Although the members of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Volvo Sports America Club hail mostly from King County, it was the individuals from Kitsap and Jefferson counties who suggested the visit to the Port Townsend Aero Museum at the Jefferson County International Airport.

That’s how a fleet of older-model Volvos arrived at the Spruce Goose Cafe for lunch on Wednesday, June 19, before their owners were treated to a guided tour of the aviation museum. Members Phil Brodt and Oliver Henry, both of whom call Port Townsend home, helped organized the event. 

Chapter coordinator Dale Ridings explained that any Volvo model no longer in production can join the club, which has the express mission of maintaining “these lovely Swedish cars,” and keeping them on the road.

“They’re really well-engineered and easy enough to work on, even for us ‘shade tree’ mechanics,” Ridings said. “Most, but not all, of our group are retired. We all fell in love with Volvos somewhere along the way in our lives. Now, with more time on our hands, we can pursue our interest in restoring and driving these cars.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Ridings was likewise impressed with the Aero Museum from a mechanical standpoint.

“With a peek inside the repair shop at the museum, we loved seeing how many hours are invested in returning these planes to their former glory,” Ridings said. “Two of our members are very much avid aircraft fans, and we have a number of former Boeing employees in our midst.”

Michael Deskins, who sported a brown leather A-2 flight jacket for the trip, worked at Boeing for 32 years. Along with the Volvo 1800S, his retirement present to himself, he’s long harbored a passion for the World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, one of which he helped to restore at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

As much as the Volvo owners appreciated the antiquities at the Aero Museum, Ridings noted that their chapter had brought out some of their distinctive rarities as well, among them Brodt’s Volvo PV544.

Volvo introduced the PV544 in 1958 as a successor to the PV444 model circa 1944, which was the first small Volvo car.

The PV444 was small enough, in fact, that its rear seat was remodeled to provide space for an additional person in the PV544, which was why the first “4” was replaced by a “5” in its model designation.

Regardless of model numbers, the PV444/544 line was discontinued in 1965.

“Phil found and bought that vintage Volvo from a shop right where he lives in Port Townsend, about two years ago,” Ridings said.

The Puget Sound Chapter of the Volvo Sports America Club meets in Seattle on the first Wednesday of each month, for its members to share their passion for vintage Volvos. Ridings was glad his fellow chapter members from Port Townsend recommended this change of pace.

“Driving the winding back roads of Jefferson County, with the sun overhead, was the ideal way to spend the day before the start of summer,” he said.