I had forgotten that the 70's had some close competition.

(With maybe the exception of the Boxy but Nice.)

Although my 26 yr-old son has this odd 'love affair' with the '87 Mark II Jetta that he came home from the hospital in. He still keeps it running.

There were no good cars from the 80's....that's why the Japanese and Germans were able to step in and take so much market share...

The unloved Volvo 240 is becoming a collectors car! Yes, I've seen many go for upward of $15K. A few years back, nobody wanted them ... except for us Volvo guys.

Here's my Volvo story. When I was a kid, we loved the muscle cars and the Firebird/Camaro was the hot ticket. A friend of mine had an old Volvo 144 (4 door 1 series) sedan. When it got really cold, his Volvo would always start. It would go over snow much better than our sporty cars and he never got stuck when we went off pavement (most times on accident)! So, when I moved to CA, I brought my hot rod Camaro with me. When I bought my first house in 1989, I was still driving my Camaro to work. Then one day it overheated and instead of shutting it off, I nursed it home. It was so hot, the engine wouldn't stop running. I had to cover the carb to get it to stop. The next day I tried to crank it, and it was frozen! Since I had to go to work the next day and I didn't have much money for a new(er) car, I decided I'd buy an old Volvo. I thought it would be a good idea, since my buddy from high school days had great luck with his. I bought a 1978 Volvo 242 DL 2 door with a four speed manual with overdrive (a little switch on the top of the shifter). The car had 142K miles when I bought it and I expected it to last a year. I paid a whopping $2,200 for my mustard yellow 242! I wound up driving the car until around 350K miles (just a guess, since the odometer broke two times). The engine was never torn apart, the tranny didn't need any work (syncros good) and the only major part I changed was the clutch. That started my admiration for Volvo's, which I still have to this day.

In 2012 we setup our daughter with a 1987 Volvo 240 wagon while she attended college in High Point, NC. What a fantastic car! It was yellow with brown vinyl interior, manual transmission, manual windows, manual steering even and no air conditioning. We named the car, Ol Yeller and it just ran and ran. We got over 500k miles on it before it succumbed to rust due to the Northeast conditions. I now have a 1989 240 wagon that I only drive during the summer - great cars!

Wow, 1/2 million miles! The highest is a 1966 Volvo with 3M miles!

Great cars - too bad they don't make 'em like they used to!

By the way, the hot Volvo 240's are the 4 cylinder wagons.

I really liked the Volvo 240 series I've owned, except the 265, which had a horrible motor! I think my favorite was the 1978 242 DL - such a simple car that was indestructible!

The 240 series Volvo's I've owned.

1. 1978 242 DL - 2 door in mustard yellow with a burgundy cloth interior, 4 speed manual with overdrive, crank open sunroof (steel panel), 4 cylinder SOHC with Bosch FI, rack and pinion steering, 4 wheel power disc brakes, front struts and 2 fuel pumps (one under car and one in the gas tank). I believe the paint was 13 coats of enamel or something crazy like that. The paint was still good when I gave the car to a friend in 1998.

2. 1979 245 GL - 5 door wagon in silver with a black leather interior, automatic, power windows, power door locks, sunroof (I don't remember if it was power or manual), V-6 PRV (Peugeot, Renault, Volvo) that was pretty bad, Bosch FI, rack and pinon, 4 wheel discs, front struts and 2 fuel pumps.

3. 1984 240 GL - 4 door sedan in white with beige cloth interior, automatic, power windows, power door locks, sunroof, 4 cyl, Bosch FI, rack and pinon, 4 wheel discs, front struts and 2 fuel pumps.

4. 1985 240 DL - 5 door wagon in blue with blue cloth interior (had blue vinyl and I found new seats at the junk yard), 4 speed manual with overdrive (push button on top of shift knob), manual windows, manual locks, crank open sunroof, 4 cyl, etc.

My parents had a 1981 Olds 98 Luxury Sedan. Silver metallic with burgundy leather (pillow seats). Sunroof, power everything, wood (fake) steering wheel, 307 V-8 (Olds engine), 4 speed auto (overdrive) and fake wood on the dash and door panels. Had a automatic height adjustable rear suspension.

Smooth ride, leans in turns - we'd slide on the seats as we went around turns fast! Comfortable boat - there, that describes it to a "T"!

Square and austere looking. My dad thought that GM cars were the bomb!

The G body was the exception....always liked the look...but still generally crappy mechanically speaking....

The Buick looks pretty sporty, but looking closely, it's messed up - what are those ugly grills on the fender! The Buick Grand National and GNX were pretty cool cars. They're getting a pretty good bid at the auctions too.

My mom drove a 1981 Chevy Monte Carlo with a 267 CI V-8. Two BBL carb and three speed auto. Maroon with maroon cloth interior. It was a decent car, but I don't think it made it much over 100K miles.

I had a 1979 Pontiac Bonneville that I drove for a while in college. What a piece of junk! Gas guzzler (301 V-8) that blew, so we put a 350 V8 with 4 BBL carb that wasn't very quick, but it could light up the tire (not tires, since no posi). My friend had a 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 301. That car did make it over 100K miles, but it wasn't running too good. It was the kids car (mom had a Chrysler 5th Avenue). After the Bonneville, I had a 1980 Camaro with a 305 V-8 and 4BBL. We tore the engine apart one year and put some nice hi-perf stuff including some nice heads, headers, turbo mufflers, etc. I also swapped the 2.56 rear axle for a 3.31 posi unit. It made a nice noise and ran strong. My sister had a 1981 Pontiac Firebird with the 301 V-8 4BBL. Same look, but what a different car. That Pontiac motor wasn't made well and it didn't pull very strong either. Just used a lot of gas! Dad drove whatever car was sitting around. 1973 Buick Centurion, 1973 Chevy Vega wagon, 1975 Chevy Nova, 1978 Buick Century Wagon, 1980 Datsun B210 Wagon (he didn't like the car at all!) and at times he took the 1981 Monte Carlo to work and left mom the 1981 Olds 98. Yes, we were a GM family!

Haha I had a Datsun B210 that I beat to death, it was still running when I got rid of it though....My favorite car I think, was my first, believe it or not my first car was a '66 Chevelle SS 396 4 speed...The only modification was a Hurst shifter, comp +, and I eventually broke the Muncie rock crusher trans after several years of abuse, and replaced it with a BW T-10 out of a vette...I had a '67 Impala convert that was yellow with black interior that looked every bit of 20 feet long with the top down...another favorite was a '66 ragtop vette with a '69 350 LT engine, what a beast....Had a '72 Caddy Eldorado with the 501, could win any race starting at 75 mph haha....Dodge van, ford vans 2, GMC vans 3...and many more vehicles over the years...

Wow, that's a nice first car! How did you keep from getting tickets ... or did you get a ton of them?

You broke a rock crusher? Those were made for Chevy big blocks! The synchros on the M22 were super strong compared to the M20, 21 and T-10.

The '66 ragtop 'vette was a nice machine. My friend had a '63 and it was a dream to drive. 327 with a 4 speed, red exterior.

The Caddy 501 was a big displacement motor. My friend had a 1975 Eldo with a 501. Another friend's mom had a 1974 Coupe DeVille with a 472 CI. I had a 1974 and 1976 Thunderbird with a 460. The Eldo was torquey, but the T-bird was much quicker. I'd drift away from his Eldo. Though my 1964 New Yorker Salon with a 413 was substantially quicker than both cars.

Thanks for sharing. Brings back some great memories!

The Gold Hurst Olds is pretty! Classic 1979 Americana!