A Swedish Car Day to Remember
I did not create Swedish Car Day, but I have organized and run all seven, so I feel a bit possessive of the event, and am very proud of its iteration in 2006. This show did not quite match the attendance we had in 2002, but it was close, and it offered such a nice balance. The weather was great (the lawn, though, was pretty cold and dark at 6am), we had a good showing by the Volvo owners, there were some interesting vendors, lots of terrific private cars, a nice little display from VNA, and of course, the spectacular showing from GM Heritage. I even got Royal Ford of the Boston Globe to make an appearance to write a story (I won't say how) in which he deftly left out the sponsorship of Boston Volvo and Charles River Saab; maybe we don't advertise enough in his paper? There was also a festiveness in the air, and the attendees seemed to be having a really good time.
The highlight of my day came when the lawn was reduced to my 900T and Peter Maitland's Sonett II. We headed up the hill and asked Dick Balsey of GM Heritage if help was needed to get the 15 wonderfully restored Saabs in his care to the three car carriers. He was delighted to have us help, and I couldn't believe it when he told us to fetch certain keys....start the cars....drive them to the car carriers...and then....Well, then I thought our job would be done and we'd turn the cars over to the haulers. At least, I thought so until I felt the elevated platform start to rise and...well, the picture tells the rest of the story. Funny how ten feet off the ground, you start to question things like, "First gear is over and down in a 3-speed...I hope."