Swedish Social

10/04/2026

🇸🇪 Swedish Social VI is officially in the books! 🇸🇪

What an incredible day yesterday was. At 5:00 AM yesterday the radar was showing a 99% chance of rain, but instead Florida decided to trade it for some hot, hot, hot heat. Apparently the universe figured that since we weren't getting rained out, we still had to end up completely soaked anyway!

Between the judged showcase paddock upfront, the front rows, and our overflow parking, our official attendance was 103 Volvos and Saabs combined!

🏆 THE AWARDS
Judging was fierce, coming down to razor-thin margins on the scorecards:

Best of Show – Volvo: #03 Richard Nelson with his breathtaking 1970 Volvo 1800E, squeaking out the win by literally 0.5 points!

Best of Show – Saab: #19 Beau Brady with his pristine 2007 Saab 9-3, finishing with the exact same overall score of 47.5!

Huge congratulations to both Richard and Beau on two truly masterclass builds! I will be getting your name plaques made up next week and added to the main trophy shortly after, stay tuned for that!

🎟️ 50/50 RAFFLE RECAP
Congrats to our 50/50 winner taking home a solid $115 payout! Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and supported the club!

🙏 SPONSORS, CREW & VOLUNTEERS
An event of this scale simply doesn't happen without dedicated support:

A very special thanks to our main sponsor, Maitland Importers: The undisputed #1 stop for Swedish repairs in Central Florida (and honestly the entire state if you look at all the recommendations they get across the enthusiast groups). They made the custom trophies and our DJ possible for the show!

The Florida Volvo Community & Shift Bum: For donating tons of raffle prizes and putting in the endless legwork to make this event happen.

FCP Euro: For the massive swag box and all the amazing sunnies that helped out immensely during the hot, hot day!

Our Amazing Venue Ace Cafe Sanford Thank you guys for hooking it up and providing an amazing spot for Enthusiasts to gather!

A massive thank you to my wife, Amber: Who ran the merch side all day, put up with all the craziness leading up to the event, and woke up at the crack of dawn to drive the workhorse wagon loaded to the brim with event gear!

Our incredible volunteers & event staff: Thank you for keeping the wheels turning and keeping me sane throughout the day.

AND A HUGE THANKS TO BROOKE: Who helped us out and held down the booth all day!

💬 TO OUR COMMUNITY
A HUGE thank you to all of you who came out in support of a great community-driven and run event that brings us all together. You all make the countless hours of planning, the last-minute craziness, and everything that goes into making this event 100% worth it.

We are already looking through results and feedback from event staff, the venue, sponsors, and attendees to see how to make next year's even better.

Feel free to inbox us if you have something constructive for us!

If it’s just ragebait, feel free to drop it in the comments so we can respond in kind :D

Drop your favorite photos, rolling shots, and engine bays in the comments below! Tag your builds, tag your friends, and we’ll see you at the next one! 🇸🇪🏁

For those who missed out on Swag and Merch, we'll have it up on the website this week for the limited remaining stock, stay tuned!

10/03/2026

🇸🇪 Good morning! Today is the day — Swedish Social VI is here! 🇸🇪

The sun is coming up, the coffee is brewing, and we are just hours away from filling Ace Cafe Sanford with Florida’s finest Volvos and Saabs!

Whether you’re parked in the showcase paddock, rolling into the general enthusiast lot, or just coming out to hang out and spectate, here is everything you need to know before heading out this morning:

📍 LOCATION & ARRIVAL
Venue: Ace Cafe Sanford (115 N Laurel Ave, Sanford, FL 32771)

Access Route: Enter directly via W Commercial St

Judged Showcase Roll-In: 10:15 AM – 10:45 AM sharp

General Enthusiast & Spectator Parking Opens: 10:45 AM

Official Event Hours: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

🗳️ SPECTATOR VOTING (SCAN THE QR CODE AT THE BOOTH!)
You decide who takes home the hardware! We have 3 People’s Choice Awards up for grabs today:

Swedish Sweetheart (Overall People’s Choice)

Daily Survivor (Dirtiest Ride / Hardest Working Daily)

Iron Butt Award (Longest Distance Driven to get here!)

⚠️ Important Note: These 3 People’s Choice categories are strictly for everyone parked in the main enthusiast lot / general meet (not the judged showcase paddock upfront).

How to vote: Head over to the main event booth where our QR codes are displayed. Scan the QR code with your phone and punch in your picks. Voting closes promptly at 1:00 PM so we can tally the results!

⏰ SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:00 AM: Event officially kicks off & general meet opens

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM: Showcase paddock judging & live spectator voting

1:00 PM: Spectator voting closes & Raffle Drawings kick off at the main booth! 🎟️

1:30 PM: Showcase Judged Awards & Master Cup Ceremony 🏆

Immediately Following: People’s Choice Awards & Distance Announcements!

Finish wiping down those bricks and hatches, grab your sunscreen, drive safe, and we will see you all at Ace Cafe soon! 🇸🇪

10/02/2026

Big props to LA Wrapz for hooking up the vinyls on short notice.

Fresh off the plotter.

10/02/2026

Look's like we may have had a couple of issues with the email confirmations for judged vehicles, If you have already received yours, yay! you may receive another confirmation momentarily as I go through and check everyone's email was entered correctly on my end.

Apologies, and that you so much to a couple who have reached out directly.

10/01/2026

When I say we got so much free stuff to hand out that I can't even count it all....
I mean it.
This isn't even half, the box is 12 inches deep fyi.

And yeah, I know you see something vintage in there.

09/30/2026

Wow! we are days away from the show and I cannot wait!
Seeing all these ride out posts, prep posts, and group parts posts is exciting.
With that said, let's give a shout out to our main sponsor Maitland Importers!
Not only donating some free oil changes for the raffle, but helping out with trophy and DJ costs.
Always your number one referred and preferred shop for Volvo repairs in Central Florida.

09/25/2026

Crowd favorite trophies will be in hand early next week, excited to pass these out to the winners.

Swedish Sweetheart - peoples choice / overall favorite at the whole show.
Daily Survivor - Dirtiest Ride / Hardest Working Daily
Iron Butt Award - Longest distance driven to the show

09/23/2026

AWARDS & VOTING UPDATE FOR SWEDISH SOCIAL VI! 🇸🇪

Trophies are in the shop, categories are locked in, and we want to make sure everyone knows how the hardware is being handed out this year!

Whether you’ve got a pristine showroom build, a 300k-mile road warrior, or just want to come hang out and admire the Swedish metal, everyone has a shot to be part of it.

Here is the breakdown:

🏆 1. THE BEST OF SHOW SHOWCASE (Judged Class – Cap 24)
Want your car parked front-and-center in the showcase paddock and individually evaluated by our judges for Best of Show: Volvo or Best of Show: Saab?

⚠️ Strictly capped at 24 vehicles total!
I have begun to send out photo requests for those who have already filled out the web form.

Winners get their names permanently engraved onto the massive Swedish Social display cup, PLUS take home an official trophy!

👉 Register your car here: https://swedesocial.com/participant

(🚨 IMPORTANT: You ONLY need to fill out this form if you want to compete in this specific 25-car judged showcase paddock. If you just want to park, hang out, and enjoy the show, simply show up! No pre-registration needed.)

🗳️ 2. THE FAN FAVORITE AWARDS (Voted 100% by YOU!)
You do NOT need a judged trailer-queen or an application form to take home a trophy. Every single Swedish car on the lot is automatically in the running for our 3 Community Awards:

💖 SWEDISH SWEETHEART – The overall crowd-favorite car of the day.

🛞 DAILY SURVIVOR – The hardest-working daily driver rocking genuine road grime, patina, and high mileage.

🗺️ IRON BUTT AWARD – The person who drove the furthest distance behind the wheel to get here today.

How to vote:

On show day, stop by the main booth tent and scan the QR code on your phone. Just type in the license plate of your favorites!

One vote per phone (no funny business 😉).

Voting opens at roll-in and closes promptly at 1:00 PM so we can tally up!

Mark your calendars, wash those cars (or don't, if you're eyeing Daily Survivor 👀), and we'll see you all at Ace Cafe!

Reserve your space on the judged showfield. Every entry receives formal score evaluation across engine, chassis, and exterior craft.

09/21/2026

FCP Euro Coming in clutch with the sunnies for Swedish Social 6.

Live DJ, Trophies, Tshirts, give aways, raffles, freebies, food, fellowship, awesome swedish metal, this is the event you don't want to and cannot afford to miss. Hundreds of Volvo and Saab enthusiasts will descend onto Ace Cafe Sanford on October 3rd for what will be an amazing event.

See you soon 😎