(Lack of) appeal of older Volvos (240)

..............

They might have morphed into something with a different name there (unless they don't make fords any more in the US), but the ford falcon is still one of the highest selling new cars in Australia.

I had a B27 with BW55 in my '80 264GLE and converted it to straight LPG. It was cheaper to run than on petrol, but still thirsty.

I pulled the B27 out when it started filling the sump with coolant... I fitted a 350 chev, turbo hydramatic 350 auto and a 2.47:1 Ford 9" diff. The economy is virtually the same as with the B27 but the perfomance is somewhat better. :-)

I've now got an '88 240GL that the engine will be going into. I'm yet to decide between a 5 or 6 speed manual or a 4L60 4-speed auto, but whichever I go with, the alloy heads and manifold that will be going onto the engine pretty much guarantee a significant improvement in efficiency.

I'll be curious to see if I can get better economy out of a 350 than most seem to get from 4-cyl Volvo motors. :-)

Who that be? The Volvo wrecker in Perth? :)

m Albany, WA

I get right about 25 mpg in my 240 Turbo on the highway, it's a manual and I keep the tires inflated to max pressure and everything in good tune though.

hi "country cousin". "volvo spares & repairs" Clapham St, Beckenham. They also reckon they have shops in Perth, Joondalup & Oconnor but the phone always answers at Beckenham. That's the only one I've been to, I suspect the others are mechanics with some sort of connection.

Thank you, jg. :) I'll phone them later, or might just visit them next month.

...and they say women know nothing about cars!

mechanicals.

The previous poster said that the Camry weighs about the same as a

US Ford Falcon:

I drive my new to me 940 turbo wagon while the better 2/3 drives a 97 850 no turbo. We are both quite happy!

A number of motor industry people have told me, and I'm inclined to agree, the best kind of car to have is a new one.

that looks kind of like a dodge sebring, say an accord/camry/s60/mazda 6 class car. they run anywhere from the high teens to the high 20's in cost in the US.

A good point. MIne came with a pretty complete set of maintenance records from the previous owners, which was nice, in addition to inspecting the car.

You can do a lot of stuff yourself and save a lot of money. I have not the time, tools or in many cases the skills, but there's enough information available in books and on the Web to be able to do an awful lot of stuff with pretty simple tools and relatively simple skills.

I didn't know that about Honda owners. I've helped do a little DIY work on a couple of them, and they weren't too bad to work on.

It's the "family" ford in Australia, 6 cyl, bigger than a camry or accord. Isn't there an equivalent ford in the US? They start about $30000AUS... $22000US.

If you're talking about a Falcon, they are about the same size as the late model GTO, which is derived from the Holden Commodore. The Commodore and Falcon are the "large" cars in the AU market. The Toyota Avalon and Mitsu Magna (Diamante) are a little smaller but try to pretend to be direct competitors.

Camry, etc. are a class smaller.

That may also be a factor in automobile longevity. Volvos, Hondas and Toyotas are noted for long life and all are (mostly) easy to work on. In contrast, the Nissan 300ZX I had developed scads of electrical intermittents around the 130K mile range and doing anything meaningful with the car was hopeless. For example, replacing the engine harness would have required shelling out $2000 US for the part and probably several days work, since it was integrated with the under-dash wiring. I also had to replace some hydraulic lifters and was sure the Haynes manual was wrong about getting the left valve cover off - it simply wouldn't clear the A/C bracket (which also couldn't be removed when the engine was in the car). Eventually I discovered the cover had to be turned exactly right and then knocked off with a mallet!

Mike

Well, I suppose there are a lot of good, solid older cars out there, suited to shade-tree mechanic owners, but shunned by the rest of the population. Volvo 240's, diesel Benz sedans, Toyota Cressidas, etc. etc. I suppose that if I hadn't had my hands full of other cars the last few years, I may have given VOlvo a try earlier. Glad I own a 240 now and am learning a lot from this site and others. One thing about these great old cars, whatever the marque, is that the internet is a wonderful source of information, advice and support, which makes ownership and maintenance of these fine old cars a more satisfying and rewarding experience. As long as a good supply or spare parts for them exists, no reason to think of buying something newer, as fas as I'm concerned. I don't need the speed and aerodynamic looks of modern cars (which largely look the same anyway, almost featureless). Give me something simple, solid, and that I can figure out and fix myself, anyday! Maybe one day my kids will see it that way too, who knows (they're not of age to drive yet, but I'd feel better to send them off in a Volvo or Benz sedan, than the cheap compact cars buzzing all over the roads... although in the end I know they'll probably refuse to be seen driving these "ugly old cars" sigh...). Cheers, all.