tested if you sell it, contrary to earlier reports!

All the way from the Volvo Club of Northern California comes an account of the 1997 VSA West Coast Convention by the editor of their newsletter, Paul Stutrud. A copy of the article is found on page 9, and the results of the concours on page 10. Thank you, Paul, and Bob and Del Skoog for your fax.

Our 50/50 raffle was won by Loren Phautz, who unfortunately was not present at our October 6 to collect the $16, so the money went back in the pot.

Again we had some bad luck with the weather at our 5th. Annual Menghini Wine party on the 25th. of October. It was a cloudless, sunny day, but the cold Santa Ana winds were really howling! That's two years in a row, so, as you will notice from the Schedule of Events for next year on page 4, we are moving this event back to the Spring, hoping for a better disposition of Tor, the god of thunder.

Next month's event is the East County Drive, details of which are outlined on the next page. If you've never driven on those roads before, you're in for some fun. Consider also the second option.

We have a location for our Christmas Party, thanks to Ric and Libby vonNeurnann! We are publishing the details in this issue, on page 3, since December's newsletter comes out only a few days before the big celebration. Please call the number that is given for your RSVP and other information on what food to bring. We always have a great time, so please join us!