In the 1960’s a California boy begged his father to help him build an electric motor bike. The boy grew up and became known in certain circles as the man who brought coffee to Seattle (his name is not Howard), but he remained fascinated by electric vehicles, no matter how many wheels. In 1978 Kent Bakke began working in the coffee industry. In 1994 he was a business partner in Espresso Specialists when they purchased ownership in the La Marzocco espresso machine factory in Florence, Italy. That same year his company bought a converted electric Volkswagen.

X-Ray Auto owner Matt Pollitz grew up in the Boston area and went to college in Maine. His first car was a Volvo. He soon realized that to keep it running he would need to learn how to fix it himself. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and an aptitude for Volvos with an engine type manufactured only through 1974. Fast forward to 2011, Matt’s X-Ray Auto business is on Market Street, at the future site of the Nordic Heritage Museum, and it already functions as a veritable museum for those uniquely Swedish automobiles, the first imported Volvos.

But what connects Matt Pollitz with Kent Bakke? Coffee, of course. They were introduced by Jeannette Meade and Todd McCallister who themselves met at Lighthouse Coffee. They had noticed Matt’s distinctive Volvo when he stopped in for his morning shot of espresso. The story then moves down to Ballard as Jeanette and Todd open a small coffee shop called Nervous Nellie’s, first in the alley by Azteca and later by the post office, using an old La Marzocco model found in a closet in the location of the former Grapes wine bar.

Kent Bakke spotted the old Marzocco and was intrigued. Their lives further intersected as Bakke helped Nervous Nellie’s find a larger location (okay maybe too big, but it worked for four years). Meanwhile Matt supplied both Todd and Jeannette with Volvos suited to their personalities; in turn Jeanette and Todd introduced Bakke to Pollitz where they discovered a mutual interest in converting a vintage vehicle into a car without emissions.

Bakke still owns the Volkswagen converted in 1994 as well as 2004 Prius. After some years in Sodo, Espresso Specialists is back in Ballard, on Leary Way. Jeannette and Todd still have the original La Marzocco, but are now doing business as simply “Nellie’s” in the walk-up espresso bar at The Lockspot. Matt Pollitz has over 500 Volvo customers and a shop filled with the removable part of virtually every type of Volvo manufactured before 1975, on the future site of the Nordic Heritage Museum. If these were Roman ruins the architect would simply incorporate them into the design. Pollitz drives an even rarer Volvo these days; a restored 1959 445 also known as a Duett.

As though the existing Volvo museum wasn’t enough justification for the Nordic Heritage Museum and X-Ray Auto to collaborate, there’s more. Exactly one year ago X-Ray Auto was the site of an historical event, the exact location where a team literally and figuratively welded Sweden’s legacy with the future of the planet.

To be continued. In the meantime mark your calendars for a Nordic Heritage Museum Arctic Circle event on Wednesday, April 13th @ 7 p.m. Cars & Cocktails, X-Ray Auto, 2639 NW Market Street.