It was a dark and stormy night…well, almost. Eight members braved the cold winds and threat of rain to attend the January 10 General Meeting.  For some reason, the Auto Museum building was locked up again, with no prior notice to the SDVSA.  Luckily, the Balboa Club building had a room available, so the meeting was held there.

  Here we go again! Lara Mia Phillips, our Auto Museum Car Club Council representative, brought some disturbing news about the campaign to repeal the three year old law (SB 42, effective 1/98), exempting all pre-1974 vehicles from emission testing.  Please, read the flyer on page 6, and follow the instructions at the bottom of the sheet. In this particular instance, it may be propaganda by the after market parts industry, but this is a real threat, and unless we as classic car hobbyists express our concern, the state legislators might just have their thinking corrupted! It is a fact that the only reason we got the current 30-year or older exemption law passed is because of the efforts of the vintage auto hobbyists and their supporting clubs, organizations,… and the after market parts industry.

   Due to the small number of members present, and the fact that our treasurer was absent, we elected to not have Bob Skoog’s 50/50 raffle.

  On January 21, the SDVSA and OCVSA held the first combined Volvo event of the New Year. Thirty-five (35) eager Volvo enthusiasts overran Bob Workman’s European Auto - and they by no means walked away disappointed. Art Banks was there, telling us about his experiences with restoring Volvo engines for his beautiful E and ES. The author of  “Swedish Iron”, Bill Webb, was also present, to lend his all-around expertise in a Q/A session. After a feast of BBQ’d “varm korv” (hot dogs in Swedish), potato salad, vegetables, various condiments and libations, Bob gave a short course on how to properly rebuild engines. All participants would like to thank Bob and Cindy Workman for their hospitality and the great deal of preparation required for this great event. Thanks also go to Dave Hunt (see his article on page 5) and his 

OCVSA for their planning and execution of this tech-session, and to Art and Bill for lending their substantial support. 

  We have just been informed that, starting in February, the Auto Museum is looking to display cars, belonging to members of local car clubs. The plan is to show the selected automobile for a month in a special area on the floor of the museum exhibit hall. More details of the SDVSA involvement in upcoming issues.

    Not only was the Volvo 1800 inducted into the Guiness Book of World Records in 1998, but did you know that a local Volvo monument was created in La Jolla a short time ago? No?…look on page 7 in complete amazement and awe!

  If you are interested in collecting Volvo trivia. turn to page 8.  Darwyn Lumley submitted the first page of a survey of all Volvo related items in Road & Track, starting in 1956. We’ll complete the list in future issues of 1800 NEWS. By the way, this is an excellent example of the kind of information well suited to a car club newsletter. So if you run across data like this, or other topics of general interest to our club, please send it to the “temporary” editor at any of the addresses in the box on page 3.

  Don’t you dare miss the SDVSA Lunch on Saturday, February 24 at Ruby’s in Oceanside.  For those members who live south of Oceanside, we will gather our forces at the Standard (Chevron) station on the north side of Palomar Airport Road, just to the east of I-5, right next to the windmill.  For more details on this event and the times, just turn the page.

  Once again it’s time for the Westside Volvo and Western States VSA Southern California Volvo parts exchange. This yearly event takes place on Saturday, March 10.  See page 4 for more details.

  Finally, make your plans now to attend Del Skoog’s Temecula Wine Tour on Sunday, March 25! Look for more details in next issue of 1800 NEWS!