Kevin Price - Volvo Enthusiasts Club

Kevin Price our Nominee is intrinsically linked with the Volvo Enthusiasts Club. It was his vision of a Club solely for Classic and Out of Production Volvo that formed the ideals of the Club we still have today. He is a quiet, honest, genuine, friendly person who ALWAYS thinks of others before himself. He is much respected by ALL in the Club and throughout the Classic scene both in the UK and around the world. Despite years of ill health, including cancer, spinal degeneration, and Prostate problems – with which he is currently again struggling with more tests and treatment, he is the one person you can depend on. If he says he will do it, he will. He is extremely creative, an idea man, which goes back to his days as a Design & Research Engineer and latterly a teacher of up to A Level in Secondary Education of Design & Technology and also Design, before he retired from Education due to ill health. Kevin is forward-thinking and always looking at how the Volvo Enthusiasts Club can improve and give Members a better and more worthwhile experience. Kevin’s legacy is the Volvo Enthusiasts Club – one is the other! Kevin, having moved to Cornwall in 1989 to take up a teaching post in Newquay as a teacher of Design & Technology& A Level Design, decided to form a Club solely for Classic Volvos.  The Club which became the Volvo Enthusiasts Club was founded by him that year with an age limit of cars being over 15 years old. This later was revised by Kevin due to problems owners of the Volvo 480 model were encountering, to allow all out-of-production models, which is the benchmark we still have today. Kevin’s vision was and always has been a friendly family-style club and this continues today. Kevin has worked tirelessly for the good of the club and has over the years taken on almost every role in the Club – from Chairman/Founder to running a Club Spares Service, producing spare parts for sale by the club, producing Club Insurance Valuations, Technical Advice to Members, DVLA and even Volvo themselves, DVLA V765 Applications and Age-Related Registrations, Club display builds - transport and design/manufacture, Editorship and production for the printer of ALL Club magazines produced from 1989 to date, Organised every National Gathering from the very first in 1990 to date,  He has recently taken over as Membership Co-Ordinator, due to the former Officer wishing to retire due to ill health and is currently building a New Club Database with the Club’s Webmaster, which will also hold a section for Vehicle Data, Ownership and records.  Kevin has organised many and still does, most of the Members Day Out events, every Annual National Gathering, held the first Sunday in June each year. Helped hundreds of Members and Non-Members personally with restoration and technical problems – he is always pleased to help. This is the man he is. In 2017 to celebrate the 90th Birthday of Volvo Kevin was the driving force to open the Volvo Enthusiasts Club to ALL out-of-production Volvo-built vehicles.  Kevin as part of this forged links with Volvo Truck UK and since then they have been active supporters of the club, supplying trucks for display on our various Club Stands at Major Classic Shows, e.g. NEC Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol plus other regional shows such as Powderham Castle Vintage Vehicle Gathering. The Club each year in June visits Volvo Truck UK and Ireland HQ in Warwick, at their invitation, for their Open Day, where Classic Trucks and the Member's Classic Volvo Cars are displayed, followed by a Road Run down the M40 Motorway To the Gaydon Motor Museum. Our Club participation there is purely due to Kevin. Despite ill health, which forced Kevin to retire in 2002, he has continued to be the mainstay of the Club, attending every Classic Show, event and still organising and designing Club stands, displays etc. In 2017 Kevin was diagnosed with Cancer and despite having to be in hospital at 7 am on the following morning Kevin was found at Bristol delivering Stand materials and supervising the stand build for the Bristol Restoration Show on Build-up day. The following week was the Classic Motor Show and despite only coming out of the hospital following surgery on the Monday, Kevin was at the NEC on the Wednesday helping to deliver stand materials for the Club display. He attended all days of the Show and although in great pain greeted and talked to the many visitors to the show, passing on his wealth of knowledge etc. This just shows Kevin's commitment to the Club and also to the Volvo brand. Today despite continued poor health, Kevin is always first to arrive at a Club Meet or a Club Display and is last to leave. He is still keen to help Members and Owners with their Restoration Problems and has even been known at events to roll up his sleeves up and sort out a vehicle’s problems even at a Club Event. This shows the true commitment of a man that we the Volvo Enthusiasts Club are extremely proud of. He is 100% committed to the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, the Volvo Marque, the classic scene and is a true gentleman. Always thinking of others rather than himself, always there to help anyone! In 2018 he volunteered to be part of the Federation Advisors for Historic MOT Exemption and was the Volvo listed authority. He is Internationally recognised as the main authority in the world of the Volvo P1800 and is generally accepted as an expert on all things classic Volvos. His work with Volvo Clubs around the world and the Classic Motoring Press whom he is often contacted for help with features and technical info has helped the Volvo Enthusiasts Club be one of the top Classic Volvo Clubs in Europe and deed the world. He is also the club representative with the DVLA for V765 Applications and Age-Related Registrations. The DVLA have in the past on several occasions contacted him if they have a query on an application – this is how well Kevin is respected, throughout the Classic Scene. Kevin was recently instigation in the Club developing a New Website with the aid of Trevor Ashley, who continues to be the Club's Webmaster. The original award-winning Website has now been replaced by an all-new site, for which Kevin produced much of the content, including ‘Buyers Guides,’ ‘Technical Hints,’ etc. Kevin, having secured the Paper Technical Library from Volvo Car UK and also a large amount of Volvo Special Tools, has instigated a Loan Scheme for the Tools for Members and with permission of Volvo Cars, Members can request copies from Volvo Technical literature in our library, to help solve any problems with their cars. Also, last year, was responsible for obtaining Volvo Bus & Coach Technical Manuals from Volvo Bus & Coach UK for the Club Technical Library.   Kevin has a large collection of Classic Volvo’s, which include the TV Saint Car ST 1, the 1954 King of Sweden’s Limousine, a 1994 850 Estate raced in the BTCC and a P1800 ‘HAB’ which has covered over ¾ million Miles, he used daily in 1989, which have all been used by the Club for our displays around the UK. To embrace social media, Kevin in 2015 set up the Club's first Facebook Page – Volvo Enthusiasts Club UK. This was joined shortly afterwards as the name became available by the Volvo Enthusiasts Club. To help promote the Club and increase Membership Kevin instigated the ‘Associate Volvo Enthusiasts Club Membership’, which was a FREE Membership, for those who only wanted an ‘online’ association with the club. In 2016 with the purchase of the domain name, www.volvoclassics.com, another of Kevin’s strategies for improving the Clubs presence and web searches to us and the club, Kevin launched the Facebook Page ‘Volvo Classics’ which to date has a staggering 4950 plus followers – all through the hard work of Kevin who keeps the Facebook pages updated with Club Events and items of Volvo interest. Across the 3 Club Facebook Pages, we now have over 11,400 followers ALL THANKS TO THE HARD WORK OF KEVIN! With the increased interest in Classic Volvo Trucks preservation, the Club is in the process of setting up a new second Website www.classicevolvotrucks.co.uk which will become live shortly, with links to the original www.volvoenthusiastsclub.co.uk – Kevin has already done much of the content. He has also forged links with the ‘Steelboys’ who are an association of owners of classic Volvo Trucks. Kevin over the years has been keen to form links with other Volvo Clubs around the World and exchanges Club Magazines with many. Foreign Volvo Club Members, who are always made welcome at our events and encouraged by Kevin. He has set up our own Club Representatives in many Counties around the World, including the USA (West & East Coast), Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Brazil, to name but a few, plus regional Reps all around the UK. All through the hard and tireless work of Kevin. In 2017 following a failed takeover by a very small faction of Club Members and a following Members Vote as to the future of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, Kevin was voted by 97% of the Membership to continue as the leading force of the Club and to form the Club into a Limited Company – The Volvo Enthusiasts Club 1989 Limited. Kevin became a Director, along with Matt Stadden. Kevin instigated the setting up of the company, its Mission Statement and also Policy Statement. Kevin as Director of the Company is also responsible for getting the Clubs Account published for HMRC and Companies House and deals directly with the Club's independent Accountant - Allan Brown Accountants in Malvern, Worcestershire. To aid with Club Events and Show, Kevin in 2022 formed ‘The Friends of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club’, a group made up of his personal friends and others, who help build and man Club Stands at shows around the country plus also help building display stand items with Kevin. This year Kevin has been the leading force in trying to encourage younger Volvo owners to join our Club. This has been a fantastic success and we are pleased to see two of our younger Club Members and their Million Mile Volvo 245 on our Display at the show, The car being featured on the Pre-Show Press Release. In the Club's 35-year history, Kevin has attended almost every club event and organised most of them. His restoration of the iconic car used by the late Sir Roger Moore in TV’s The Saint and finally bringing the car back to the road in 2013 brought a new boost to the Club, being intrinsically linked to Kevin and the Volvo Enthusiasts Club. Before its return, the car was featured on many of our Club Displays at the NEC shows which brought many visitors to both the show and the club stand. Since its return to the road the car has travelled the length of Britain as an ambassador of the Club and in 2022 at the invitation of the Volvo Club of Belgium Kevin and ST 1, representing the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, were guests of honour at the major Volvo Show in Holland, the largest Volvo Meet outside Sweden.. So why do we think Kevin should be presented with this award? He has worked tirelessly for over 35 plus years for the good of Classic Volvo’s, both in the Club and through his work with Volvo, DVLA and the classic scene as a whole. He has helped numerous Volvo Owners, both Club Members and others, with their Restorations and problems. He is ‘Kevin Volvo’, a title many fondly call him. In our opinion, in this very special year for the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, we feel Kevin should be recognised for all he has done over the past 35 years, since he founded the Club, for the good of ALL Volvo Owners, the Classic Scene and Volvo in general.  2024 is the 35th Birthday of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club and what better way to celebrate the tremendous unselfish work that Kevin has put into making the Club what is today, one of the leading Classic Volvo Clubs in the world and the premier classic and out of production only Volvo Club in the UK, for ALL Volvo Built Vehicles, than to honour him for 35 plus years for service and untiring help/advise to the Volvo Enthusiasts Club Membership, the Classic scene and all those of the Classic Press, DVLA and Volvo itself, he has helped over the years. Kevin’s legacy is the Volvo Enthusiasts Club and its 35th year of continuous operation with Kevin well and truly at the helm, what better way to acknowledge the work of an inspirational man – Kevin Price, the Founder of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, who 35 years on is still at the rudder that steers this very great Club. We hope you agree!