You're absolutely right: I'm not the name and face you expect to see when you point and click your mouse to this page. To be truthful, I'd have to say I'm grateful for your razor-sharp observation. If we were both wrong here, I'd probably be the one with the monitor burn instead of Phil.

A few weeks at a certain care facility in Ste. Ives, Switzerland, where his monitor burn may be carefully tended to, and Phil should be right as rain.

In the meantime, have a look at the fruit of his labors and those of a bevy of regular and guest writers that seem to compel Phil to stare blankly every month for a few weeks at the monitor and mutter Ones and Zeros under his breath.

Lee "VolvoGirl" Holman and John Parker provide technical expertise in areas that should go a long way towards vaporizing the mystery of Overdrives and understanding when to consider it time to think about some serious refreshing under the bonnet.

A tradition of great stories continues in this issue. D. Donovan regales us with a tale we'd rather read about than live out. David Spieler is back again with a story of another fine find, and Larry White shares some poignant moments with his daughter (and us) while she masters the fine art of driving... in a 122, no less.

On Your Marques features Fraser Earle's good fortune to have recently rediscovered a Volvo-powered tube chassis sports racer which he and a friend built some 40 years back.

Having recently lost his fear of the dark, Cameron Lovre now shines some light on the need for a voltage regulator that can stand up to the demands of proper lighting.

The inimitable Brooks Townes brings us Part II of the epic 9000-mile ES Tour '99.

The other person most likely to flail Ones and Zeros on our behalf (as well as somehow managing to produce some of the most amazing covers to be found on any magazine, automotive or otherwise) is Marsha Singher. She dropped in on Bob Moreno to get us article #3 on the ongoing Amazon Restoration.

Evan Reisner has guided us through the looking for, and purchase of, a suitable "beater" Volvo in previous issues. In this issue, he gives us pointers on the care and feeding of said beater now that we've brought it home.

And for dessert, a tour through the newly opened Volvo Classics Art Gallery should do nicely. Sune Envall has generously loaned us a fine 444 on a snow-covered Old Stockholm street.

February marches on, and soon again the sounds of the wild B20 and the lesser B18 will be heard throughout the land. Sort of makes the "shortest" month a little shorter yet, doesn't it?

--Mark Hershoren

Thanks, Mark. Actually, the "Round-the-World Massage and Hydrotherapy Spa" thing they've got going over here is pretty good. Life in Cascadia will return in the next issue -- for some reason, these Swiss don't seem to run to pencils (or any other sharp objects), which makes scribbling difficult...

--Phil Singher
editor@vclassics.com

Easy-print version of this fine to-do