But no. Nothing remotely of that sort is happening here in southern California. There's some chance of us having measurable rainfall during the two months of this issue's tenure, but it's by no means certain. What few trees we have don't change color or lose their leaves -- the exception being the palm tree which, last winter, shed about a hundred non-compostable fronds into our yard. Instead, we are coming into the season of spectacular, early sunsets, high tides and surf advisories. El Niño may wash away our old wooden piers, and parts of Malibu will slide into the sea, and people will build new houses in the space thus vacated, and they will be absolutely surprised when the same thing happens again in six or seven years.

Before then, we have some (we hope) entertaining articles for you, and a big project as well -- as long as your car's put away for winter, you have an opportunity to rebuild your B18 or B20 motor, and, in Shop Talk, we feature the first half of a series that will tell you what and how. We'll conclude this in the December / January issue, so you'll have lots of time to get your beauty running like new by the time the salt washes off the roads.

In the entertainment department, we got a big assist from John Erickson, who tells us his personal experiences in How Not To Buy A Volvo, (aka "The Silver Lining Story"). Bill Webb is back with us again with an essay titled More On Buying An Older Volvo (aka "Why Not To Buy A Volvo"). If this sounds a bit negative in tone, we think you might enjoy Bob Kelly's fine photos of his early P1800 in Star Cars (aka "I Wish I Had Bought An Old Volvo Like That"). We round out the issue with a few thoughts on driving safely in Volvo Pilot (aka "Now That We Are Driving Around In Old Volvos, Wouldn't It Be A Shame To Smash Them Into Tiny Bits").

Thanks a lot, guys! And thanks as well to all who have sent in photos, questions, answers, comments (and to Don Fronheiser for his excellent illustration), or just felt like writing. Please don't be shy -- we need all the input we can get, we love to hear from you (even criticism -- we'll fix what can be fixed), there's no such thing as a dumb question (well, not many) -- remember, our purpose is to keep our classic Volvos viable, and the more people get involved and connected to others with similar interests, the better for all of us.

Ummm, maybe we got just a little bit happy about this issue's cover -- Martin Tolton sent us a striking photo of an early P1800 rounding a wet curve at night, and we sort of started tinkering...

Keep warm, dry, safe, and have an out-of-this-world time with the magazine!

Phil Singher