Blue Magic

Last Sunday's NY Times had an article on lovers of old cars -- Volvos in particular, see Vintage Volvos Earn Their Stripes (Ask the General Who Owns One). As the article described:

Let's face it, with a reputation as reliable transportation for safety-minded drivers, Volvos weren't all that hip in the 1960s. Nobody stuck big yellow flower decals on them. But as baby boomers morphed into responsible homeowners, those boxy Volvos started to look better and better. Their longevity added to the cachet. The company created a High Mileage Club for cars that had traveled more than 100,000 miles, and owners attached the club's emblems to their cars as a badge of honor.

Mr. Singher has the emblem for his 122S, which has been fully restored. He has also restored a 1967 1800S. The 1800 was Volvo's period sports car, best known for its dramatic fins and the fact that ''The Saint'' (played by Roger Moore) drove one on television.

Another Volvo fan is Colin L. Powell. The former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was often found behind the chairman's quarters at Fort Myer in Virginia tinkering with his cars.

''At one time I had six, stashed at various places around the post so the M.P.'s wouldn't find them all,'' he said in a recent interview. ''My usual pattern was to fix them mechanically and then do enough body work to get them through a quick Earl Scheib paint job.

Although I am now the happy owner of The Red Menace (my red Toyota convertible), before this car, we've pretty much always been Volvo people. My first Volvo, known as "Blue Magic" (pictured), was a 1983 DL Model that I bought brand new for $13,000. We still have the car & are members of the High Mileage Club, with 199,000 plus miles. We've had several other Volvos since then, mainly because the car is safe and reliable.

As the Times piece said:

Volvos were popularly believed to be for pipe-smoking liberal college professors. In a 1985 Doonesbury cartoon, Duke asks Honey how she knows that a potential organ donor for him is a liberal. ''They pulled him from a Volvo,'' Honey says.

Bruce Potter, president of Volvo Sports America, a club originally set up to cater to 1800 owners, said he did not buy the liberal tag. ''Volvos then were for people who didn't want to make car payments for the rest of their lives. Volvo said it best in one of the old ads -- the cars offered the best bang for the buck. They publicized the fact that the average Volvo lived 17 years in Sweden.''

We may not be pipe smoking professors, but we definitely meet the liberal tag and we qualify as people who are interested in the best bang for the buck.

Long live Volvo -- and it does live long!

(Via Steph)