With the heady day of late summer upon us, the interest in our SDVSA seems to be waning, much like the daylight hours. However, nine staunch partisans attended our regular monthly meeting on August 9. Randy Blum provided useful information on prices of T-shirts and the cost of silk screening our logo on the front, and a nice artists rendition of an 1800 in front of a stylized old Point Loma lighthouse on the back. Jeff Perry also has prices of T-shirts, in addition to our cost for reusable windshield decals. Now all we have to do is decide on colors! If you have neat ideas for color schemes (limit of three colors), let your feelings be known now, or forever hold your peace. And don’t forget the color of the shirt! (It could serve as an additional color). And the winner of the $16 pot in Bob Skoog’s 50/50 raffle was Arthur Olson, who was not present and thus forfeits his winnings to next month’s raffle prize.

What an excellent North County Wine Tour we had on August 26^th, thanks to Jeff Perry! The weather was perfect, and the itinerary couldn’t be beat. However, only four of our cars started out at 11:30 from our meeting place at COCO’s. It was only a short drive to the pleasant surprise which awaited us at our first stop, the Van der Vort Estate Winery, just a little north of Auto Row (!) in Escondido. Here we sampled some excellent wines, crafted by nationally recognized vintner Karen Van der Vort. From there, after a couple of minor traffic tie-ups, our cars were able to stretch their legs over some fine winding back roads before arriving at our next venue, Belle Marie Winery. Bob and Del Skoog, each in their own 1800s, were waiting for us, as we pulled into the parking lot. We were also mobbed by about one hundred Mazda Miata drivers, who lined up to get a closer look at our vintage Volvos, and, of lesser interest, a Jaguar XJ6C. This brand new winery is located west of, and high above I-15, and is under the influence of the cool ocean air. We took our time, mingling with the "Fighting Cock" crowd, and enjoying the unusual variety of wines offered. But we had one more winery on our schedule, so it was on to the Orphila Winery via I-15 and San Pasqual Road. Perfectly timed, as we were parking, Brad and Sharon Benson, who brought their beautiful Karmann-Ghia, unexpectedly joined us. Be sure to read Jeff’s more detailed synopsis of our tour on page 7.

We have to persuade Jeff Perry to reschedule another North County Wine Tour in 2001, if only to sample "Goldrush" (which is mentioned in the article), in its final form. In the meantime, we want to thank Jeff for an outstanding outing! Great job, Jeff!

On August 20, Jeff also attended this year’s Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance. He has submitted a very interesting write-up, which can be found on page 8.

We were just informed on September 6 that the Dodge Anaheim Thunder VARA races at Edison International Field on September 24^th have been postponed until December 1, 2 and 3. Plans to be there to support Ken Rodenbush and his Volvo 1800 will change accordingly. Dave Hunt and his Orange County VSA, who provided the impetus for this sojourn, will keep us informed in future newsletters.

Since we can’t attend the real thing in Anaheim this month, we’ll get our racing kicks at the SDVSA Slot Car Races, being held on Saturday, September 30, under the expert direction of Gene Bellegarde. Just turn the page for more details about this fun event, and how to get there. Be there or be square!

The annual VSA West Coast Convention, in association with VCOA, will be held on the weekend of October 20 through 22 at the beautiful Sheraton Rancho Cordova Hotel in Sacramento, CA. You will find an application to this event on page 4.

If you plan it right, and you don’t mind the drive, you can also attend the Fourth Annual Chrysler Classic Car Races at the Naval Air Station (NAS) on Coronado, just across sunlit San Diego Bay. The SDVSA will be represented in the Car Club Corral on Sunday, October 22. This year, we plan to meet outside the gates, and drive in as a group, to ensure that we can park together. And if you are not planning to make it to the West Coast Convention, you can join the SDVSA at the Vintage Auto Expo USA 2000 at the San Diego Concourse. More details on these events will be forthcoming in October’s 1800 NEWS!