Volvo 245 DL: PH Carpool
Serial Volvo owning PHer has found his dream beige barge!
Car: 1982 Volvo 245 DL
Owned since: 2016
Previously owned: 1987 Volvo 240 GLT, 1991 Volvo 240 SE, 1991 Volvo 240 GL, 1998 Volvo V70 T5, 2003 Volvo V70 T5, 2004 Volvo S40 T5 and various inferior turbo cars like a 2001 Audi A3 1.8T remapped to 222hp! Track prepared MR2 Turbo as well - that was fun!
"Those who know Volvos of old will know the earlier cars are the ones to have! Much rarer and in my opinion a much nicer car to look at! A flat 'hood' and no plastics along the doors are just a couple of examples. I always wanted a beige barge and this came up under budget!"
What I wish I'd known:
"Having owned a fair few older Volvos I knew what to look for. Rust can be a killer of these early beasts; although the beige barge is showing signs of tatty bodywork, it is all cosmetic and due to be rectified in the very near future."
Things I love:
The robust, simple mechanics of the car! No DPFs, Dual mass flywheels, injectors or the like to bork up here. The looks you get driving around - it's so square by today's standards it's really bizarre! A proper brick in a jetstream society. Whenever I'm parking, there's always an older person who's itching to tell me of the time they had one and proceed to me the story of when they managed to fit the sofa, fridge or half the house in the back of one!"
"The three-speed auto makes for a very slow 23mpg!"
Costs:
"The car cost less than a grand to buy, which was a great start. I have spent a couple hundred on new tyres, filters, belts and so on. I then came across these lovely wheels currently fitted which cost nearly as much as the car did! Insurance is on a classic policy, less than £100 a year. Tax is the usual £200+ for 12 months - but I'm sure it spews out its fair share of CO2!"
Where I've been:
"Nowhere far, yet. It has towed our family caravan to several vintage car festivals here in North Wales and will do so for many years to come!"
What next?
"Suspension upgrades - Dai Brace, aka ClassicSwede, will have the honour of fitting his own custom wound springs and modified GAZ Gold dampers, a truly awesome set-up. After the handling has been sorted, a turbo conversion is on the cards. A popular swap is the 2.3 LPT from the 940, but a T5 or even T6 motor is tempting but a lot more work (and money!)."
Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z50eWeSagEQ
Got a soft spot for the old 240 series (my missus also loves 'em and states that if and when her 1999 V70 goes bang, then she'll have one of them to replace it).
Whilst the T5 swap is very tempting, I'd be more inclined to go for the 3L 24v straight 6 lump from a 940 - a lot less work to fit (so I'm told) and you can get some serious power out of them - just look at that Amazon estate that (allegedly) eats Ferraris for breakfast.
You can't go wrong with Dai's (aka Classic Swede) stuff - top chap who really knows what he's talking about… got a couple of his parts on my Amazon.
Many fond memories of travelling in these as a child. My dad had a same model X-reg in Red from new, then replaced by B-reg 240 GL in metallic green, and various other 245's and 145s in the 1970s - was towing caravans back then too, in fact both my mum and dad had one at same time - they were seen as a big car back then but look tiny on the road now!
Can also still remember when people used to warn us our headlights were on , guess no one does that anymore with DRL's being commonplace!
Any pics of the interior - vaguely remember the pinstripe and heater controls moving from red to blue as you turn them (think a RR phantom has something similar??)
Needs a roof rack and steelies for the sleeper look once the transplant is done...a bit like this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHp1PcRnnsE
The 940 turbo engine has been sourced since submitting my article, and a set of springs on order
Yes the wheels aren't everyone's cup of tea, and yes some viragos (pictued above) would suite better, or even some polaris/galaxies! Been there, done that. This time I'm trying something different and with the pcd & offset of these early cars, wheel choices are extremely limited unless you go for custom made or adapters/spacers
She will look a lot better when the new springs are on, trust me!
The 940 turbo engine has been sourced since submitting my article, and a set of springs on order
Yes the wheels aren't everyone's cup of tea, and yes some viragos (pictued above) would suite better, or even some polaris/galaxies! Been there, done that. This time I'm trying something different and with the pcd & offset of these early cars, wheel choices are extremely limited unless you go for custom made or adapters/spacers
She will look a lot better when the new springs are on, trust me!
Please keep the thread updated as I'm very interested in this sort of project - and I'd love to go down the 940 route on my car.
The other advantage was the huge engine bay with easy access to everything. As a big engine project it s a good one - the car of choice for Norwegian wide boy tuners, even if the results always looked most unlikely!
Everything else - HELL YES
I love old Volvos but they're getting into silly prices now (even cars which are, frankly, in need of a tonne of work)
Hell, I think I have more envy for the old GLT I see regularly than I have for a F-Type which lives nearby (maybe - actually, no, the Volvo is cooler!)
thttps://youtu.be/jNBSuNrU9UI
3 speed 2.3 auto I believe. Carbs sucking the juice like a dehydrated camel.
Previous owner had installed 70's style curtains so used as a camper, which was a particular delight.
Had a sort of blue fabric type seats which had discoloured due to excessive guffage, but the heating elements still worked.
Down the side streets, people would pull in and wait as the bluff fronted tank charged towards them. No one fancied it, no one messed.
Trips back from Wickes loaded with cement and paving slabs, the nose was up in the air while the rear scraped on the ground. Like steering the QE2, corners were wayward, good job the Police didn't see me.
The car chucked everything I threw at it. Hard as nails, had my utmost admiration.
One final nuance. The car would sometimes start itself up! Strange but true. It was not just a car, it was a living organic being.
Good car that one.
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