Friday 9th May 2014

Shed of the Week: Volvo 240 GLT

Last week's Swedish Shed was snapped up by a PHer; does the same fate await this big Volvo?

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With Ferrari Dino values apparently soaring past the quarter of a million mark, and everyday DB Astons topping seven figures, it looks like we're well and truly into a new age of mad classic car prices. With that in mind, Shed feels it is nothing less than his duty to alert you to the second Swedish old­timer in as many weeks.

Pretend you're Wallander for £995

Late week, one wise PHer saw the light and bought our Saab 900 SOTW. Now let's see if someone else will be smart enough to pick up the ticket on this stout, slivovitz­ slurping stalwart of Swedish stolidity. A Volvo 240 won't make you a millionaire: they made nearly three million of them. But it will take you to a different time and place, to an age when you could have a head­on accident without even realising it because most of the primary impact would have been absorbed by bumpers the size of Birmingham and seats plusher than a Pahrump whorehouse mattress.

That goes double if you'd been sucking on the starköl beforehand, which you might well have been because in the 1980s you could still drink quite a lot while driving. There were limits, obviously, but things really were different then. Volvos of this era frowned on such decadence, while at the same time protecting those who practiced that sort of lifestyle. It was an even handed approach to safety. It was secondary, after-the-event type safety, rather than safety built on the primary virtues of a sharp chassis. Few would deny that the 240 was not exactly revered for the purity of its handling, but now itsbig­hearted midrange slog and rear-drive make it perfect for those into ironic drift culture.

It's too nice for banger racing, surely?

Back in Shed's day of course there was no drifting, just banger racing, which if you think about it is the same thing: it was just that everyone drifted together, at the same time, rather than individually. Take this Volvo to a shale oval and all but the looniest rival will leave you well alone to circulate in stately isolation. That's because they would know what was best for them. 240s were fashioned from premium grade pig iron. Describing a 240 as tank­like is being kind to tanks. Even the wheels on this one are butch. Manly alloys. Shed thinks he might have one of his earlier albums tucked away somewhere.

What colour is it? Looks black in some pics, blue in others, but in the best tradition of TV Scandidramas it turns out to be Suicide Grey metallic, which is goda nyheter in any language if you want to portray the image of a sober and thoughtful man, possibly a pipe­smoker, who is totally at ease with himself. 'Man'? Well, you can't imagine a lady buying it, can you? Some say Jags are the ultimate 'men only' cars, but it's got to be a Volvo of this vintage, surely? Unless you know (or think you know) different.

Have ever a set of wheels looked more manly?

What can happen to this car has most likely already happened to it. Rust is becoming an issue, but it sounds like it's still fixable. Mid­'80s Volvo wiring was made of knotted strands of Weetabix, but this one should be late enough to escape the worst effects. Being a manual, it also dodges the potential foibles of the Volvo auto. Anything rubbery like engine mounts or suspension components will naturally go the way of all flesh, but a glance at the truly awe­inspiring service history should provide reassurance - especially when it's read from the super­indulgent bum­basting luxury of passenger accommodations that make a mockery of the word 'seat'.

Vendor here seems to be going for the record for longest PH ad. He gets off to a bad start by having us believe he calls the car Agneta, which is presumably a reference to theageing flaxen-haired sometime singer with the beat combo Abba now MILF temptress. Shed detests this 'giving cars names' thing. Names are for human beings, not great, heavy lifeless lumps like Mrs Shed - sorry, cars. And anyway, it's Agnetha not Agneta.

Here's the ad.

Volvo 240 GLT manual (Agneta) for sale

11 months MoT.
Tax until end of August

Part service history (the most recent 70­odd k)
Non smoker's car
Grey metallic
Leather Seats (Chesterfield style with buttons)
Electric front and rear windows
Heated Front Seats
Electric mirrors
Sunroof (or moonroof as I think Volvo used to call them)
Central Locking

Full service history below, but in the last 5k miles, it's had:
New Discs and pads all round
Coolant change
Clutch fluid change
Clutch master cylinder rebuilt
Clutch Slave cylinder rebuilt
Clutch
Brake fluid change
Tyres (Michelin Energy front 4­5mm, Conti Eco Contact rear 6mm)
New front dampers (Volvo)
New inner and outer track rods
New wiper motor

I bought the car in 2012. It had been owned by a retired gent in 2007, who'd bought it asa classic project, but had hardly used it except going to the MoT station, though he'd beenslowly titivating it and improving it. I put the car back on the road shortly after buying itand have continued to improve it to where it is today.

The car drives very well, the engine pulls strongly (Volvo advertised it in the day as beingtuned for mid range power, which sounds like marketing bollocks, but when you drive it,you can see what they mean - it clips along at a reasonable pace without ever gettingflustered or needing to be thrashed). Nice gearshift and powerful brakes (standard 4­potfronts and 2­pot rears) with loads of feel. The ride is comfy and controlled with the new(Volvo) dampers and it handles surprisingly well - very much not boat like as you mightexpect- it's actually quite direct steering. Overall the car is very solid and clean withsurprisingly little corrosion. Everything works with the exception of the radio, whichoccasionally buzzed into life as you turn it on, but mostly stayed silent (luckily it's a nicequiet car and doesn't need the radio to drown out the engine/road noise). Last night,however it worked for my whole journey home, playing my Dire Straits Money for Nothingtape at 90% speed, which is nice and relaxing and gives you more time to perfect your airdrums/guitar. This evening, the radio function even worked, so perhaps it's doing tha rarest of things and fixing itself!

The early history for this car is unfortunately missing (no original service book), but thegood point is that the recent history/ invoices are all present and correct

2007­2012
Various invoices for MoT work

03/14 173900 miles
Oil Service
Air filter
New front dampers (Volvo) ­ converted to later twin tube type with spacer
Inner and outer track rods (Delphi)

08/13 173600 miles
New wiper motor

01/13 173400 miles
New battery
Clutch slave cylinder rebuild
Clutch fluid and brake fluid replaced

The mileage has barely changed during this time when it was owned by the previous keeper ­ the MoT history was as follows

The car came to me freshly serviced and with new brakes

12/01/2013 173370 miles (this is 2 months after I bought it)
23/11/2010 173344 miles (previous owner)
17/03/2008 173303 miles (previous owner)
24/11/2006 169349 miles

11/06 167237 miles

New clutch
New rear pads
New front pads
New rear axle bushes x 4

05/06 162095 miles
Replace both heater hoses
New front exhaust section

10/05 156895 miles
Fuse box terminals cleaned

10/05 156614 miles
Rewire horns
42k service

07/05 153064 miles
36k service
Spark plugs/air filter /coolant etc and oil

04/05 149818 miles
New wiper cables

01/05 147753 miles
Strip and clean breather system

12/04 144261 miles
OSF lower ball joint
Electrical remedies
Windscreen leak fixed

07/04 142151 miles
Front brake pads
Headlight switch

03/04 138600 miles
Oil and filter
Fuel filter

09/03 133488 miles
New ignition leads

06/03 130538 miles
Cylinder head gasket
Timing Belt
Radiator

10/02 123387 miles
Front pads
Oil service
Air filter
New front calipers
Brake fluid

09/02 122997 miles
All brakes stripped and inspected (leading to above)

01/02 120096 miles
Ignition leads, dizzy cap, spark plugs

12/01 119866 miles
N/S headlamp reflector
wiper
Clutch
Clutch slave cylinder

10/00 113982 miles
Oil service
Front and rear pads
Fan belts
Throttle body cleaned

04/00 103635 miles
New water pump
Oil service
Spark plug
fog lamp kit
wipers

The downsides

While the car is very solid overall, the arches do have some rust coming through on the undersides on the rear and there are obviously a few age related scratches here and there (particularly on the boot), but she polishes up well.

The driver's seat has split along the sewing line ­ it just needs the cover taking off and re­sewing from the back, but should I attempt it, I fear it won't look quite the same as itshould (+ my mum lives too far away to give it to her to do - in any case she'd probablygive me a hiding and tell me to sew my own seats) and there's an old school mobile phone holder glued to the dash top pocket (handy though)

Price: 995 ONO

Viewing is welcome and test drive with proof of insurance. Just normal people interested in Volvo 240s please (unless that's an oxymoron?), no scammers, no sales agencies, I'mafraid I won't deliver it to Southampton docks, accept Money Union transfers + I don't care if you're an African Prince, who's fallen from grace, but who wants to pay me $2.5million Ugandan dollars for the Volvo so he can arrive back home in style and claim histhrone.

Part exchange:Extremely unlikely you have one, but a UK MR2 Roadster facelift in decent condition.

[ADP68]

I love these for some reason. In keeping with the era of big square things, like RR/Bentley were doing at the time

[Barchettaman]

Starköl. Nice touch.

[SmartVenom]

That's a grand? Wow. I must be missing something. Oh and surely GILF rather than MILF!

[zebedee]

they are so different from everything else on the road that they do stand out now and I can see nice ones appreciating in value. They also make a lovely 1970's American cop car film tyre noise when you corner enthusiastically.

[VolvoT5]

very nice

[bob1179]

Can't beat a bit of 80's Volvo 240 goodness.

[PaulD86]

This is making me pine for my first car - a 460Xi in what I liked to call British racing green. It was by most measures a terrible car, but I loved it! And having owned one I now really get the appeal of old Volvos.

[iloveboost]

This article made me smile and laugh a bit thanks for that. Despite the looks I think it's worth a shot because these old Volvos and old Toyotas will be the only cars that survive the inevitable nuclear zombie holocaust. The design has nothing good about it other than it's simple but it's a hopefully reliable RWD car for little money with some life left in it. I've no idea what they're like to drive.

[gck303]

>>But it will take you to a different time and place, to an age when you could have a head­on accident without even realising it because most of the primary impact would have been absorbed by bumpers the size of Birmingham and seats plusher than a Pahrump wehouse mattress. <<

I think you would be surprised how much safer modern cars are that these huge old cars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emtLLvXrrFs

[surveyor]

Fond memories of my grandfathers 244. He had his for 18 years....

And to fit the stereotype was a gp/retired gp and was often seen flying around when on call (the days when doctors did on call...) with a red setter hanging out the window.

[crostonian]

The 780 is the only 80s Volvo that could tempt me;

[ianwayne]

Entertaining, but the Volvo had no engine in it.

[TWPC]

Now rare but in my view still awful. Dad's taste in cars was impeccable for most of my childhood but in 1983 he bought a 240 GLT estate. The reasoning was that we needed a people mover after the birth of the fourth child, but he had also been looking at the Citroen CX Safari and swerved at the last moment.

He had gone for the most powerful version of the estate then available (4 cyl 2.3 litre with fuel injection = 136hp) but we were appalled to find on holiday in France later in the year that the thing max'ed out at 70 mph going up a mild gradient in fourth. I remember Dad's horror saying, "Look! My foot's on the floor and it...just...won't...go...any...faster." Our other car at the time was a 3 door Saab 900 turbo that had no such issues.

The only interesting thing about it was the Laycock overdrive on 4th gear. I don't think they ever got round to making a proper 5-speeder.

[zebedee]

gck303 said:

>>But it will take you to a different time and place, to an age when you could have a head­on accident without even realising it because most of the primary impact would have been absorbed by bumpers the size of Birmingham and seats plusher than a Pahrump wehouse mattress. <<

I think you would be surprised how much safer modern cars are that these huge old cars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emtLLvXrrFs

We had one that two Ford's wrote themselves off against. A mk 1 Escort hit the back bumper and bent the tow bar slightly, scuffing the rubber. The front end of the Escort was well and truly stoved in. The next was an Orion that was written off (including a snapped off driver's seat) which resulted in new headlights, grille, bonnet and bumper on the Volvo. I am sure the wings survived. And finally my brother pulled out of a side road and had a hatchback hit him at about 50mph straight into the side. That did kill the Volvo (and driver and passenger seats were touching each other). But he did walk out of the car absolutely fine. Poor old girl.

[storminnorman]

I was looking at a non-mot 244 for £600 the other week. I nearly went into a frenzy of impulse buying but regained control.
They are very tempting cars!

[mrpenks]

Fugly then, fugly now. This car was white goods motoring when new and not a motor for the driver. Much, much nicer metal out there...

[Matt UK]

I had grandparents living in North London in the 80's - no trip to Stamford Hill / Stoke Newington seemed complete until we were in a sea of Volvo 240 GLTs!

[dirty_dog]

love this! My Dad had a couple of estates so my pedal kart would fit in the back!

[pSyCoSiS]

These were good old 'blocks' back in their day, but their is something now remotely cool about them!

We've all seen the YouTube videos of mad Swedes with big power models power sliding these.

Uncle had one back in the day. I remember he used to put it into first gear, let is coast into a wall and it would just bounce off it! Solid cars and I think in America these were somewhat of a status symbol, similar ot how Saabs were.

[Ryvita]

This turned up in my trawl last weekend. I think that's the first time I've spotted a shed before Shed did. \o/

But then I saw this, and any thoughts of Volvo departed... Surely a more shed-worthy shed? Or is it not, because it trips the red flag of no MOT? I forget what the exact rules are these days.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

£999!!!