A BRIEF HISTORY of the SAN DIEGO CHAPTER of VOLVO SPORTS AMERICA

By G. Freske

The FORMATIVE YEARS - 1978 to 1987 (plagiarized and edited from "Reflections on the 1800 and the VSA in San Diego" by Bud Hartwell in 1800 NEWS, 7/28/92) 

   Bud Hartwell, who is the central figure in the tale of establishing the San Diego Chapter of Volvo Sports America, bought his first Volvo, a 1972 light blue 1800ES, in 1978. As soon as he bought the car, he joined the national Volvo Sports America, established by Jon Keebler and David Pollack in Pennsylvania in 1976. The club sought to encourage ownership and preservation of the Volvo 1800 series cars. Bud thought that the national organization was too remote for his needs. Upon further investigation, he discovered Bill Webb's Los Angeles based Southern California Chapter of VSA, and joined that group. Through San Diego Volvo, he became acquainted with Cindy Andrews, who brought her French brown 1966 1800S there for maintenance. Because of their mutual interest in the 1800, they met, and decided to work towards forming a San Diego chapter of VSA.

   By 1980, with referrals, financial assistance and a lot of support from San Diego Volvo, they had enough local interest to form a San Diego Chapter of Volvo Sports America. Cindy became co-founder of the chapter and the first editor of the SDVSA newsletter NYHETER ("NEWS" in Swedish).

   The first chapter event was a get together in 1980 with Bill Webb's chapter at San Juan Capistrano, in which eight San Diego cars participated. The club met monthly, and another highlight from 1980 was a swap meet at Ski Beach. In 1981 there was a February brunch at the Atlantis Restaurant, at which Bill Webb was the special guest. The club also attended the Riverside Grand Prix in April. In a gutsy move in 1984, the new club hosted the VSA West Coast Convention at the Hanalei Hotel in Mission Valley, attracting around 85 cars from most of the western states.

   By 1986, SDVSA had 54 active members, and it seemed as the club had matured. Then, in 1987, a career change forced Cindy to move to Palm Springs. Without the driving force of her newsletter, the club came apart at the seams.

ATTEMPTS AT REVIVAL, Part I. (Ibid. )

   In 1988, an unsuccessful attempt was made by Gene Bellegarde to jump-start the club. Close to one hundred 1800 fans showed up at a meeting held at the Boll Weevil on Clairemont Mesa Blvd., but there were no volunteers willing to put in the considerable effort to make the resurrection a reality. Then in June of 1992, Gene made another valiant effort. With high hopes, he sent out more than 250 notices for a reactivation meeting. Together with Bud Hartwell, a little more planning, and a newsletter, 1800 NEWS, edited by Mary Ann Myers, it worked!

HAPPY DAYS ARE BACK AGAIN....... (Information gathered from 1800 NEWS, 1992 through 1994)

   The SDVSA prospered under the leadership of Gene Bellegarde as never before. Pretty soon over a hundred owners of 1800s and other classic Volvos joined the ranks. Gene fulfilled his promise to "organize any event that the members want...", and great events they were. In April of 1994, Leon Mack became the new editor of 1800 NEWS, and he and Gene almost single-handedly put together the VSA West Coast Convention in September of 1994 in San Diego. But employment changes and marriage complications made it increasingly difficult for this dynamic duo to persevere. The club was floundering again......

ATTEMPTS AT REVIVAL, Part II (1800 NEWS, 1995 to 1996)

   ATTEMPTS AT REVIVAL, Part II (1800 NEWS, 1995 to 1996 ) The last complete Leon Mack edited newsletter was issued in November of 1994. A core group of members tried desperately not to let the club go into oblivion once more. Volunteers, such as Russell Orrell, took over as Chapter Coordinator, and Steve McCutcheon did the newsletter on a temporary basis, while the SDVSA was slowly being reorganized. On June 20, 1995, Russ Orrell, Goran Freske, Bud Hartwell, Scott Harrison, Leon Mack, Steve McCutcheon, and Bob Skoog, held a special meeting to think of ways to invigorate the club. They all agreed that a timely newsletter was essential to any club, as well as regular, well organized, meetings. A special general meeting was called on September 13, 1995, at the Auto Museum, for all current and former members to approve the new plan, ask for volunteers and hold elections of officers. As is the case with most clubs, nobody wanted to stand for elections, so in order to keep the newfound momentum going, most of the new officers, as you know, came from "The Seven" mentioned above. Russ reluctantly retained the coordinator position, and Bob Skoog relieved Bud Hartwell as treasurer. Kurt Sievert took over the job of membership coordinator from Leon Mack. Goran Freske replaced Steve McCutcheon, who moved to San Francisco, as editor of 1800 NEWS, maintaining the position as Auto Museum Representative. 

THE LONGEST STRETCH (1997 through the end of 2004) 

   On the 20th anniversary of the club in 2000, that's the way things remained, except Jim Barnes, and later Gabor Varadi, and finally Richard Pattee took over as Museum Representatives. Gene Bellegarde became historian for the SDVSA, and Rick Brule, who has ties to the motor trade and San Diego Volvo, was also added as an officer for a few years. In the late ’90s, Jeff Perry became very active in the SDVSA. He created the club’s web site, replaced Gene as the historian, and became the publisher of 1800 NEWS. Besides taking a lot of pressure off the ”temporary editor,” Jeff’s computer skills set new quality standards for the newsletter. During this time period, the SDVSA gained a reputation for the most active Volvo club in Southern California, having events every month, and establishing yearly events, such as The Temecula Valley Winery Tour, Mark Jankowski’s San Diego East County Tour, Mission Bay Swap Meet, and the Menghini Winery Picnic and Horseshoe Tournament. As a fitting culmination of this period of history, the SDVSA hosted the VSA West Coast Meet in San Diego in September 2004.

NEW DIRECTIONS (2005 to the present) 

   After ten years of devoted service as Chapter Coordinator, Russell Orrell was more than ready to pass the mantel over to Peter Webb in December of 2004. Jeff Perry also decided to devote less of his time to the SDVSA, but we were very fortunate in having Doug Gagliardi volunteer his services as the Editor and Publisher for the newsletter. With no more ”rebellion” in the ranks, we expect the SDVSA to provide San Diego and Southern California with an outlet for the classic Volvo enthusiasts in the area -- maybe with some changes in affiliations with other Volvo clubs – for years to come….