Since November of 1994, Russell Orrell has been serving as the ”Chapter Coordinator” (president) of the San Diego Chapter of Volvo Sports America (SDVSA). Without a doubt, he has been in the saddle for a longer term (10 years!) than any officer in the 24-year history of the SDVSA! At the General Meeting on October 13, with 11 members in attendance, we held an impromptu election, and Peter Webb was thrust into the awesome responsibilities, which is the legacy of the president of the SDVSA. Peter is a young wipper snapper who has impressed all of us old fogies with his enthusiasm and abilities over the last couple of years of membership. While there is no substitute for age and experience, Russ deserves a well-earned break -- and our heartfelt thanks! Let’s all of us give Peter as much support as we can, so the SDVSA can keep thriving as it has been under Russ’ excellent leadership! 

      We have lots of things left over from the 2004 VSA West Coast Meet held in San Diego on September 10 through 12. Besides T-shirts and two varieties of hats, we have really beautiful grill badges, which were used as prizes, and a miniature quarter panel P1800 ”Volvo” emblem in the form of tie or lapel pins! The club, of course, had to pay for all these items, and now we offer them to you to raise some much needed money for our treasury. A list of items and prices appear in ”Annonser” on page 11.

     The winner of Bob Skoog’s 50/50 raffle was Eric Hill, although no monetary jackpot was available. However, if Eric had been at the meeting, which according to the rules one has to be to qualify for prize collection, he would have had the choice of the two varieties of hats, which were specially created for the 2004 VSA West Coast Meet. 

     The 2004 Annual Chrysler Classic Speed Festival at the NAS on Coronado on Sunday, October 10, as always was a great show. Unfortunately, we had a conflict with the VCOA National West Coast Meet, held at Konocti Resort, Clear Lake, Kelseyville, CA. on the same day. Without the Orange County and So. Cal. Contingents of the VSA, we only had four SDVSA Volvos enter the Car Club Corral. Brad and Sharon Ben(gt)son led the way in their 3rd place winning ’73 1800ES at the recent VSA West Coast Meet in San Diego, followed by Steve Shearer and son in a 240. The ”temporary editor’s ” ’64 S and Jeff Perry’s red ”phantom” ’66 S putting in a rare appearance, brought up the tail of our minute caravan. A local Coronado-ian, Asia Burr, fetched her red  

’59 Volvo 544 and joined our ranks, after we gave her one of the many left over corral passes. Sheri Lowe brought her P1800, looking excellent after a recent massive front-end repair. Story on page 7.

      The weather was perfect, with sunshine and a cool breeze blowing across Point Loma. We had a couple of hours to ogle the cars in the Car Club Corral, in the pits, in the exhibition tents, and even grab a bite to eat, before the start of the first race. The first race got underway at 1:00 p.m., for Group 1: Pre-1941 Sports and Racing Cars. These relics are really a sight to behold as they trundle down the tarmac. The next seven groups, cars from 1947 through 1972, are a more conventional looking bunch, but there are some interesting looking ones here, too. The over 225 cars entered are chosen to compete on the basis of their historical significance and certified authenticity. We missed Rick Hayden’s racing P1800 (#51) this year! 

      We’d like to have as many SDVSA members as possible attend the Bozzani Volvo Show on November 13 in Covina. This dealership is really making an effort to cater to Volvo nuts of all persuasions – fans of both classics and new Volvos. This event is sponsored by So. Cal. VCOA, which means a first class show. For more information, contact Dave Barton (SDVSA member) at (951)674-0818, dbarton@linkline.com or www.scvcoa.org.

     The next SDVSA event is our Classic Swap Meet at Crown Point in Mission Bay Park. Gene Bellegarde has volunteered to organize this event, so close on the heels of the VSA West Coast Meet, on which he did such an excellent job. This is the time for everyone to gather his/her spare Volvo parts and bring them down to Crown Point to sell -- or trade them for parts, which you really need! As mentioned before, we have a lot of excellent items left from the West Coast Meet, so we decided to have a raffle for some of these treasures. This is the first time at our Annual Swap Meet for a raffle, and the first ticket is FREE! Turn the page for more information on this event. 

      Because we want everyone to RSVP early for the SDVSA Holiday Party on December 12, all the details are included on page 3 in this newsletter. Bud and Christine Hartwell have once again graciously offered to host the festivities. If you have never been to the Hartwell’s ”Car Barn”, you owe yourself a visit. Amazingly, it could have all been gone a year ago in the Cedar firestorm! Make sure you RSVP by Dec.6!!