Page 34 - Oct 2022
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As you might imagine, our son also owns a Volvo
544. He lives in Norwalk, CT, so when I learned
some six months ago that the annual national Volvo
Meet was to be held in September in Hickory, North
Carolina, he and I decided to attend this National
Meet with our 544s.
His is white and a '65 544, and mine, as members of
the NBCC know, is a light green, 1961 model. His
has been in our family since 1995 and is all-original
with 35,000 miles. A few years ago, I decided to turn
it over to him as his two sons and a daughter ? Alex
and Everett, and Maddie - were all coming of age
when they could get interested in cars.
Meanwhile , I was getting older and so maybe it was
time to pass this beautiful white '65 PV544 to him.
Then, after about two years without it, I got the itch
to buy another one because I so missed having
one.
The next one I bought was from the Volvo Auto
Museum in Chicago and, while it looked beautiful ,
it was in poor condition mechanically. I had a lot of
work done on it; then I saw an ad for the green one
that we currently have ? an original 544 from
Sweden with 40,000 miles ? I knew it was time to
buy it and sell the museum piece.
Note that when I call these two cars ?originals? I
,
mean the paint is original ? yes, the paint on my
green one is 61 years old -as is the chrome, the
body, the nterior, and the drive train!
As September 2022 got closer, it occurred to me
that we ought to have a family reunion there at
Above: A few of his favorite things- a car show, his Hickory as it is somewhat central to where other
1961 Volvo, his family who came along for the trip, Stickleys live ? Charlotte, NC, Jackson, MS, Olive
and a family reunion, too. What could be better? Dr. Branch,MS, Tennessee and further afield Los
Stickley ( center) was all smiles. Not even the rain Angeles, and Norwalk, Connecticut. There had not
could put a damper on the Stickley clan's enjoyment been such a reunion before of my family.
of this special outing to Hickory, NC.
A plan evolved. My oldest daughter, Jennifer, would
drive with me in the green Volvo and Dottie would
ride with Melinda in her 2018 Land Rover. Other
family members would drive, too, except for my
son?s daughter ? my granddaughter - Maddie. She'd
fly from LA to Charlotte and meet up with my
nieces, Holly and Heather, and then motor on to
Hickory.
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