Story and photos by Aviv Peres
aviv-p@actcom.co.il

Tel-Aviv, Israel

It all began when Uncle Moshe decided to sell his old Volvo 144 and buy a new Fiat Punto. He called and offered me the car for a few days, just for a try. At first, I didn't want it. It looked too big for my small needs. Moshe didn't give up. He pushed me into it and told me, "Just ride with her for a few days, and then we'll talk." I have never returned it to him.

Slowly I fell in love with my Volvo. I noticed that the car would never fail me, no matter what. For six months, I was working in the southern city of Eilat. It's about a six-hour drive from Tel-Aviv, and I used to do it two to three times a week, in both directions. The southern side of Israel is very hot, and in the summer it can reach forty-five degrees C. in the shade (but there's no shade at all...). The Volvo never overheated and never stopped. In that period, I started to look for other Volvos on the road. I also surfed the Internet for Volvo sites and sounds.

Then, I decided that a film must be made here.

I borrowed a DV (Digital Video) Sony video camera from a friend and started shooting film of other Volvo owners. I found most of them by attaching a small leaflet saying, "Would You Like To Be In A Volvo Film?" to their windshield. Others, I just picked on the road and went along with them filming as we drove.

The shooting lasted for about four months; then I sat down to edit the material. I threw a lot of stuff out of the film, including footage of some rare Volvo cars, because their owners weren't all that interesting. I kept the ones that were either very funny or had some serious Volvo attitude.

In the following photos, you can catch some of the film's spirit.