Trippin' Out

Day 1

I'm skipping some stuff. Between now and back when I should have written about it, I overhauled my rear brakes, some of my driveshaft, and some other stuff I'm forgetting about right now.

That's OK though, this will be worth it. You see, I've taken the Volvo on it's first road trip! Don't tell the missus, but she partook in the shakedown cruise where any (every?) number of things could have gone wrong, and (so far) didn't! The speedometer doesn't work, but the little app I downloaded to my phone says we averaged about 70 miles per hour. Of course, it also kept alternating between 36 and 68 miles per hour, so take that number however you want it.

The trip was uneventful, except for the fact that we drove from Reno to Sacramento in a sweet old Volvo that I rebuilt myself!!!

Nice hair, Poindexter

Tomorrow is the Golden Gate Volvo Club Of America (...what a mouthful) meeting in Davis where we will no doubt be overshadowed by sweeter old Volvos rebuilt and maintained by people far smarter than myself.

In case you haven't surmised yet, I'm writing this from a hotel in Sacramento - so there is plenty of time for all the things to go wrong. Stay tuned, updates to come...

Day 2

Delicious dinner with friends last night. Delicious Volvos at the park all day. Volvos of all shapes and sizes (but mostly squares) descend on the town's central park. Raffles, swap meets, and more enthusiasts than you could ever hope to talk to in one day. Also, the greatest concentration of 1800s this side of the tequila aisle at the liquor store! As usual, we showed up fashionably late and were directed to a parking spot down at the end with the rest of the fashionably late folks.

And fashionable we were!

My car will never be a concourse winner. It's built for me (and my budget, of course), with plenty of non-standard parts in plenty of non-standard places. These other cars though... Whoa, simply stunning. Daily drivers bought new in the 60s, gorgeous professional restorations, and more than a few lovingly pieced together in crowded home garages like mine.

Let's see a few!

You could eat off of some of these engine bays

Amazons

OG Wagons

When the only tool you have is a soldering torch, everything looks like it needs to be a steampunk roof rack.

544s

I also had the pleasure of putting several faces to familiar names of folks who I've chatted with on the forum. Bill, Dudek, the other Phil S, and plenty of others. That's the thing about events like these. They aren't about the cars. The cars are just something to gather around. The real reason we gather is for the stories. Had a Volvo? Have a Volvo? Want a Volvo? Saw a Volvo on TV once? Doesn't matter, all of the fun is in standing around telling (inventing?) stories about adventures gone by and adventures to come. Let's do it again soon!

There are many like it, but this one's mine.

Postscript

So, what's a 300 mile trip in a 45-year-old car assembled in your garage like? Luckily, rather uneventful. The car handled wonderfully. The suspension work gave us a smooth and predicable ride, predictably falling into every semi-truck rut on the freeway. It ate up the miles cruising comfortably at 70 MPH and had little trouble going up hills in overdrive. It's no performance car, but it's more than capable of backing up its good looks. Yes, the heater control valve doesn't seem to close all the way (but we already complained about that one...). Yes, something knocks against the transmission tunnel in a terrifying way whenever we go over a large enough bump. Yes, something important might have fallen off outside of Colfax (we'll find out when I go on my next missing bolt hunt). But, warm air from the heater box was made up for by the 2-70 AC (two open windows, 70 MPH), bumps and knocks add character, and if something fell off it couldn't have been that important if the car didn't drive any different. Ultimately we made it there and back again in comfort and style.

Next time - less tools, more dog.