Hidden Talents

First I have to tell you how much I love my new job. It’s been a while since I’ve posted a story on my “I See Car People” blog because I started a new job as market manager for Volvo Car Financial Services last September. And I Love it! Although I no longer interact directly with Volvo customers who are terrific people, I have the opportunity to meet finance, sales and general managers at 18 different Volvo retailers throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Over the last seven months, I have come across some interesting folks who help support Volvo customers including Aysha Webb.

Aysha is a full-time Finance Manager for Rusnak/Westlake Volvo in Thousand Oaks, CA. She is also a singer, songwriter, firearms instructor, personal trainer and graphic designer. Wait. Really? It seems unusual to have such diverse, hidden talents packed into one person until you realize the common thread is “helping people.”

Helping people appreciate music. Aysha has a sultry voice that is warm and captivating. Since her first debut CD “Love Is A Rock” was released in 2006, she has been on a steady climb. In 2009 and 2010, Aysha was nominated Jazz Artist of the Year and won the Jazz Album of the year for the 2010 Los Angeles Music Awards. She performed at the 2013 Dubai Jazz Festival in February and immediately began working on her new album and hot new single “Release Me.” Co-written by Aysha and Monty Seward, legendary producer, songwriter, keyboardist and arranger best known for his work with Vanessa Williams and Howard Hewett, “Release Me” has received rave reviews with a rating of 10 out of 10 posted on the examiner.com website and #7 in the UK Top 30 Soul Charts.“I always wanted to be a singer ever since I can remember. In elementary school my best friend, Julie, told me I couldn’t sing; and I was crushed!” They still remained friends throughout high school, and Julie invited Aysha to join her at the Catholic Youth Group meetings where each youth was asked to choose a different ministry area in which to serve. “I wanted to do music, so they let me sing at all the Youth Group retreats and then I started singing for all the weddings at that church. Julie even asked me to sing at her wedding and doesn’t ever remember telling me I couldn’t sing.”

Helping people get healthy. Aysha worked for a bank since she was 18, sang in a band and shared an apartment with her girlfriend who was a personal trainer. “My friends used to tease me that I was a banker by day and a rock star by night,” she said. She started working out with her roommate and found that she really enjoyed it, so she went to school to get certified as a personal trainer. “I liked banking when it was more about customer service, but then it became more sell, sell, sell. I wanted to get back to helping people, so I got into personal training.”

By the time Aysha was 21, she was dating a drummer in a band and hung out at his rehearsals and would sing along. Her boyfriend suggested she try out for a band and she ended up in a Top 40s group called Destination, which led to several other bands. At the same time, she joined the Santa Barbara Oratorio Chorale. “I didn’t read music, but I still sang in the Chorale,” she laughed. The last band Aysha performed with called “Girls In the Mix” kicked off her career as a solo artist. They won the Battle of the Bands in Santa Barbara and a talent scout asked to sign her as a solo artist.

Aysha married when she was 32 and opened up a gym with her husband, which became quite successful. Then when she got divorced, she gave the gym to her ex-husband and went back to school for graphic design. To this day, Aysha designs all of her own album covers. You may wonder if there is any occupation she hasn’t tried? Her answer, “Nope. I even sold vacuum cleaners for Electrolux!”

Helping people learn how to protective themselves. By this time, Aysha had switched careers again and worked as an Internet manager at a Land Rover dealership. After a while, she wanted to try something new, so she quit her job and gave herself 30 days to take the three required courses and then take the Real Estate exam. She passed with a 100% score on all the tests and was certified as a loan processor and loan officer. Before she even received her certificate, she had a job offer. This was in 2007, and just as she was building her pipeline with brokers, the market crashed. “So I got a job working at a beauty supply store making $9 an hour,” she said. After a particularly busy week, her boyfriend at the time said they should do something really fun and different on her day off and suggested they go to a shooting range after a tennis lesson. “That sounded like a lot of fun! I hadn’t shot in a long time,” she said. He drove her to a remote area in Azusa, and when she got out of the car she noticed a bunch of guys all dressed in black. She was horrified. “They looked like Swat!” Her boyfriend had signed them up for a Combat Handgun class. “Oh, I was so nervous! First, they teach you how to hold an empty gun and go through how to draw it safely and pull the trigger. Then after that they teach you how to load the magazine, and you load it yourself. I remember holding the gun with my two fingers and very carefully putting it in the holster. At one point, the owner walked over to me and asked why I was shaking so much. Even though I was nervous, I still hit the target.” After that first lesson, the owner approached Aysha and told her he had been watching her and saw her determination and something in her eyes; something that told him she would make a really great instructor. He gave her his card and told her to call if she was interested in training to be a firearms instructor. “I said yes and started training five days a week. For my birthday that year, my boyfriend gave me a Glock. I do pick up things fast and was shooting faster and more accurately than the other guys.” That led to working at the shooting range as a range master while in training, which gave her even more time to practice. She received her pistol instructor certification through the NRA for teaching at the range and became a tactical firearms instructor in handgun, rifle and shotgun as well as concealed carry. One of the other trainees actually shot Aysha. “She drew too quickly and pulled the trigger too soon and at a range of three feet away from me, she shot me. I still have the bullet in my arm. My friends used to tease me about being ‘shot in the hood.’”

“A woman from ‘Girls Guide to Guns’ saw me teaching at the range and told me she was working on a pilot and wanted to get some quick footage of me to show to some producers and directors.” She filmed Aysha and asked her how it was being a woman in the gun industry. Was she treated differently as a woman, etc.? “She also included information about my music. Several people in the gun industry saw that video and asked me to be in Top Shot. But before I could be on the show, I had to pass a written psych test, an oral psych evaluation, and a physical exam. I passed and was invited to go to Range Day where they had four stations set up: AR-15 Rifle, M1A Rifle and two different types of handguns at ranges of 200 yards, 100 yards and 50 yards. The tests were all timed. Out of 50 people 16 would be selected for the show, and only two of the 16 chosen were women. I came in 10^th best out of 50 people, but my personality was too easy going, so I didn’t make the show; but made alternate. It’s a reality show and they were looking for more drama I guess.” Then Blackhawk called her to be the spokesperson for Blackhawk and do a video and photo shoot for all of their new Women’s gear and appear with Todd Jarrett, World Class shooter, doing demonstrations at the Shot Show at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

Helping cancer victims. In the early ‘90s Aysha was looking for new look and decided to go extremely short. “I had really long hair and I decided to go short and the lady said, ‘Are you really sure you want to go short?’ Usually they cut off a little at a time so it isn’t a drastic change. I told her I was sure. I wanted really short hair.” So she asked if she would agree to donate her long hair to Locks of Love. “This time around my hair was nearly down to my waist when I decided to go short again. I asked the salon if they would donate my hair to Locks of Love and they agreed as they deal with that charity.”

Helping Volvo customers. Aysha joined Rusnak/Westlake Volvo in April 2013 and has already made achievements above and beyond anyone’s expectations. She assists Volvo customers with the paperwork involved in purchasing or leasing their vehicles and provides information and recommendations on products that are available for added protection. Aysha’s life experiences and hidden talents make up who she is and helping people is just part of her character.

To learn more about Aysha, download her latest CD or view her performance schedule, visit https://ayshamusic.com/

XC60 Wins "SheKnows 2012 Parenting Award"

For those of you who don't follow blogs, SheKnows is the web's largest site for women. They recently announced the winners of the 2012 SheKnows Parenting Awards. Companies and Readers nominated favorite products and services in 75 categories based on functionality, quality, safety and convenience.  On Nov. 5, 2012, winners were announced, and SheKnows readers awarded the Volvo XC60 the prestigious Editors' Choice Award in the Mom Cars Category. Second and Third place in the same category went to the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna respectively. Click on the link below for more details:

http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/awards/parenting-awards-2012/category/just-for-mom

This doesn't surprise me in the least. The Volvo XC60 has all the amenities a busy mom could ask for and so much more! Congratulations Volvo for once again leading the way for safety, innovation and afforable quality.

Are You Following the Volvo Ocean Race?

Not many people make the connection between Volvo and 100 year old ocean racing, but we just chalk this up to yet another little known fact about this great car company.

It all started with two sailors and their solo voyages around the world: British adventurer Sir Francis Chichester and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail single handed and non-stop around the world between June 14,1968 and April 22,1969.In 1973 the Whitbread round the World Race contest was held using fully crewed yachts. Dangerous and perilous doesn’t begin to describe the situation. In fact, three sailors were lost after being thrown overboard during storms. From that point on, they ran a similar contest every four years.

In 2001-2002, Volvo claimed the race as the first Volvo Ocean Race, which some refer to as the “Everest of Sailing.” The race lasts nine months, and this year we began in October 2011 in Alicante, Spain and will end in early July 2012 in Galway, Ireland. According to a Volvo press release, “teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world’s most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajaí, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient.”

Each sailing team includes 11 professional crew members, and, depending on the leg of the journey, a team member could race day and night for 20 days straight with only freeze-dried rations for sustenance. This is a major mental and physical challenge for sailors who will endure sleep deprivation and hunger while providing off-the-charts strength and tenacity in temperature variations from -5 to +40 degrees Celsius. Crew members are allowed to bring only one change of clothes, and each takes on a different job while onboard the yacht. Among the 11 crew members, at least two sailors will have had medical training, one sailmaker, an engineer and one dedicated media crew member.

The boats are 70 feet long mono-haul designs recognized as the fastest sailing vessels of their kind and reaching speeds in excess of 25 knots. In fact, the 24 h our sailing record of 592 nautical miles is held by a Volvo Ocean Race 70!


This race is not for the weak of heart or mind and includes extreme conditions, real-life drama and a true test of one’s ability to work as a team coupled with incredible endurance.
You can log onto this website and follow the race live:
http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html


You can sign up to watch live streaming video here:
http://new.livestream.com/volvooceanrace

Some Things Are Just Worth Waiting For

According to lead Volvo engineer Ichiro Sugioka, the Volvo Plug-in Hybrid is worth the wait. Volvo recently released its first production Plug-in Hybrid, the V60, for the European market, but it was many years in the making. “I work at the Volvo Concept and Design Center in Camarillo, where we have been working toward this car since 1990. We have been experimenting with the necessary technologies as they became available, and it’s only recently that we found technology good enough to make a practical car,” said Sugioka.

While the lithium ion battery is a key element; Sugioka believes the electric motors also can be improved quite a bit. “It’s not just about, ‘does it function?' It is also about, 'How much does it cost? How long does it last?’ That’s why it takes so long. We are not going to put a product out on the road that is a science experiment,” he added. When you work for a world class company like Volvo and are designing a vehicle to be road-worthy, it is quite different from a typical university project. “There’s a big difference in what we do and what they do. For a college student, if it breaks, they learn something. If one of our cars breaks, that is not a good thing. Our cars must be safer and more affordable; and that is what my job is right now.”

Sugioka was born in Japan, and when he was seven years old his father was transferred to New York City. After he graduated high school, he attended Caltech Pasadena for his undergraduate degree and received a master’s degree from MIT. “I went back to Caltech for my PhD, and I’ve been here ever since,” he said. When you ask him how he got into designing cars, he chuckles and says, “I’m really a rocket scientist! My thesis is applicable to rocket engines.” After the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed, there were very few jobs for people who design missiles. Sugioka ran wind tunnel testing at Caltech for many clients, which included several car companies in an effort to help make cars more efficient. Volvo was among many car manufacturers he worked with back in 1989, and in 1994 Volvo hired him to work at its Monitoring and Concept Center. “I can’t believe I’ve been here 17 years!” he said.

Sugioka worked on the first S80 that was ultimately produced in 1999. This took five years. “It takes that long to get a car on the road,” said Sugioka. After that, he worked on the first S60 and the first XC90 and finally began working on electric cars. “I was the project leader for the 3CC, 2004 electric car, and it was a vey significant step for us. It was one of the first cars with lithium ion batteries on the road. This experience eventually led to the pure-electric C30 battery electric car that is now available in Europe. It’s a luxury electric car, so it’s pricey. It’s not for the mass market. It’s for people who ‘just have to have one.’ We put emphasis on making it safe and working in subfreezing weather, which is not something other electric cars can claim to do,” said Sugioka. “The lithium ion battery is really a new technology; it didn’t exist when I joined the company. We don’t want to rush into anything too fast and get our customers into trouble,” he added.. As always, Volvo focuses on the safety of the driver and designs its cars to perform during the worst possible situations. With electric cars, special care has been taken to encapsulate the battery in such a way that protects it and the driver in the event of an accident. The “three-cars-in-one” Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid is the kind of car that Volvo will ultimately produce for sale in the United States. The “Pure,” “Hybrid” and “Power” buttons on the center console allow the driver to choose an electric car, a hybrid or a higher horsepower “fun to drive” mode.

“The one that we are producing right now is made for the European market with a diesel car so we can learn as much as we can about the first product and see how the car is used in normal driving situations. A diesel car does not meet California emissions standards, but we have a really heavy mandate by Europe to produce this car. If you travel to Europe we recommend you take a test drive in one and experience the ‘three-cars-in-one’ experience.” You can’t really compare the Volvo Plug-in Hybrid with any of the hybrids sold here in the United States, because it is a completely different car. European drivers are much different than American drivers. Europeans accelerate harder on the freeways, and in Germany there is no speed limit, so you don’t get the same fuel economy as you would get here in the United States. “Because people in Europe drive so fast, you need a different kind of car, a different kind of engine; and the Prius is not it. Most people don’t realize that a hybrid runs on its engine power once you are in highway speed; then it’s not running on the electric power anymore,” said Sugioka.

Volvo is also looking at a wheel motors technology. Similar to the seatbelt technology that Volvo developed but deliberately didn’t claim exclusivity for so that other car companies would use it, Volvo developed wheel motors technology and made it available for other car companies. “We aren’t making it exclusive to Volvo, because this is something that can help others make cars run more efficiently,” said Sugioka. With the wheel motors technology, the experimental C30 plug-in hybrid has 400 horsepower total with each wheel producing 100 horsepower. It is currently undergoing testing in the UK, and, according to Sugioka, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to improve durability and cost. “We are doing a lot of durability testing. After a few thousand miles, they fix it and make it last longer. On the plus side, this technology allows software to make the car do almost anything,” he added.

Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volvo Cars, summed up the theory behind the Volvo second generation hybrid when he said, “In order to get true car enthusiasts to think green, you have to offer them the opportunity to drive with low carbon dioxide emissions. That should not, however, take away the adrenaline rush that promotes genuine driving pleasure.”

The Adventures of Dwight and Loretta Lindholm

Dwight and Loretta Lindholm have decided that it’s time for another adventure. So they are taking advantage of the Volvo Overseas Delivery Program and will fly to Sweden in April to take delivery of their 2011 Volvo XC70. This is their second overseas delivery with Volvo. The first time was January 2004 when they picked up a Volvo V70 wagon and drove 2500 miles throughout Europe in snowstorms.

For most folks, the idea of travelling to another country to take delivery of a new car may seem like a big adventure, but for the Lindholms, now both 80 years old, it pales in comparison to the extended cruise they took to the South Pacific with their five children and two dogs in the early ‘80s.

“It was just a lark,” said Dwight. “I woke up at six o’clock in the morning on Oct. 24, 1976, and the idea of putting my family on a boat and sailing around the world just occurred to me. I thought about it for an hour; then I nudged my wife and thought this would make short work of the idea. She listened and said, ‘That sounds like a good idea. Let’s do it!’”

The next step was to tell all five children. “They all happened to be at our beach house at that time. We took each one aside and told them about the idea. Children 17 years and younger will agree to anything five years down the line. I told them to give me two to three days before I commit to a date, and within a few days, we chose June 12, 1982.”

What makes this story even more unusual is that Dwight had never set foot on a sailboat, and Loretta doesn’t even know how to swim. “It took us five and a half years of preparation before we left. I had never been in a sailboat until I was 47 years old. I decided to take the trip before I ever got in a sailboat!” said Dwight.

They say the devil is in the details, and the Lindholms knew how important it was to master the art of sailing before attempting a trip of this magnitude. A four-month run to Mexico in the Golden Viking II 51’ Force 50 sailboat would serve as a test of their sailing skills. Dwight chose the name “Golden Viking” as representative of his home and his heritage. “’Golden’ was for the state of California and ‘Viking’ was for my heritage; I’m from Minnesota. Originally my relatives came over in 1868 from Sweden. In fact, they came from a place close to Halmstad which is about 100 miles south of Gothenburg called Långaryd. We have relatives there. We are part of the largest “mapped” families in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records with over 100,000 names.”

Golden Viking I was a 29’ Erickson which the Lindholms kept on charter with the Calipso Fleet in Marina Del Rey. “As I look back on it, Golden Viking I was almost like child’s play. We went back and forth to Catalina on weekend trips; and this included six trips in small craft advisory bad weather. In October of 1978 we ordered the Golden Viking II to be built in Taiwan. After that, the whole project took on a magnitude of damn serious business. As it was being built, I spent my weekends in marine stores, reading. During the week I devoured all of the yachting magazines and must have read fifteen or twenty books. A lot of office time was taken up in telephone calls, exploring different types of equipment and system strategy on the boat. In the two and one-half years that followed before we left for Mexico on December 16, 1981, Golden Viking II went out eighty times including sixteen overnights on anchor out at the Channel Islands.”

There was much to do to prepare. Dionne (Dee Dee) and Dwight got qualified with advanced licenses in Ham radio, and Loretta received a general license. It took four and a half months to get a general license and another four and a half months to get the advanced license.

Dwight insisted that everyone take Scuba Diving lessons, which consisted of seven three-hour sessions for each of them and another seven ocean dives. “Finally, six of us, excluding Loretta who didn’t swim, were certified scuba divers. Kathy at age 11, was the youngest to have ever been certified by the school. That almost broke my back. It seemed like every week, one or the other of the kids wasn’t up to speed with the pool work or the ocean dives, and I had to come in in the middle of the week to have them do the lesson over to keep them up to speed with the group,” said Dwight.

Dwight and Loretta took the Coast Guard Auxiliary Seamanship course followed by a Coastal Pilot course, followed by another examination that, according to Dwight, “only half the class passed.” Douglas and Dwight took a 25-hour private tutorial course in celestial navigation. They would not have the luxury of any fancy electronic navigation systems.

It was Dwight’s concerns about pirates that determined his choice in a guard dog. “At that time there was some danger of pirates for fisherman along the coast of Mexico, so before we went to Mexico for the ‘shakedown cruise’ for four months, I investigated guard dogs and brought a Rottweiler puppy. She was on the boat the entire time.”

As with all best laid plans, there were a few hiccups. The Golden Viking II arrived in April but without its main mast, which had been mistakenly dropped in Oakland by the carrier ship. “All of this delayed the thing six weeks before I got this half-ton mast trucked down here to Los Angeles. I might say, getting it off the ship in San Pedro and all twenty-six tons trucked up to Oxnard was quite a major undertaking.”

On July 1, 1979 Golden Viking II was put under sail and was moved out from the dock 25 out of 26 weekends.

“Getting down to the wire, we’d overlooked first aid, so one month before we left in May 1982, I took a twenty-four hour three-day weekend crash course in offshore emergency medicine. I was intrigued by the fact that of the twenty students in the class, I was the only one who had immediate plans to take an offshore voyage. And only one other person in the class had ever been off shore,” said Dwight.

The big day had finally arrived. On June 15, 1983, Dwight and Loretta and their five children: Douglas (22), Dionne (21), Jeanne (18), Philip (14), Kathy (13) and the two dogs, Asta and Tammy, set sail for an extended cruise that lasted over 13 months. It took an entire month at sea to reach French Polynesia and the family spent two and a half months visiting six inhabited islands of the Marquesas which has no tourist accommodations. “This is a place you only visit by private yacht,” said Dwight. “The Marquesas Islands are very mountainous but hunting and fishing are good. The islands vary from very pristine, barefoot, horseback, outrigger canoes and living off the land to a little more advanced with a few cars, jeeps and small stores. We visited Hiva, Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata, Ua Pu, Nuka Hiva and Ua Huka.”

They spent seven weeks in the Tuamotu group and five months in Tahiti’s Society Islands (from November 20, 1982 until April 19, 1983). “We were at sea 26 days going down and 40 coming back,” said Dwight. Despite no major mechanical failures until the transmission went out at the very end of the trip, the Golden Viking II survived seven tropical cyclones while in the French Polynesia and five were hurricane strength.

When asked what prompted a trip of this magnitude, Dwight says he is pretty sure he was experiencing a mid-life crisis. “I think in looking back, and at the time I joked about it, but I think it was a midlife crisis. I was 46 years old and considered myself a failure …I wasn’t a complete failure as I had just become a biographer in the 1946 edition of “Who’s Who in America.” Moreover, having come to California in 1957 with very little, I had made enough money to finance this great sabbatical. It was just that I had big objectives for my life, and I had accomplished none of them; and that is what a midlife crisis is about. You are not going to become the president and the CEO of the company. It doesn’t mean you are a failure, but in your mind’s eye you have to give up the thing or things you have been shooting for all your life; and that is what a midlife crisis is. Women have them more than a generation ago because they are also in competitive positions.”

Dwight is keenly aware that he is married to a very special woman. It is hard to believe that Loretta agreed to live on a boat with her family for more than a year without ever knowing how to swim. Dwight just chuckles and said, “I wanted to get a life insurance policy on her, and she said ‘no life insurance policy is a good insurance policy for me.’ As I look back on it, I sometimes don’t believe we did it.”

What does this once-in-a-lifetime adventure mean to Dwight and his family? Dwight writes: “We have experienced joy, love, hate, sorrow and terror together. Anyone could have quit and gone home. Each one at one time or the other felt like it. All stayed to the end.”

28 years later, the Lindholms have 13 grandchildren and continue to be grateful for the time they spent together on their South Pacific voyage. While many of his children would like to have a similar adventure with their respective families, it “doesn’t seem to be on the radar screen for any of them. This is something that not very many people can do.”

Picture: 1982 The Golden Viking at Ensenada Grande Island, just north of La Paz (3/13/82)

Picture: 1982 Easter Family picture at San Diego Harbor

If you are looking for an adventure and are not quite ready for an extended cruise to the South Pacific, you might want to consider the Volvo Overseas Delivery program. Here are just a few benefits:
A huge savings off the MSRP compared to taking delivery of a Volvo that has already arrived here in the USA.
Roundtrip tickets for two to Europe
One free night at the Radisson SAS, a first class hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden, home of Volvo
Fifteen day European Car Insurance coverage including Swedish temporary registration of your new vehicle
Tour of the Factory Delivery Center in Gothenburg, Sweden and a complimentary Swedish Meatball lunch
Travel packages and much, much more

Give us a call at 818/577-2500 and get plans underway for your adventure of a lifetime.

A Very Special Overseas Delivery

For Christina Walsh, taking an Overseas Delivery of their 2010 Volvo S40 was a bittersweet experience.

On July 6, 2010, Christina along with her husband, Michael, and their son, Ethan, set out for Goteborg, Sweden. Christina was exciting and sad at the same time. On some level, it felt like she was coming home because she has such a strong connection to Sweden.

Christina’s mother, Maja Lisa Carlsson, was born in Sweden,. For the last six years of her life, she suffered from Alzheimer’s, so she wasn't able to visit her homeland, and last year she passed away. Christina wanted to fulfill her mother's wish to be buried in Sweden, but because the winters there are so long and the ground stays frozen, she had to wait until spring to take her mother’s ashes to her final resting place.

It was actually her mother’s best friend, Brit Burton, who convinced Christina to take the Overseas Delivery of their Volvo since they were in the market to buy a new car anyway. Brit knows a lot about Volvo, because her father, Gustav Larson, along with his business partner, Assar Gabrielsson, founded the Volvo line of cars in 1924. Larson was a technician at a ball bearing company and Gabrielsson was an economist. Somehow they met and launched the Swedish line of cars known as Volvo.



According to the Volvo Museum Brochure, Gabrielsson and Larson coined the expression “Building Cars the Volvo Way” because they were designed and built to be different from other automobile manufacturers.

So Christina took the advice of her mother’s closest friend and planned an Overseas Delivery of a 2010 Volvo S40 and brought her mother’s ashes along with her to Sweden. The experience felt like nothing less than a fairy tale.

The Walsh’s were very impressed with the royal treatment Volvo provides its Overseas Delivery customers. “When we got off the plane, there was a limo driver waiting at the airport with our name on a card. Then we were whisked off to the factory for an amazing breakfast and a tram tour of the factory. Fascinating! We saw the James Bond Volvo! We got to see the 550 robots that actually put the cars together. The robots themselves are made in another part of Sweden. They do 99% of all the welding on the cars. It was so amazing to see so much, but we weren’t allowed to see everything because there were curtains in the paint area. So there’s so much more research going on there,” said Christina.

The following day, the Walsh family visited the Volvo Museum, which is not far away from the factory. “I highly recommend going to the Museum. We saw the wind systems in the water that power Volvo Factories; and green renewable energy. I was impressed with their attitude and way of thinking about things. If they have an idea, and they try something and it doesn’t work, they just move on and build on what they learned. I’ve actually started to bring this line of thinking into my own projects I’m working on here in my efforts to clean up the Rocketdyne site. It’s a different perspective,” said Christina. Building on core values of “Quality” and “Safety,” Volvo has been a pioneer in environmental policy since 1972 and over the years has made this a major priority.

While in Sweden, Christina reunited with her mother’s 86 year old sister, Margrit Larsson, who lives in Stockholm. They also received a slightly escalated tour due to her connections with the founders. “My son got to drive a giant Volvo bus, and I got to drive a truck on the private Volvo track. Did you know Volvo Trucks owns Mack trucks? It was such an education for all of us. Did you know that Volvo was the first car company to invent the seatbelt but chose not to patent it so that it could be open to the world immediately? Did you know Volvo was also part of the aerospace industry? There’s a whole segment in the museum dedicated to Volvo’s involvement in marine and aero engines and trucks.

Over the course of her trip, the Walsh’s put 1265 miles on their new Volvo. Christina said it had been over six years since her last visit to Sweden, but vows that she will travel there more often with her family. “I got to see ‘my rock’ that my grandfather dedicated to me when I was seven years old and showed my son where my name was carved into it. It was so great that my son was able to really get in touch with his Swedish heritage.”

Here are just a few benefits of the Volvo Overseas Delivery program:

• A huge savings off the MSRP compared to taking delivery of a Volvo that has already arrived here in the USA.
• Roundtrip tickets for two to Europe
• One free night at the Radisson SAS, a first class hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden, home of Volvo
• Fifteen day European Car Insurance coverage including Swedish temporary registration of your new vehicle
• Tour of the Factory Delivery Center in Gothenburg, Sweden and a complimentary Swedish Meatball lunch
• Travel packages and much, much more

If you are interested in taking an Overseas Delivery of a Volvo, call our sales department at 818/577-2500, and get your plans underway for an adventure of a lifetime.

Seven Volvos and Still Counting!

For Linda Lott, DDS, “VOLVO FOR LIFE” is truly a lifetime commitment.

Linda is a Pediatric Dentist and has been driving Volvos since 1971 when she was still a graduate student at UCLA. “I’ve owned seven Volvos since 1971. The first one was a fuel injection 142E two-door coupe with a manual transmission. I didn’t know how to drive a stick, so my friend had to help me to learn so I could drive my car back to UCLA,” said Linda. This first car captured an official “300,000 Mile” certificate from Volvo for driving the car over 300,000 miles. “I just drove that car everywhere!” Linda said with a laugh.

Her next Volvo was a 1985 745 grey station wagon with black leather interior and fuel injection; then she bought a two-door 760. Linda says the most important reason for choosing a Volvo for her is safety and then comfort. “We always chose top of the line, loaded Volvo’s. They are just so comfortable.” In fact, Linda’s dad tried to convince her to buy a Volkswagen when she was a student, and she told him, “Not on these freeways!”

In 1988 Linda bought two Volvos; one was a white 980 station wagon and the other one was a 780 Limited Edition Bertone two-door coupe, which was her favorite. “It was a special design that particular year because it was designed by Nuccio Bertone, an Italian designer who worked for Maserati. I really wanted to keep that car."

The white station wagon got Linda through AYSO soccer with all three of her kids, and when her youngest daughter was ready to get her license she felt very confident riding with her and letting her drive. Linda remembers Halloween 2000 when another car got impatient with traffic and literally jumped across the lanes of traffic on Beverly and La Brea Avenues and t-boned her Volvo. “All we could do was bear down. The air bags discharged, and the whole front end was demolished. My Volvo was totaled, and it had over 200,000 miles on it.”

Linda’s next Volvo was a 2001 XC70, and she quickly fell in love again. “It was espresso brown with tan interior. I loved that car. The interior was like butter,” said Linda. While travelling between her mother’s house in Camarillo and her home in South Pasadena, she quickly put 157,000 miles on that car, so she bought another XC70 - a 2007 with less than 15,000 miles on it. Her son took over the 2001 XC70, and that car currently has 156,000 miles on the odometer and is still going strong. In fact, Linda’s sister borrowed her station wagon so many times that she finally bought herself a V70 2.4T station wagon.

Linda says she really does try to give other car manufacturers a chance. “I tried to make a change, but when I’m in doubt, I always go back to Volvo. Every time I go out of town, I lease a Toyota Prius, and I drive it around, and I am impressed with the mileage. I really wish Volvo could figure that out, but after all the bad PR about Toyota, I won’t be buying one.”

It goes back to her priorities which are safety and comfort. “I’m just comfortable with a Volvo. I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the engineering. For now, I’ll just have to pay extra for the gas.”

For Linda, Volvo has been such a big part of her life, she can’t imagine driving anything else. “I’ll always have at least one Volvo in my family.”