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Can an '86 Volvo wagon be a classic in 6 yrs?


Geezmaniz23

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I know what your thinking...an 86 Volvo wagon? I know. I actually met a man who had a 68 who said if I fixed mine up that it could be. I got it as a gift from my father a year ago, now it seems to be in need of a major overhaul. Engine, trans need to be reparied/replaced for instance. He says it probably isn't worth saving. I cannot be without a car! I'd rather try to save it then be bus bound again. But is it worth saving? I would like a second opinion if anyone has one.

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I have an '83 240 Volvo with 300000km on the odometer and runs like a top. It is a boring old car because it nnever seems to need any repairs. It's likely the best and safest car I have ever owned ( except my Packard) including several Mercedes and numerous domestics. I'm sure that with care it wil outlast me. Wonderful cars but parts are expensicve and depending on where you are rust is a problem Of course needing an engine and trans is a BIG problem. There are kits available to install a V-8!

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I have a 87 240 wagon and like Dave's it seems to run forever with little care and some abuse (note to daughter,have you checked the oil lately??). I've only done brake work and timing belt changes other than normal maintenance. The speedometer works but the odometer gave out a few years back at about 175k. Our daughter drove the car for several years and now it has been handed down to our son. I'm happy he wants it because it is a very safe car especially for a new driver. Around here they seem to be desirable cars.

What are the problems with your engine/trans? If the body and interior are in decent shape it should be worth repairing engine /trans issues. Find a good independent volvo mechanic in your area and let him take a look.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know what your thinking...an 86 Volvo wagon? I know. I actually met a man who had a 68 who said if I fixed mine up that it could be. I got it as a gift from my father a year ago, now it seems to be in need of a major overhaul. Engine, trans need to be reparied/replaced for instance. He says it probably isn't worth saving. I cannot be without a car! I'd rather try to save it then be bus bound again. But is it worth saving? I would like a second opinion if anyone has one. </div></div>

Well.. If you look at the '60's Volvos today... Are they classics..?? I don't think so. .. .

I always wonder.. If I would live in The States, I would buy a $1000 '40's/'50's

american car rather than japanese/european daily driver from '80's or '90's or from '00's... NO W A Y! wink.gifwink.gif

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According to Edmunds.com this car is currently worth at most $1900 if it's a loaded 240GL model, or $2500 if it's a loaded 760 turbo model. These numbers assume it's in the eastern seaboard market, eat-off-the-frame mint condition, 100,000 miles on the odometer, and painted a non-offensive color (white). Again let me state those numbers are for a <span style="font-style: italic">perfect</span> car; one hole in the front seat--subtract a couple hundred dollars. A car that is just drivable and not in exceptional condition is worth no more that 50% of those numbers.

European non-sports cars and especially wagons have traditionally been among the least collectible cars in existence. There is little chance that <span style="font-style: italic">any</span> Volvo wagon, even the much loved Volvo Amazons of the 1960's, would be <span style="font-style: italic">financially</span> worth the kind of investment you'll need to make with this car. (Volvos are among the most expensive cars on the market to repair. Even if the overhaul is the only repair it'll ever need--{<span style="font-style: italic">how likely is that?</span>}--you're looking at <span style="font-style: italic">a lot</span> more than these values for this car!)

The value of your memories, on the other hand, is something only you can estimate. smile.gif

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If the engine/trans in your Volvo needs replacing its a lemon or it was totaly neglected. on the 4cyl of those years, the worst that usually happens is that the camshaft siezes due to lack of maintanance (read you didn't change the oil often enough). This is not the disater that most shops try to tell you it is. Use LOTS of carb cleaner...remove the camshaft....remove the spark plugs ...spray carb cleaner in the oil passage hole in the bottom of the center cam bearing (I think this is the one) and crank the engine til oil starts flowing again. reassemble change oil more often and drive another 300,0000 miles

Bill grin.gif

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Problem with the old 240 as a collector car is that they were made for almost 20 years and so many were made and are still on the road. Best place I have found to get advice is www.brickboard.com. Volvos have an almost fanatical following and you will meet many of them on the site.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">lol...... grin.gif </div></div>

Well I have to look back in time to 1973, I remember this eighteen year old skinny nerd of a kid that bought a 15 year old Edsel and thought it was the greatest thing on wheels. I wonder what ever became of that skinny kid? Oh yeah......that was me.

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Geezmaniz23...Welcome to the AACA Forum.

Snappy cited an excellent, personal scenario of what this automotive preservation "hobby" is all about. Ignore the...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">lol...... <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>

...and continue to post on this forum for any assistance, any time.

Welcome aboard,

Peter J. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">lol...... grin.gif </div></div>

Well I have to look back in time to 1973, I remember this eighteen year old skinny nerd of a kid that bought a 15 year old Edsel and thought it was the greatest thing on wheels. I wonder what ever became of that skinny kid? Oh yeah......that was me. </div></div>

You have to remember that Edsel was made by Americans... grin.gif

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You have to remember that Edsel was made by Americans... grin.gif

This town I live in has a big Finnish population, the largest outside of Finland actually and Volvos were very and are very common at least when they made the old "Brick" 240. A lot more Finns owned Volvos than Edsels let me assure you.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

You have to remember that Edsel was made by Americans... grin.gif </div></div>

This town I live in has a big Finnish population, the largest outside of Finland actually and Volvos were very and are very common at least when they made the old "Brick" 240. A lot more Finns owned Volvos than Edsels let me assure you.

Yes, I have always been wondering why the Edsel wasn't a success... In my opinion it beats the Volvo in any case. laugh.gif And I guess many of my friends in Finland believes the same. Of course you have to remember, that modern people today would rather by a Volvo than old-"old fashioned" Edsel. Of course, it's more logical to get a newer car with (??) less trouble etc etc lower fuel consumptin. But hey, I would rather drive an Edsel (or any american made automobile)!

My friend also had many of those 240 Volvos.. Now he drives with an Oldsmobile, and I think he's very satisfied with the car.

By the way.. I've seen Volvos from that era with lowered top (with 2doors.. I mean factory made). Does anyone know what they are?? Were they some Bertone -models or what (I have this feeling..) ?

My friend bought this one recently from Arizona, if I remember right..

BigE2.jpg

It looks so GREAT!!!

Edsel is the car that I really first fell in love with.. I don't know how I got stuck with these mopars anyway.. Well, not a bad thing though.

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Mika, Looks like you may have a Ford product in your future. Start saving now for the best money can buy! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I see a pattern here among all of us car nuts. We all like something different, and we thrive on attention from others. Admit it now, you know you do. And Mika, that why it is more fun for you to own an Edsel, everybody has Volvos. Just think of all of the toys you've come across involving automobiles, special horn whistles, cat calls, loud mufflers and the lastest heard by me on a national tour, a crowing rooster of all things. We'll all just kids at heart, and we love it. I know I do. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne

PS, ...forgot to mention, our women like the spotlight too, unless they're wearing scarves or other disguises to make sure their friends don't see them associating with the nutty husband of the family. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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Mika, Yes the Volvo with the lowered top etc. is the Bertone model (not one of my favourites) but sure to be a collectable car someday.

Edsel failed fro a number of reasons not the least of which was the recession in the late 1950's. My dad worked at Ford of Canada and I remember he was laid off work for eleven months in 1958-59 and he had 10 mouths to feed. We ate lots of field tomatoes that year! I am no expert on Ford products but it seems to me that Edsel was priced somewhere between Mercury and Lincoln and there wasn't much market in that price range and sales were low. There is one that I know of here and if it comes up for sale I'll let you know. It may even be owned by a Finn. smile.gif

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Guest John Chapman

Clipper,

I owned three Volvos over time... a '67 122, a '70 142 and a '83 240DL wagon. The '83 was a nightmare of expense. Three idle speed motors (one under warranty and two at ~$700 each), two complete brake system replacements (calipers and rotors) at something over a grand each time, a new exhaust system at 55K miles (including cat converter); two a/c compressors, four overdrive solinoids, a p/s pump. The final straw at six years and 95,000 miles: the clear lens fell out of the tail lamps. One was recovered and glued back... the other was a lost sacrifice to the gods of freeway ditritus. Couldn't replace just the lens, no sir. Had to buy the entire lamp assembly including the bulbs for something like $200 (in 1988 dollars). So much for the 10 year program! I got rid of the monster in '89.

Those 240 wagons were popular in my mid-grade Naval officer with kids group. At one time there were six of them in the squadron (34 officers). We were contemplating having a license plate frame made up with the quip: "My other car is a Mercedes.... I can't afford another Volvo". Of the six, I think one was trouble-free. The rest were hangar queens like mine. As much as I admire Volvo engineering and material quality, I will <span style="font-style: italic">never</span> buy another one.

Cheers,

JMC

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Wayne, I'll have to admit. You're RIGHT. Friends of my age are driving, almost without an exception, with Fiats, Mercedes's, Toyotas.. well, you name it. I really want to be different. But the main reason is that I REALLY believe, that the cars made by americans are/were THE BEST. Friends of my age don't think so. Why? They have never driven or owned one. OF course, they don't even know how to change a tire.

As you all may found out, the quality of the cars today are not the same they were in, let's say, the 80's..

My friend just bought 2004 Toyota Corolla. GUESS WHAT!?

He tested front shocks once by pressing the car down from the top of front fender.

And next.. he had to call to sheetmetal repair shop, because the front fender

had two dents size of his palms!!! grin.gif

My brother is studying as an engineer of automotive technology (??). So he hears

these horror stories.

For example in Finland NEW Ford Mondeos are all painted over before they are showed in dealerships. The quality of factory paint shop is so BAD..!! (I guess the factory is in Turkey??)

One friend had (then new) 2003 Ford Mondeo. After a year the doors were so rusted so they had to be replaced.

I guess this is a little bit off the topic.. ? crazy.gif

Well, anyway. I have these two books about Edsel.. "Selling the Peoples Cadillac" - this is more based on the econimical situation of Ford Motor Co etc etc..

and also Road Test -book on Edsel by Brooklands. There's one interesting article

from 1969 Car Life by Michael Lamm "Revenge of Edsel".

There's picture of one college student, John Boyd, who has (had?) 6 Edsels in '69!!

Yep, I really like the car.

Have you seen the site where's pics from one yard in Pennsylvania with 300(?) Edsels?

I'll have to find it somewhere...

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John, My 83 240 is a Canadian model (assembled in Nova Scotia) with single SU type carb(Zenith-Stromberg) and 4 speed + O/D trans. This model was not sold in the US. It starts at -40 with a little urging from a block heater and has the original brake calipers after almost 180000miles (300000km). The backup lense fell out also on my car last spring! Expensive to repair for parts? yes I agree on that but I have a local pick a part that usually has what I need for cheap and it has never darkened the door of the dealer for service in the 4 years I've owned it. I have the service records since new ( it lived a charmed life owned by in Victoria BC and Tucson AZ before I bought it) which came with the car and it has had only one major repair which was the transmission rebuilt for $600 at about 200000km including clutch and pressure plate. It's also had a new water pump and the usual service items like brake pads, tires, timing belts etc. Motor has never been apart. Maybe I'm just lucky with this one but it is about the least troublesome of any daily driver car I've owned in recent memory ?

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I had a 1963 Volvo 122S that I got in 1968 with 50k miles and sold decades later with 348,000 miles. It was the last body before Volvos got squared off with the 142/144 models in case you don't know the styling. I continually repaired and replaced parts as that was the most cost effective for me.

Is reburbishing your 86 more cost effective than purchasing a new one? Perhaps.

The Volvo mechanic I knew built a race car by hand an used a 4-cyl. engine with great success. The Volvo V-6 of the 1980s was total junk. Real Volvo mechs shunned them like the plague.

Just because a vehicle reaches the 25 year mark does not mean people should begin to brandish the "C" word around. Is a 1980 Toyota Corolla going to be a classic? How about a 1979 Datsun Clone? Sheeesh!

A car has to have a avid following. There were Volvo 544 and 122 clubs before they were 25 model years old. Do any of the many Clone cars of the past 25 years have real followings?

Volvo moved into the vacuum that Mercedes left when it went from reasonably-priced-for-what-you-get to bloated Uber-priced cars. Volvos were selling at ridiculous prices. They became wanna-be luxury cars. The true sport sedan was a blurred memory as Volvo awoke after a 4-day drunk looking at the pigs in lipstick lying in bed with them. In essence they were neither luxury cars or sports sedans during the 1980s and with zillions of them rolling off the Swedish pickle boats they aren't even slightly rare.

I could buy a cherry 1965-69 122S for about $2000-2500 in the high-priced Southern California market. At that it might be classed as a curious-interest car at best. Nothing but high-end cars from the 1980s will be true classics.

So you can pour the money into your old car or put it down on a new Volvo that has finally arrived as a luxury-performance car and enjoy the blast of hauling a$$! But realize that you are not truly investing in an old car as you would be performing the same work on a 1967 Camaro SS or similar car.

Tank.gif

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