Jeeze, it's time for the "season wrap up post" already?
Haven't had much to post on this car since the clutch went in, which is mostly because it just keeps running well, looking good, turning sharp, going fast... it hasn't missed a beat all year (granted I've driven it all of 1,600 miles since May). I've been running it at ~22psi since the clutch broke in.
But really the car has come together great, to the point where my main issue right now is squeaks and buzzes from the interior (anyone got tips for shutting up my glovebox and doorpanel/door sill rubs?) I have a list of things I want to do next, but have put them off to be done in late winter/early spring after we have knocked out a chunk of work on the 943.
I hear that your car was invited for showing in-doors at the Staggered show at Eastern States this weekend.
How'd it go?
We all know you know!
Yeah.. we brought the car to the Staggered Auto Show this weekend which is mixed-make but leans towards the VW crowd a bit, so it's a much different kind of show than I have been to in the past. I submitted pictures of the car and they picked it as one of a few dozen to be parked indoors for showing. I was pretty happy with this based on the level of some of the cars they bring in, so it was cool to have the Volvo inside out of the rain, and yes it was the only Volvo in the building! There were a lot of nicely finished VW's there that really made me want to paint the car...
I didn't spend a lot of time around the car, but when I did I had more than one guy ask me if the car was a diesel. I tried not to be visibly offended
but I couldn't understand where that was coming from (one guy said 'well it has injectors'??!) until one guy said he thought the DL trim level meant diesel! Kind of drove home the point that it was a crowd that really had 0 Volvo familiarity.
Despite that, the car got a really positive reaction and people seemed to get a kick out of it. Since I was parked inside I was kinda stuck until the bitter end of the show, so by default I was standing around for awards. Given the crowd and the size of the show I wasn't expecting anything, and as a 30-something white dude in a beige Volvo I was definitely NOT expecting to be called:
Was very surprised, and honestly really proud of this one. Unlike the other shows where I just had to beat out a bunch of other old Volvos and SAABs this one was a win over some pretty seriously built cars, so it was really nice to see people appreciate it. I still think it's funny to call the car a "trend setter" but the organizer of the show told me the award is given in honor of their friend who started the show, and he was into things that were new/different/unexpected - and the Volvo evidently really caught them off guard.
He won ?trend setter?. I saw it inside and it?s super clean.
there was also a 240 drifting and another parked for showing outside.
Shoulda said hi! If I knew you were there I would have told you to follow me home and thrown a transmission or two in your trunk...
SO, there ya have it. Beige Volvos are now certified Neck Breakers and stance-crowd approved. Great way to cap off the year. Temps are starting to drop here which means the car is an animal in the morning when it's 45deg and the roads are chilly. Boost season! Next year a few things to make it go faster and a few to make it look better.