A few years back, when Hector was still a pup, I saw an ad in the paper. '67 Volvo for sale: $300. "Ah ha," I said. So I got my faithful mechanic Yon and went to see it.

It was in Oakland and belonged to a beautiful young lady. I fell in love right away, not with Volvo, but the beautiful lady. Well, anyway, the Volvo had its front grill and nose smashed. Yon said, "What do you need that junk for?" I saw potential, he talked me out of it.

Well, to make the story interesting, a few months later I ran into the young lady again, for she worked as a jeweler and sold her wares as a street artist. She asked me again if I still was interested in the Volvo. She said, "How about $150?" I said, "Yes."

Well, I took the car home and saw that really all it needed was a nose and grill part. It was a beautiful foam green that shined up with the slightest rubbing. It had sheepskin seat covers and a trunk rack which I thought was so cool.

So I went to the junkyard and found the front grill from an older 122 for about $20. After that, I went to Berkeley color, which matched the sea foam green paint, and bought a pint to repaint the surround on the nose grill. The one I had found was white, but in great shape.

I figured it took me eleven hours to do the whole job. It was winter, so I dried the paint with flood lights. It was fun taking things apart and putting them back again. Someone said it was like Legos. Things always seem to fit nicely from one Volvo to another.

I tuned it up and it ran great. I sold it a few months later for over a thousand dollars. These Volvos seem to multiply so I sell them off quickly, but I did have some fun with it.