National Volvo Meet

[mjkspyder_one]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I would love to see several hundred (maybe thousand) Volvo's in one spot. I propose we start planning a National Turbobricks meeting. Maybe we could have it somewhere near the center of the US (colorado or kansas maybe) so it wouldn't favor one coast or the other.

Maybe we could pool our money together and rent a raceway for a weekend or so.

Go ahead and tell me if I'm off my rocker or anything. :rofl:

[86volvo740gle]

Sounds great... has there ever been anything like this before? It would need a really determined organizer.
CK

[mjkspyder_one]

Not that I know of, I've never heard of anything like it.
I would organize it myself, but I have no idea how to go about doing that.

[NUFAN]

Well, the volvo club of america holds two national meets every year. One on the east coast and one on the west coast. Both meets usually draw between 150-250 volvos. That's about the biggest volvo meet that I've heard of in North America.

This years west coast national meet is scheduled for October 8-10 in Clear Lake, California. Keep checking vcoa.org for more details, and I'll make sure to post it here when the final details are released.

[Benjam83]

Yeah dude....I've been wanting to see something like this for a while. I've been to the national Saab convention (my dad is into Saabs like I am into Volvos) and it was pretty cool. They'd basically set it up where it'd be a package deal. You'd pay X amount of dollars and you get a hotel room, pay a little more for different event soyu'd like to enter while you're there....like the AutoX, concourse, scavenger hunt, timed rally, driving school at the speedway that would be fairly close, parts swap meet, I even think there was an auction for cars (not parts), and then on the last night, there would be a banquet dinner where afterwards they give awards to the people that placed in the weeks events. And this was a very fun 4-5 day weekend.

They'd hold it at some resort, or one time they did it up in Wisconsin and everyone stayed in the dorms of some college, I cant remember the name though. The best part about that, as long as everyone behaves themselves for the most part, I don't see why a school wouldn't allow people to stay there, for a small fee of course....that'd be pretty cheap too.

The worst part is, it'd take you like 1-2 years to organize, get all the permits, talk with local officials (cops, etc), get lodging set up, and probably a host of other things that I have no clue about.

I'd really really like to see somethign like this take shape though. I wonder if VCOA would help you out.

[mikep]

I am thinking summer in the middle states, close to Canada, and make it more than (US) National.

[mjkspyder_one]

See, now THAT's the kind of get together I'm talking about. I have absolutely no problem with the location, I just wasn't sure if there were many people on here from our northern brother country.

[NUFAN]

They'd basically set it up where it'd be a package deal. You'd pay X amount of dollars and you get a hotel room, pay a little more for different event soyu'd like to enter while you're there....like the AutoX, concourse, scavenger hunt, timed rally, driving school at the speedway that would be fairly close, parts swap meet, I even think there was an auction for cars (not parts), and then on the last night, there would be a banquet dinner where afterwards they give awards to the people that placed in the weeks events. And this was a very fun 4-5 day weekend.

The worst part is, it'd take you like 1-2 years to organize, get all the permits, talk with local officials (cops, etc), get lodging set up, and probably a host of other things that I have no clue about.

I'd really really like to see somethign like this take shape though. I wonder if VCOA would help you out.


The VCOA does this twice a year, every year. I believe that the VCOA events usually draw more cars than the saab ones do to as the VCOA is a bigger organization. People come from all over the US and Canada. It's really a lot of fun and all the arrangements are taken care of by the VCOA.

Keep checking vcoa.org where there will be updated national meet information and you can also join the VCOA.

[Al]

I am thinking summer in the middle states, close to Canada, and make it more than (US) National.

Kansas City, Kansas is the closest large city to dead center N-S E-W part of the U.S.

[mikep]

South Dakota is more scenic.

[Al]

Well there is Mt Rushmore SD. or we could go 450 miles South to Pikes Peak CO. Or if you want close to the border there is always the Motor Sports Hall of Fame about 25 miles west of Detroit.

[lcordner]

Much as I hate to rain on anyone's parade, we have tried this a couple of times and we can't get it to work. I, too would love to see it and would love to help make it happen. We have East Coast and West Coast meets.... That seems to be where the Volvo nuts are.

Here is my experience with Volvo meets. I have probably organized more of them than anyone on the west coast. Some have been pretty successful. You have about a 200 mile radius from which to draw people. After 200 miles it drops off to just the real die hard types. When we hold a national meet in Southern California, we get very few Northern California people and even fewer from the Pacific Northwest. We held one in Phoenix once and got very few people period. We also tried it in Tennessee.... very small turnout.

Soooo.... South Dakota??? Maybe not. Here are the logistics problems.

If you want to assemble hundreds of cars (keep in mind our meets usually attract a couple of hundred) you'll need hotel space and banquet facilities for 400 to 1000 people. Got a likely spot in Rapid City? Somebody needs to write a big check or put their credit on the line to reserve rooms pay the hotel the upfront charges, etc. This part is very risky. If nobody shows up, you are stuck with the charges, and they can be in the $10K range. I would never take the risk personally. That is what VCOA is for... to front the money.

We regularly run race track events. A cheap track costs $6000 per day, and expensive one $10,000 to $15000 per day. Again somebody has to sign the contract and pony up the 50% downpayment.

Insurance. Quiet expensive, but believe me you don't want to organize something like this without it. Somebody gets hurt the organizers ass is on the line. Get ready to lose your house.

I probably enjoy Volvo meets as much as anyone I know. I go everytime I can. Would I drive from San Francisco to Kansas for one? Not a chance. There are too many good ones closer to home. Do people from Kansas drive to the Coast for one? Rarely. I know. I have all the reservation documents for the last 5 years.

Here is an interesting fact. VCOA has 4000+ paying members. Of that quantity only about 500 to 1000 ever come to a meet. If that holds true for Turbobricks..... You would need a base of 10,000 turbo bricks people to get 1000 to 2000 at a meet. Are they out there? And let me tell ya, most of the 1000 won't drive over 200 miles to get there.

Would VCOA help out? Sure. Would we write a check for 200 room reservations in South Dakota or Kansas? Gulp.

So, Mr Spyder, I notice you live in Concord. I live in San Rafael. Why don't you come to one of our small events. Our Davis swap meet on May 2 will draw 200+ cars. We have reserved Thunderhill raceway for Monday May 3, you are more than welcome there, $160 per driver. See if you like that and if you do, I'll help you work on a larger one.

Lee Cordner
President, Volvo Club of America