Phil and Marsha Singher

Phil Singher, along with wife, Marsha Singher, are the creators of VClassics web site and VClassics magazine. They also create unique Volvo art that you must see to appreciate. In this e-interview Phil tells us their journey to becoming "Volvonauts."

How did you become involved with Volvos? Why did you become a Volvo lover, phile, fan or what do  you like to call yourself?

Phil: I like the term "Volvonaut." Our 122S came along with Marsha when I married her. It had been in a few fender-benders and had fallen on hard times mechanically, but it was her car and she loved it, so I was stuck with it. My background was in British sports cars and American muscle cars, so I didn't know a thing about Volvos, but at least the SU carbs looked familiar and the rest of it looked pretty simple.

Marsha got a job that required a freeway commute and the 122S wasn't safe for that at the time, so I took it over to get me around town. The more I drove it, the more I liked it; the more I liked it, the more I fixed it; the more I fixed it, the more I liked driving it...

That was 17 years ago. That 122S is still one of our two daily drivers. I only gave it back to her recently, now that I've got the 1800S into solid mechanical shape. One Volvo for two people is not enough.

How did you make the transition from Volvo owner to Volvonaut?

Phil: A process happens to some people that I don't quite understand myself. At first, you drive an old Volvo because that's what you happen to own, however you ended up with one. There's a certain challenge to using a thirty-year-old car as daily transportation, even one as rugged and
simple as a Volvo. After six months of it, you're either going to stick with it, or you get something newer.

If you do stick with it, you end up knowing a lot about the car -- where to find parts, who can service it right, how to fix small stuff yourself -- and that's not an investment in effort that's easy to give up. After a few years, you're driving an old Volvo because you really want to, not just because that's what you could afford. You know all about it, and there's comfort in that.

And when you really want to own more than one, that's it: you've become a Volvonaut. It's pretty common -- I did a survey once and found that over half of the people who own an old Volvo own at least two.

How did you start VClassics magazine, VClassics web site, and Marsha's Volvo art?

Phil: I enjoy writing. On a whim, I wrote up some little article or other and sent it to Bill Webb, who astonished me by publishing it in the VSA (Volvo Sports America -- the national P1800 club) Western States Magazine. I was honored! I wrote more, and Bill kept printing them.

One day, we installed a modem in our home computer and had our first look at the Internet. Wow! Anybody could publish stuff on the Web. I wanted to learn how and bought a book. I played around with all sorts of ideas for a "home page" while learning before settling on Volvos as a subject. Maybe I could do a web version of Bill's magazine. Bill wasn't interested, so I just did my own. It was pretty crude at first. By the end of the first two-month "issue," we were getting 15 hits a day, and I thought that was great.

What was even better, I started to get e-mail from Volvo fans around the world. If I'd said something that wasn't right, someone would beat me up for it. I learned a lot researching answers to questions people would send in. It was an education, and still is.

Somewhere during issue three or four, several Volvo specialty dealers contacted me and asked to advertise on our site. I was reluctant at first, but they talked me into it. Well, if I was going to take money for this, I'd better license it as a business and get a "dot com" name for it...

As for Marsha, she was teaching business computer applications at our local adult school. That's pretty dry stuff, and she started messing around with graphics after hours just for something different. I wanted her to share in the web site (after all, it was her Volvo that started all this) and asked her to work up a few pics for it. They got better and better. I can't do half of what she can these days, and I'm the one who works as a web designer.

The paper magazine came later, as a "by popular demand" thing. Marsha wanted to be in charge of that, and I knew nothing about publishing in print, so it became her project. I'd give her the material, and she'd do all the layout. Lately, she's gotten so busy doing that sort of work for others that I had to learn it myself. Whichever one of us can spare the time does it now.

Turns out this old Volvo thing has completely changed our lives. We both make our living doing graphic design for web and print. Neither one of us had any idea of that five years ago, and it wouldn't have happened except for the Volvo.

How did you put your team of writers together for your magazine?

Phil: I've always encouraged anyone with Volvo tales or knowledge to contribute material for the web site -- I couldn't possibly sustain that much output for years myself! Some people are just natural teachers and/or storytellers, and any true classic Volvo fanatic likes to chat about old Volvos. A few became regular contributors by their own volition. All I have to do is say, "If you've got anything to tell us in the next issue, I need it by..." It's completely informal and all done by e-mail, but it's come to *feel* like a team.

Why do your web site and magazine appeal to Volvo owners?
Do you promote your magazine and web site?

Phil: A quality product speaks for itself. We have no advertising budget to speak of, so getting visibility is a matter of word-of-mouth, mention in other Volvo-related publications; things of that sort. Some of our sponsors toss in a VClassics flyer with parts shipments to customers. We get new readers one by one, but they keep coming -- it adds up over time.

While good service for older Volvos is available here and there, most owners live where there are simply no resources for them. Collectively, we spend hours every day answering e-mail questions, coaching owners through troubleshooting, finding them parts, helping however we can. We get a feel for what areas people need help in, then we'll publish a tech article covering that subject. They are really detailed, in-depth, long articles that we try to make as easy to understand as possible -- we write for the home mechanic who's just starting out, but there's lots included for the seasoned pro as well. We end up getting a lot of "I could never have done it without you" feedback, and that's very rewarding to us. On the web site, we archive all the tech material. Our print subscribers just need to save their back issues. It's like getting a whole shop manual in installments.

I also try to balance the tech info with entertainment. We've had some great stories. We have lots of photos. We cover vintage racing from the inside. It's all good writing -- there's something in each issue to suit a wide range of tastes and interests.

How would you describe Marsha's and your Volvo-art?

Phil: I don't know that the word "art" applies, but it's fun. Using computer graphics, you can make composites of multiple photos and combine them so they look pretty real. On the web, we tend to place Volvos in outlandish settings, or turn them into a herd of zebras, or have one show up in a famous painting -- goofy stuff like that. We're a bit more staid in print, the only sustained theme being combining a classic Volvo with a classic *something.* Our first print cover was of a P1900 on the set of the film Casablanca. A lot of people thought it was real (even though there's more than a decade between them).

That's all Marsha's work. I do the grunt work -- logos, backgrounds, "straight" photos, the ads. She has a lot more patience than I do.

Find Phil and Marsha Singher's web site at http://www.vclassics.com.