We are very proud and excited to announce the 25th Anniversary of the club and would love to have you join us to celebrate at our Anniversary Meet on Saturday 25th May. We will be returning to one of our favorite locations, Trimble Park, Mt Dora, Pavilion #1. Noon till 3:00.
All Volvo enthusiasts are welcome. Membership in VCOA is not required.
Bring chairs and lunch and please join us.
We hope to see you there.
Dave Montgomery
FL Chapter VCOA
Artwork by Chris G Smith
October 13 &14, 2018, Ft Lauderdale, Florida
The Fall Volvo enthusiast meet for SW FL Chapter of VCOA in conjunction with the CFL Chapter of VSA was held on the weekend of October 13 & 14 in the Ft. Lauderdale area. The two day event started off on Saturday at the Thunderbird Swap Shop and Drive-In Theatre. 15 Volvos and about 25 members made their way to the Swap Shop’s covered parking area for the event. Even Joel Stein of Volvoville 1800 convertible fame made an appearance albeit without his Volvo. The weather, although sunny, was hot and humid. This made the air conditioned two story mall on site the place to escape the weather and see some really interesting sights. Several members enjoyed a beer or two in an attempt to beat the heat.
The group of members at the Swap Shop covered parking area
The Swap Shop has been an amusement fixture in the Ft. Lauderdale area since the 1960’s. This sprawling 88 acre complex features a Drive-In theatre with 14 screens, a huge flea market with over 2000 vendors, amusement rides, video arcade and two story air conditioned mall with international food vendors. It opens every day in the wee hours of the morning with the flea market set up in front of the movie screens. By 7 p.m. the flea market is broken down and the Drive In opens to the viewing public. It is quite a feat that happens every day of the year, rain or shine. Oh, and did I mention the late Preston Henn’s Ferrari and IMSA racing car collection on display? Over $100,000,000 worth of exotic beauties to fawn over, even one driven by 7 time Formula One racing champion Michael Schumacher. We thank James Quinlan and John Martin for arranging our visit.
Swap Shop showroom
I can only describe the Swap Shop as a “trip”. Drop your car off for tires and a window tint, and while you wait mosey on over to the Tattoo Emporium for the tattoo, body piercing or teeth grill you’ve always wanted. Need a quick disguise? Visit the wig vendor, sunglass vendor and clothes vendors for that quick change look. We can’t forget the food…Cuban, Greek, Italian, Caribbean food and according to VCOA Member Ginger Nuesser, the best fried chicken she has even eaten. Toto, you are not in Kansas anymore! People of all different nationalities can be seen and the music of different languages fills the air.
Members of the public enjoyed seeing the varied collection of Volvos on hand…1800’s, 120’s, 240’s, 740’s, Polestar and R cars and even an XC90 thrown into the mix. Up for grabs was a trophy for “People’s Choice-Favorite Volvo”, sponsored by the Auto Clinic of Naples, Inc. Members of the public were invited to cast ballots. This turned into quite the battle for supremacy as four cars tied for the lead with four votes each. They were Dennis and Barbara Falcone’s (root beer, maroon, hard to describe the color) 1971 1800,
Jose and Susan Laboy’s golden 1973 164E,
Rich and Marilyn Nelson’s newly restored Safari Yellow 1970 1800E,
Chris Short’s ever popular blue 1968 122S.
The tie breaking vote was cast by the trophy sponsor, Bill Rose, who chose Jose and Susan’s 164E for its rarity and quality of craftsmanship.
At the close of the event we lined up for a Volvo parade to travel to Bahama Breeze in Sunrise where Jose Laboy and John Martin arranged for dinner, thankfully in the indoor seating with air conditioning. The Volvo parade to the restaurant was not without its dangers. Drivers in this area can be kind of crazy and poor Jose had two near misses with a driver who couldn’t decide whether or not he was in the correct lane to make the exit ramp, cutting across the nose of Jose’s 164E twice within a half mile. Thankfully we all made it to the restaurant in one piece.
Unfortunately, Bill and I had decided not to stay the night in Ft. Lauderdale to attend the Drive In movie Saturday night, but I’ve been informed the movie was lightly attended, perhaps due to the heat and activity of the day. The Sunday activity was planned at the F.A.T. Village Arts District for a gathering of Cars Arts and Caffeine. A handful of our members turned out for this. We were provided with our own area to park thanks to John Martin’s efforts. We look forward to seeing everyone again in the spring to celebrate The Florida Chapter of VCOA’s 20th anniversary.
Submitted by Tricia Rose, SW FL VCOA, Chapter Coordinator
Irv with his Volvo P1800S at Carlisle in 2013
Irv behind the table at the VCOA tent at Carlisle PA in 2013
https://youtu.be/YjyRvRx_xAk
The Central Florida VSA will be holding our Fall Meet on Saturday, October 13th at the Florida Swap Shop and Thunderbird Drive In Theaters at 3291 West Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
Members of the Volvo Club of America and the Florida Volvo Community are also invited. The meet will start at 1:30pm and will last until about 5:00pm. The Swap Shop houses a Ferrari Museum that we will tour as well as vintage race cars. Attendees that wish to remain later can meet at an area restaurant for dinner and also attend a Drive In Movie at the Thunderbird Drive In that evening.
We are also looking for another activity for Sunday morning for those who would like to make a weekend of it.
Hope to see you there!
Florida Swap Shop and Thunderbird Drive In
The Florida and Southwest Florida Chapters of the Volvo Club of America and the Central Florida Chapter of Volvo Sports America were once again invited to participate in the 2018 Celebration of Cars event hosted by the Cape Canaveral Region of the Antique Automotive Club of America on March 3rd in Melbourne, Florida. This year Celebration of Cars was moved to a new location, the stunning facility that is the American Muscle Car Museum.
The museum resides on 42 acres and features a 123,000 square foot complex which includes a 90,000 square foot vehicle display area, an 18,000 square foot showroom and an adjacent 15,000 square foot maintenance and restoration facility. It is a green building which gathers electricity via a large field of solar panels. Since the museum, a 501(c)3 non-profit, is not open to the public and one can only visit as part of a non-profit fundraiser, car show or being a school-age child on an educational tour, we were fortunate just to be on the grounds and allowed in the showroom.
Someone wore the right shoes to go the distance.
The collection, owned by Mark Pieloch, features over 250 cars from the 1950’s to 1970’s muscle cars, Yenkos, Shelby’s, Indianapolis 500 pace cars and trucks and even modern muscle cars such as a 2017 Shelby GT350R. The collection doesn’t end with cars; it features a collection of vintage balloon tire bicycles, neon signs, antique gas pumps, pedal cars, vintage soda coolers, motorcycles, vintage outboard motors and more.
Due to the number of people in attendance at the show, the museum did not permit entrance to the display area where the main car collection is housed, only access to the showroom was allowed. That alone was quite a treat to see in itself; it was chock full of more Ford GT’s that I have seen gathered in once place at one time plus a trio of Shelby Mustangs, AC Cobras, and much more.
The car show itself had nearly 300 entrants (some really wild and crazy cars) of which 16 of them were Volvos. We spanned the generations of Volvo with Louis and Elaine Bouchelle’s 1965 1800S being the oldest and John and Debbie Martin’s 2017 V60 Polestar (one of two V60 Polestars at the event) the newest. We had a contingent of cult classic 240 wagons and sedans (one a V8 conversion), Michael Jingle’s highly modified electric blue 850 turbo wagon, two very nice 2012 S60T5 and XC70 models and a one 120 two door and 120 sedan (decked out in Volvo Club of America attire). Charlie Pardee surprised many of us by showing up in a 1970 1800E instead of his usual 544 (which he sold).
Some of the other car folks were confused about a few newer Volvos being mixed in with the round fender Volvos, and most people were quite surprised to learn that Volvo made models such as the 1800 and the 120; “We thought Volvo only made the boxes” as they pointed at the nearby 240s.
Folks got a kick to learn that some Volvos have turbos and how sporty the newer Polestars are. The awards were given to the top 25, Best in Show and to the 3 featured vehicles; sadly no one from the Volvo group won an award.
The weather was almost perfect with the sun shining on us which made up for being slightly chilly and little too windy. Since the Volvo contingent didn’t arrive all at the same time, we owe a big thank you to Barbara Falcone for making sure all the Volvos were parked together…she was very persistent. We also must thank our Webmaster, Clive Dowdell, who served as the point person in dealing with the AACA. It was delightful to see a full page write up about VCOA and VSA in the magazine the AACA had produced for the show. It even featured Chris Smith’s flyer that he produced for the chapters.
It was great connecting with old friends and meeting some new Volvo people. Plans are in the works to have an event in October, possibly in the Sunrise area. 2019 will mark the 25th Anniversary of Florida Chapter of VCOA, so we are trying to plan a special event in celebration of that milestone in 2019. Stay tuned to www.flvcoa.org for details.
Submitted by:
Tricia Rose. Event Coordinator, SW FL VCOA
Member, CFLVSA
Announcing this years Spring Meet.
We have been invited back to the Celebration of Cars in Melbourne and after last years success, have decided to make it our Spring Meet again this year.
So please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 3, 2018, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Held at the Muscle Car Museum located at 3500 Sarno Road, Melbourne, FL. Enter at the Club 52 Greyhound Park Entrance.
Event will feature free entry to Front Show Room of the Muscle Car Museum, Food Vendors, Swap Meet, Kids Zone and Car Awards. It is a rain or shine event.
Last year there were around 300 cars there and other clubs including the British Car Club and a couple of Corvette Clubs. So please join us and help make it a great Volvo turnout!
Pre-registration and $20.00 entry fee required by February 18. A Fire Extinguisher Is Required.
You can also visit www.antiqueautoclubcc.com for more event info. Please print out the attached Registration form and mail it in with your check to AACCC.
It would be great if you could also RSVP to Tricia at orchidtriciarose@gmail.com
FLVCOA or VSA Membership NOT required. All Volvo enthusiasts welcome.
Hope to see you there.
Artwork by Chris G Smith
Some time back in 1997 a few of us met up at Tampa Volvo.
Twenty years ago.
Most of us were surprised to find a Jaguar at the Meet.
A real one.
AACCC Website and Celebration Of Cars Photos
