It is hard to explain why I like this car so much. Of all the vintage cars I’ve owned, it’s by far the most pedestrian of the lot. It’s not charmingly weird like the Saab 96, not sports car cool like the Morgan Plus 4, or a style icon like the Mustang (or whatever the opposite of a style icon is with my Subaru XT Turbos). It is a normal car, an appliance, driven by suburban moms and dads to schlep their kids around town, with no pretensions towards anything more exiting than the rush of finding a coupon for the brand of cereal you like in the Sunday newspaper.
In other words, I can’t explain to most normal folks why I have this car. Just what do I find so special — so appealing — about this car?
Perhaps we can start off with the fact that it is yellow.
Finding the Volvo 240
I wasn’t looking for a Volvo, specifically. I have a regular local Craigslist search that plucks out all manual transmission equipped cars for sale by owners (protip: create a search for “manual|stick”), and the car came up in one of my daily Craigslist browsing sessions.
The first thing that caught me eye was that it was yellow. Not only was the exterior yellow, but so was the interior, with caramel brown vinyl seats that had plaid yellow cloth seat inserts. Second thing that caught my eye was that it was a wagon. And of course, it had a manual transmission: a 4-speed with an electric overdrive.
The wagon looked super old school, with its four round headlights on the front, polished metal window trims, and a polished metal roof rack. The later and far more common 240s (after Volvo abandoned the 242, 244, and 245 naming convention) had square headlamps and blacked out trims, making them look very 80s. One look at this car and it was clear that it was a child of the 70s (despite its 1980 model year).
Also, the seller of this car was in my neighborhood.
Seeing the car for the first time.
Almost the day that the ad went up, I contacted the seller and swung by his house to take a look at the car.
The car was very yellow. It was also rust free, having originally come from Arizona. The original owner took delivery of the car there, and the seller was the second owner, having bought the car via an eBay auction. The car came with its original window sticker, which explained why the interior had plaid yellow cloth seat inserts — the dealership added those and I’m sure it padded the margin on the car quite nicely. The dealership also added air conditioning.
Naturally, the air conditioning wasn’t working, or it at least wasn’t blowing cold air. I took the car on a test drive and tried turning on the overdrive, and that wasn’t working either. I could flick the little switch on the shift knob back and forth, but the light on the dash wouldn’t illuminate. The seller said that he never drove the car on the freeway and so never bothered trying to figure out why the overdrive wasn’t working. Hmm, okay then…
My favorite badge on the car!
Now, the smart thing to do would be to go home and stew over a purchase decision, do some research so you know what to look for, and maybe consult some experts in person and online.
Bringing the Volvo home. The cars you see here — the Volvo 245, the Mazda Miata, and the Ford Fiesta ST — would eventually be the cars left standing in my fleet today.
I didn’t do the smart thing. I made an offer on the spot, and bought the car.
Transmission woes
I happily drove the car around town for a week before I started noticing some weirdness in the transmission. I would be cruising around in 4th gear when suddenly the RPMs would drop. Sometimes, I would be leaving a stop light or a stop sign, and the car would struggle to build speed in 1st gear. Every now and then, I’d tried to reverse the car, and the car simply wouldn’t move.
Eventually, I figured out that the overdrive unit on the transmission had gone out — it was slipping in and out of overdrive by itself — and probably suffered terminal damage. No problem, I thought. I’d just go get another Laycock overdrive and slap it on the transmission, or get another M46 transmission and swap the entire unit in the car.
But then life got in the way. I was busy transforming my just-bought-back NC Miata into a track car, and still doing things with the Mustang.
And so the Volvo sat, for nearly a year, in the garage while I was busy doing other stuff.
Then one day, I found a complete M46 transmission that the seller claimed was fully functional, and, moreover, it was within driving distance so I could go get it myself rather than pay out the wazoo for shipping. I took the Fiesta ST down to Toledo and picked up the transmission, ferrying it back to my house where the transmission then went directly into the back of the Volvo. I nursed the Volvo the 2 miles to my favorite shop, and told them to swap the transmission.
“When do you need this done by?”
“Oh, I’m in no hurry.”
And so the Volvo sat there at the shop for another half year. I didn’t press the shop too much, as I was still trying to take care of all my other cars, but as soon as the Woodward Dream Cruise passed by and the backlog of work at the shop lifted, I went back and asked that they prioritize the Volvo and get it back to me by the end of September. Which they did.
The car could shift into all four gears and use reverse, but there was still the issue of the overdrive not turning on and off. A little bit of jiggling of the wires got the overdrive solenoid to activate, but inevitably, the overdrive would switch off again.
The culprit turned out to be the overdrive switch itself in the shift knob. Off I went, searching for a switch. Being that I was new to the world of vintage Volvos, it took a lot of reading and a lot of trial and error to figure out what the vendors were and which stocked what parts, and what parts would work on the Volvo. I thought that I could easily source a new overdrive switch in the US, but I ended up getting one sent to me from Europe. I installed the overdrive switch, and finally had an overdrive that I could reliably turn on and off!
Building the car out as a road trip machine
The car has been mobile for almost a year and a half now, and I’m slowly refurbishing the car into a road trip machine much in the same way the Mustang was built out. The suspension was completely redone, with new shocks and springs all the way around. I put on a new exhaust after the original muffler literally fell off the car and onto my driveway. I also put in a new radio with Bluetooth functionality, replacing the AM radio that was in the center console. (I bought a Continental radio after discovering that classic Porsche people were using the radio in their cars, as it doesn’t have weird displays or super tiny buttons and looks almost OEM in appearance.) It was during this time that I also discovered what the large knob in the center console did: it was a physical balance knob, taking the mono output from the AM radio and splitting it between the two front speakers in the doors! (I tossed that knob from the center stack.)
I also went ahead and replaced the speakers, which was a terrible experience. There isn’t much space in the door for a speaker, as the door is thin and the window regulator is right there next to where the speaker is. There are brackets and kits out there that proport to provide a one-stop solution for mounting modern speakers, some up to 5 1/4″, in the doors, but nothing I tried seemed to work. I don’t know if it was because those kits were all for later 240s and my car was weird because it was an earlier 245, or if I was just had a really thick skull and couldn’t make heads or tails of how to fit things together, but I ended up cobbling together my own mounting solution using self-fabricated metal adapter plates to go between the stock mounting points in the door and aftermarket Volvo HT204-style speaker enclosures on top of the door panels. This took me more time than I care to admit to figure out.
But now I’ve got a Volvo 245 that drives nearly like it did when new, with a good sound system pumping out my jams or the occasional podcast.
The current driver’s view, with the new OEM-looking radio at the bottom of the center stack, and new speakers on the doors. You can also see the yellow plaid seat insert.
I’m currently in the process of adding electronic cruise control to the car. Once that’s done, I just need to figure out how to make the air conditioning cold again, and I’ll have a nice, comfortable road trip machine that looks cool but has nearly all the conveniences a modern car would have.
The last vintage car standing
Spoiler alert: my ’66 Mustang ended up leaving the fleet. That story is my final COAL post, and it’s a good story. But the long and short of it is, I gave up my Mustang and kept this Volvo.
Most people would question, why? I have asked this myself many, many times, and I don’t know if I can really come up with a perfectly good answer.
The Volvo and its younger cousin, my friend’s Ford Flex. Both were/are suburban dadmobiles. Interesting to see how big such family haulers have gotten in the past 30 years…
After all, the Mustang looked good, drove great, had an awesome engine note, and did everything I ever threw at it — autocross, road rallies, long road trips, even ice racing. Meanwhile, the Volvo also looks good and drives well enough, but it doesn’t inspire me to do any sort of performance driving, and it isn’t fast or a sharp handler. The Mustang inspired me to chase trophies, the Volvo inspired me to… take it to the grocery store.
Hell yeah, are you pumped up for a trip to Kroger!? I am!
And yet… as a whole, the Volvo 245 speaks to me. It’s a yellow, manual transmission station wagon lightly trimmed with metal accents and wearing shiny steel wheels. It’s a pedestrian car, yet it looks special. A lot of people notice it for the color first, and then realize it’s a classic car to boot.
Honestly, I think all comes down to the color. If it were silver, I probably would have passed this car by. But it’s yellow. Maybe that’s why the original owner who bought the car took such careful care of it. Maybe the fact that it was yellow was the reason (or at least one of the reasons) why the second owner brought it home to Michigan. And it is for sure one of the reasons why I was so instantly drawn to the car, and so quickly smitten.
It’s a really dumb reason to like a car. But I’ve had two other yellow cars, my Focus SE and my Focus ST, so clearly I’m a fan of the color. The Focus SE, I think, best explains my draw to this Volvo 245. Just when I finished school and began working in the “real world,” I bought a totally pedestrian Ford Focus hatchback with a stick, but I went the extra effort to find a yellow one. If I was looking for a new car at the beginning of the 80s, alternate universe me probably would have ended up with something like this yellow, manual transmission Volvo 245.
Station wagons: super useful!
So there you have it. I have a Volvo 245 simply because I like manual transmission cars, I like station wagons, and I like yellow cars.
Post nuclear war all that will be left will be these, the Mercedes 123 series and the 77-92? Chevy Caprice/ Impala plus rats of course.. I have read that some say the Volvo is better than the 123 for less money?.
Nice buy .Switches always play up in old cars. Around my way Turbo versions go for €12000 !.
I feel like my Dirty Dart will also be around, still dripping a little oil from the Slant Six. 🙂
I get your wagon fascination, John. It’s hard to explain, but the picture of the racing tires in the back helps. It’s a car, but it’s kind of a truck. Wagons are often not really good looking cars (my Dart, cough), but everyone who sees them seems to love them. It’s nostalgia, utility, lack of pretension, etc. Sorry to hear you sold your Mustang – I hope you will update us if you buy any other vintage vehicles (and I think you probably will).
On the contrary, Aaron, I love the look of your Dart wagon.
I’m joining Idiotking. I like the looks of your Dart wagon, too; and not just because it’s blue (half my “fleet” is blue)!
There’s still nothing like a station wagon! Unless, of course, it’s a minivan.
Agreed. Crossovers just…aren’t. I still look longingly at the last American wagon, the Dodge Magnum. But too many had the accursed 2.7 V6 and have gone to scrap. Those owners with the 3.5 seem to know what they have. I do have the penultimate American wagon, a Gen 4 Ford Taurus.
I could also be tempted by something like the Dodge Dart wagon mentioned above.
The last American wagon is pictured above, the Ford Flex.
Must disagree, though I like the Ford Flex. A true station wagon LOOKS like it is based on a sedan, with an extended roof…thaf’s how it is to me, anyway. True, the Dodge Magnum had no sedan equivalent in the USA (the Charger front clip looked different) but it looked like it had one. And Chrysler’s station wagon in overseas markets was the Chrysler 300; it had the Magnum body and the 300’s front clip.
That’s a beauty. Sad to hear you’re nearing the end of your COALs.
It’s a beautiful Volvo, and while it looks like it had been well cared for, it’s even more well cared for now.
I’m not going to give you grief for deciding to keep this wagon over the ‘Stang, but it is a decision I’m curious to hear you speak more to.
It is not all that often that wagons and stick shifts come together in an old car, particularly in a color you like. It is probably as likely in a Volvo as anything though.
I will join you in your wagon-love and in your stick shift love, but I must confess that I cannot be a member of your yellow fan club. I would surely have bought this car if the price was right, but in spite of the color instead of because of it. I do love that oh-so-late 70s plaid seat fabric, but am concerned about that little tear that has developed near the seam. If that was a custom fabric and not a Volvo offering, sourcing it could be a trick.
The row of cars at the Kroger has some great CC material – the Buick Regal sedan and the 2 door Blazer. I was at my neighborhood Kroger on Friday and saw the most beautiful GM-10 Cutlass sedan I have seen in ages, and in bright red. How sad that I can still not develop enough enthusiasm for those cars to take a picture. Please, you must buy more cars to keep this series going. 🙂
Yes, get more cars please!
How many miles on the Volvo? And yes, I too am sad that your COAL series will soon be ending.
I can’t put 4 tires in my TSX Wagon flat like that. Oh and I put a sheet of cardboard down because I’m still trying to keep it nice inside.
Wow, it’s lovely! Especially the rear shot in front of the market; the wagon end, the steelies with the little hupcaps and then the mudflaps all on top of the color itself. Peak Volvo Wagon right there! What’s powering it is immaterial as long as it starts, runs and gets you there and back which it does just fine so you experience the entire thing as a whole, the way it was originally designed. Good call on this car, one of the few you’ve had that I’d want myself exactly as yours is but if so inclined would find very difficult to actually procure!
John Li gets a car you’d expect Connor Kleck to own–who woulda thunk it?
My thoughts exactly! I was thinking there’s someone to pass it on to if John ever tires of it LOL!
I am very jealous, but great story on about a great car! If you ever decide to sell….
As I’ve owned and COAL’d some 40+ cars from the Volvo 240 series, I can speak to this. They’re great cars. No, they’re not particularly good at any one thing, and that’s entirely the point. It’s just that they are “pretty okay” at dang near everything.
They ride and handle “pretty okay” with a stock suspension in good condition.
I always got 24-25mpg, which is “pretty okay”.
They are “pretty okay” to work on, and parts availability is “pretty okay”.
Acceleration is on the slow side of “pretty okay” but it gets the job done.
On the high side, a 245 has 76 cu. ft. of load space with the rear seat folded, and that puts most modern CUV to shame. They also have the best “road trip” seats of any vehicle I’ve ever owned.
The 240-series and the Mercedes 123-series are in a dead heat in my mind for the two best cars ever made. I would say the 123 is a better car overall, but the Volvo takes a strong advantage in serviceability and parts availability & cost.
Very nice Volvo, and a great COAL series. Giving your racing and rally experience, I thought I’d mention an interesting bit of trivia, to compliment your 245. Forty years ago, starting in September 1980, a 1980 245DL wagon set the new Guinness record for fastest circumference of the world. Completing the drive in just over 74 days. Eclipsing the former record of 102 days set in 1976 by Johnnie Parsons. I recalled this, as I followed this journey closely in the news, while in grade school. Here’s an article with more details on the trip.
Another journey pic.
You’ve discovered that yellow is the secret sauce! 🙂
I love your wagon. Something (or just) like it would be the one thing that I could see as a replacement for my xB, should the need arise. I can’t see anything new that appeals.
So I’m guessing that the transmission replacement was quite unnecessary. I’m not surprised, as these units are pretty legendarily stout.
I’m also a wagon fan, and my 2018 Golf SportWagen has a manual transmission. The load space is really useful for bulky items.
In two years’ service and 35,000 km nothing has gone wrong-zero. It’s also an EA888, the last year of this romper stomper motor.
Alas, the SportWagen is now extinct in North America. Mine is last car I’ll buy and as soon as the warranty is up, the chipping shall commence.
Well, that surprised me as breaking a pattern in your COAL’s. But a great choice, and so much more classic than examples from just a few years later. My mom’s ‘86, while still having the overdrive, also had the (almost immediately clouded over) composite headlights, random tacky bits of exterior black trim, and plastic wheel covers. And while I’m not a huge fan of yellow cars, I love the plaid inserts!
Very nice. I enjoyed owning my Volvo 240 as well. I think the wagon body style, colour and the funkiness of the overdrive have a lot to do with the appeal.It is also a very usable classic that can haul more than one other person.
My Dad had a slightly newer version in white with square headlights. It took me a while to figure out the overdrive button but luckily his worked. Coming from a long line of old VW’s I would have started with the switch. I always got a kick out of taking it out on a snowy Alberta day and passing a bunch of SUV’s in the ditch. They might have been able to get up to speed faster but stopping not so much. My first Volvo experience was a 1968 144 with 300k miles on a rebuilt engine. Minus 30 degrees Celsius, pull the choke with it not plugged in and it would roar to life. Minutes later a nice warm car. I just had to remember to push the choke in at the first stop light.
Sounds like you’re in good company with your decision here, wagon lovers abound!
Is this color listed as “100 yellow”? My friend had a ‘71 145 and a ‘72 P1800 concurrently and both were that color. It’s a neat color!
My wife and I would really love to find a 245 someday. I really dig them and her mom had a white ‘86 growing up. Unfortunately finding a good one left here in the upper Midwest proves challenging. You were right to snap yours up right away!
It needs a new National Public Radio sticker.
Nice Datsun wagon. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I stopped counting the number of times I have heard “Nice Volvo wagon”. Welcome fellow Longroof owner. Longroof 510 owners are also known as the “goon squad” Wagon… wagoon… goon. There’s even a window sticker and most will not know the difference between the profile silhouette of either car.
Good choice for a road trip machine.
Congrats on the Volvo wagon!
I had two 1980 models in the past, a Scotia Blue 2-door sedan that I kept for nearly 21 years and an estimated 245,000 miles (odometer only intermittently worked toward the end) and a wagon just like yours except it was chocolate brown that I had for less than year.
1980 is indeed a transition year for the 240 series, the first year for the cool chrome hubcaps with separate center caps, 1/2-inch wider wheels with larger cooling slots, and the black outside rearview mirrors controlled by a lever inside the car.
Conversely, it’s the last year for the round headlights (single units on 2-doors, quads on 4-doors and wagons), the bright metal side window surrounds, and the instrument panel that was first used in the 1975 models. For the wagons, it’s the last year for the taillights that don’t wrap around the sides and the separate rear side marker lights.
BTW, I love the yellow color; my only yellow car was my first purchase, a 1975 VW Rabbit.
This was our 2-door in 2003.
I’m restoring a 1977 Volvo 245, but as a resto-mod. N/A squirter block, but adding turbo, sport springs & shocks, manual M46 with overdrive, R Brakes, etc. It’s a flathood (2 headlights). It’s white with red interior, which I like, but bought it at an auction without seeing it in person, knowing it would be getting a new engine, etc. It needs to be painted, unfortunately, and I’m considering Cumberland Yellow (orange). I had a ’65 Mustang 20 years ago, and selling it was the happiest day of my life. In my mind, you made the right move selling it & keeping the others. While the Mustang is fast, handling is antiquated at best, even with stiffer springs, etc. Mine had 4 wheel drum brakes, and it was not safe because of that. The Volvo is 4 wheel disc, and I’ll be swapping in larger 330mm discs & R calipers.
Sell her to me. I love her too.