Eleven SDVSA members attended the General Meeting on August 10. Kurt Sievert, our membership coordinator, reported that we are back up to 70 members for the first time in many years!

     The main topic of discussion at the meeting was our newsletter. Now that he has a few issues under his belt, our editor and publisher, Doug Gagliardi, has found that the actual cost of printing 1800 NEWS on his home laser-printer is exceeding his original estimates by a substantial margin. In addition, we’ve been experimenting with sharing our newsletter with Ernie Shack’s newly reformed Southern California VSA Chapter. Ernie’s membership has been growing by leaps and bounds, and printing enough additional copies 1800 NEWS of to send to his members has proven to take more time and toner than Doug can muster each month.

     For now, Doug will continue to meet SDVSA’s printing needs, and he’s exploring ways to reduce his production costs. He will also help Ernie prepare a smaller, separate publication for the SoCal Chapter, which will be made available to SCVSA members via the Web as a downloadable PDF file. Those members without computer access can still receive a printed edition.

     This is an option San Diego Chapter might wish to consider to reduce printing and mailing costs. How would you feel about receiving 1800 NEWS as a digital file you could print out yourself? We need the opinions of our members! Contact any of the characters in “The Box” on the Schedule of Events page, or join us at the next General Meeting, and let your feelings be known!

     The 14th Annual National City Automobile Heritage Day was a tour de force for classic Volvos, with a total of twelve beauties all in a row. Each year, this show features a different car dealership from National City’s “Mile of Cars,” and South County Volvo was in the spotlight for 2005. Taking the responsibility of being this year’s “featured marque” seriously, members from SDVSA, Orange County Volvo Club, and the newly revived Southern California Chapter, fulfilled our end of the agreement to provide classic Volvos from yesteryear. But where was the dealership representation?

We found one Volvo CX90 with South County Volvo dealer plates, but no representative to talk with! It seems to us that a golden opportunity to expound on the longevity of Volvo cars was lost by South County Volvo.

     In spite of this disappointment, it was a great turnout by the Volvo clubs, and SDVSA would especially like to thank all the participants who came from far away. Bob Brassard offers his view of the day, along with photos, starting on page 5.

     VCOA’s National Meet in Kansas City is right around the corner, September 16 through 18. Dave Hunt, devoted SDVSA member and president of the Orange County Volvo Club, is organizing a caravan to attend (see Dave’s OCVC news on page 4). Contact Dave at (714) 555-5555 to join the trek.

     The next SDVSA event is the annual Coronado Classic Speed Festival at the NAS Coronado on Sunday, October 9. Join with SDVSA and members of other Southern CaliforniaVolvo clubs to attend the Festival as a group.

     This is always one of the highlights of our events calendar. Get a close look at classic race cars from every era and meet their drivers in the unrestricted pits, then watch the cars being put through the paces for which they were intended out on the track! Food sources are plentiful, and surprisingly cheap. The Car Club Corral usually provides its own car show, with just about everything from Lamborghinis to Nash Metropolitans!

     You’ll find complete details on page 2, along with prices, where to get tickets, and a map to Tidelands Park, where we’ll meet on Sunday morning for the short drive to the event. Remember to get your free corral passes from Bud Hartwell at (619) 555-5555. No passes will be handed out at the gate. 

     Last year, Brad Benson was able to get us a discount on ticket prices. As of press time, we were not able to confirm if he’s able to make this offer again. Contact him before October 6 at (951) 555-5555, or bradley.benson@solvay.com to see if the discount is available. And we’ll see you at the races!