By Bob Berglund, VSA President

   My local Volvo dealer confirmed what I never wanted to hear: Volvo is getting out of the old car parts business. You read about it in last month's S-E-ES and I suspect you'll be reading more about it soon. My Swedish friends tell me the process is already complete in Europe. The process involved Volvo selling their old car parts to a private company who will supply parts to the market through retailers of their choosing which may include some current Volvo dealers. As you might suspect, prices have gone up, way up in some cases. The dealers here still have access to whatever is in Volvo warehouses but that material will most likely soon be gathered up (don't know a date) and shipped to the new supplier.

   What's this change mean to us? It's too soon to say for sure mostly because it hasn't "officially" happened yet. I suspect that marginal cars that are now being restored will become less than marginal as price increases make starting too far behind the line of scrimmage just too expensive. As fewer cars get saved, scarcity may drive the value of the survivors. These are purely guesses on my part but we live in interesting times. And, if the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane club can continue to exist, so can we. (This IS the blue, as in sad, part).