"Volvo Jim" MacIndoe

By Sven Olafsbrosson

This is a story of 'Infection by Association.' To get the full meaning of this, a little history of my ancient involvement with Volvos will be helpful. 

   My love affair with 'Old Volvos' began in college. As we drove one weekend from the University of Maine at Orono, to a Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity enclave at Worchester Polytech in western Massachussetts, we started to notice a lot of 122 Volvos on the road. Most were driven by 'hippies.' Every time we saw a 122 wagon, there were 2 hippies. By the time we got to the Mass State line, the snow flurries had turned into a blizzard. I had a '67 Dodge Dart, with front end so worn, that only I could drive it. Well, the end result was that by the time we got to the Mass Pike, we noticed that 122 wagons were the best cars in the snow; went faster and did less swerving than any other car out there. The next summer, I bought my first of four122 Wagons. 

   Fast-forward to 1978, the Saab Dealership on Convoy and Engineer road had a sweet 122 wagon 'parked in the back.' After the requisite 4 hours of haggling with the salesman as he 'checked with his manager,' I drove out with my second 122 wagon, and the second one that had broken rings due to the 250,000+ miles driven. Another fast-forward to 1989, I had since bought a third 1968 122 wagon, and then a 1961 P1800. I traded the '68 wagon (mistake) to my old roommate that had driven his rusted out 1800ES to my cabin on Palomar Mtn. So rusty the rusted out steel brake lines were, they were repaired with gas line tubing and hose clamps. Well, I traded the '68 wagon for that ES mainly to keep my friend alive, but also for running gear parts for the 1800. A year later I had a '67 122 wagon, and a B20 powered P1800. 

   I put an ad out to sell all my extra parts. I had just gotten married (different story), and the 3rd car was a Honda (oops). Well, up the drive pulls 'Volvo Jim', the worlds most avid 'Volvo nut'. He bought all the remaining parts, sold me a 1965 Orig code 19 black 1800S, and re-infected me with a far worse strain of 'Old Volvoitis.'

   The marriage took me off Palomar and into a rental in Clairemont. Just so happened, across the street were some 'double lots,' and directly across was one that was fenced, had a 3 car double-deep garage, and a fenced field that could hold 30 cars. We rented the back lot, our 'Field of Dreams.' Before long we had dug up every old Volvo in the area available for under $300, and with every one of those comes a pick-up truck full of 'spare parts.'

   Jim MacIndoe was a Maintenance Chief in the Navy at Miramar, and lived in Santee. His Mom, bless her soul, would hold a mock 'Volvo Club Meeting' everytime I would show up at his house. His first Volvo experience had been when his parents bought a new 1967 144S. He was still kicking himself for selling a 1973 1800ES to buy a BMW 2002, which he came to hate and regretted to 'move'. He had a fully restored 1964 544 that he bought from his Navy friend John, who had restored it at his house before a transfer out of town. (Navy does that!) So, since I met Jim he had acquired another '73 ES, a '72 145E, 2 x 544's, a 1967 122 2 door (with that car came a mint front bumper with over-rider bar that I put on my 122 show car), an '84 244, 2 x 1800S's; plus he found me the '65 544 that I drive today, tried to cut a deal with George to trade my black 1800S for a 1958 445, found 5 444's and 544's in a field in Lakeside, bought them all and we stripped them on the spot, over a span of 2 weeks. Oh, we found a 544 in Oceanside that Navy Rick got, and they found a 544 near, but not in, a field almost to the Ecology lots on Otay Mesa. He paid someone $40 to strip all he could from that one all in one day. I had an appointment to go to his house that day, everytime I called his mom or wife would tell me that he had checked in, but that he was still tied up and would be gone another couple of hours.

   One time we drove up to the big swap meet at the fairgrounds in Pomona. The meet was mostly for domestic iron, but we had a bet that there would be at least a grille surround for an 1800 for sale there somewhere. I won that bet, but Jim was not wrong on these matters very often.

   A year or so went by after we rented the 'Field of Dreams', and Jim got transferred to Seattle, actually Whidbey Island. On his way to Seattle one time he stopped in the bay area and found a nice black 544, he still has that car today. Once settled in, he has found a '71 142E, 2 or 3 445's/P210's, and MGA coupe, and an MGB-GT. Jim has since re-infected all the Volvo lovers in the Pacific Northwest, and I saw an article on the VCOA newsletter back then by Gary Ramsted that had his picture, and labeled him the 'worlds most dedicated Volvo Nut.'

   On a more serious note, Volvo Jim lost his mother to cancer just after he moved to Seattle, and then his wife to cancer a few weeks ago, so I ask all of you to please say a prayer for their souls, and also one for Volvo Jim, may he rebound fully from his losses. One of his most favorite pastimes was spending a full day in the Ecology/Pick-yur-part lots on Otay Mesa. Jim plans to come down to visit me in some weeks, and we plan to do just that.