What do we think about when we think of Sweden? Pioneers of 17th C pan European religious conflict? High taxes? A liberal attitude towards physical love? Ikea? Stig Larsson? Ulrika –a-a-a-a-? or a reputation for building quality and reliable motor cars?
For me Sweden IS the Volvo 240.
Designers have long admired the Swedes’ understanding that less is more and there is beauty in functionality and simplicity. Their Nordic ancestors took a hatred of the gauche to extremes by sailing over the sea and burning any churches which dared to deviate from simple pine benches and whitewash, murdering all the monks and parishioners and sailing back to Scwveden having confiscated their silver thus meaning that they would be unable to over decorate in future. Fortunately, they don’t do this anymore and instead spread their culture through IKEA – love it or hate it- the fact is that most of us in the developed world now furnish our houses with Swedish designed furniture and associated tat. I read in a Sunday supplement that the 20 year expansion of IKEA represents the first instance of Swedish design being rolled out globally – what utter tosh – I regret that I am not a retired Major and don’t live in Tonbridge Wells because if I were and did by golly, I would have penned my ire to the editor of the rag in question (The Sunday Times BTW). All lovers of the kit know damn fine that Saab and Volvo have been leading the Swedes up the beach ever since horned helmets and belching at the table went out of fashion! And arguably the most influential and pure expression of the ideals of Swedish design are expressed best in the Volvo 240.
So why the 240 – well, I am not going to bore you to death about the development history – most of us know it all already – this is about me trying to reconcile why I love, what is essentially, a pretty dull car.
We are in the process of launching a new business and I am looking at ways of cutting back the bills, this means that the BMW will probably have to go and be replaced by a reliable high mileage muncher that won’t cost the earth to fix as the simplicity of it means I will be able to tackle it myself and I can’t get the 240 out of my head – it is there like an itch.
As autoshitters we are lovers of the unusual and the retro – not for us the plastic curves and over engineered flummery of a modern car, we see the logic in the simplicity and affordability of the older, often unloved, car. We are also a sentimental bunch and, as I approach the big four-oh I find myself living 200 yards away from where I grew up (out of no design - it just happened)and morphing ever so slowly into my dad.
The spoon that was crammed in my mouth at birth wasn’t exactly silver but certainly was sliver plate. I grew up in comfortable middle class, pinkie out when you are drinking your tea, Jean Brodie –esque Edinburgh. My old man was a solicitor in that town of lawyers, my mother was a physio, I went to a respectable private school in town where I was taught to play rugby and dance the eightsome and all those other tools to surviving what was the Edinburgh chattering classes in the 70’s and 80’s. Houses were stone, kitchens were Habitat, furniture was pine, food was lentils and the car was a 240 estate. My old man had 3 identical blue 240 DL estates from the late 70’s till 1996 when he traded the last one in for a Westfield SEi – (an acknowledgement that he was free at last maybe). The 240 was the family car, the indestructibility of it, the hard wearing cloth seats, the basic functionality of what was an expensive but solid car. We went everywhere in it – dogs and all the 3 of us fighting to get a window seat. Each July when the Scottish schools broke it was off to Hull to get the ferry to Europe and 2-3 weeks of camping – no air con – very few Volvos in Europe in those days – you would get flashed by French drives because of your running lights. I remember having to chum dad from Spain to Avignon to pick up a part as that was where the nearest dealer was at the time.
We turn into our dads don’t we – I have driven some spectacular cars – the E34 535i is arguably one of the best cars made in the last 30 years, better than its successor even – why oh why would I want to trade it in for a 240? Well, maybe because in this world of the crushing responsibility of kids, mortgages and rent to pay, uncertain economy, one pay check from the bailiff, health worries, work pressures, maybe it is that I am looking for that sense of security I felt as a child and of course that was an illusion itself as my Dad had would have had the same worries?
So, when the BMW goes I have decided to try and find a 1993 Torslanda estate. This was the last of the 240s and was a special edition of a car that had become a favourite of Dukes and plumbers. It is perhaps fitting that the model was only sold in Northern Europe and Sweden, the countries where the model made its name. It is also fitting that the Torsy (for those who don’t know) is a very basic stripped down model of the 240 – no GL or GLT flummery here (I never could get my head around a ‘luxury’ version of the 240, a bit like putting bone handles on a colander) this baby came with no chrome, no leccy windows, no aircon, no cruise in fact nothing that could fail at low temperatures – it is a model designed for the Swedish winter and to survive it, the only concessions it has are power steering and a radio and the usual heated seats. The designers doffing their caps to commemorate the passing of a car with the functionality and simplicity of a reliable workhorse which established Volvo as a producer of safe, quality and slightly dull cars.
Yes, I know the 940 is a great machine and the 740 more refined and despite owning a hooligan of an 850 estate the fact remains that in my humble opinion the greatest Volvo ever made was a 245 DL estate with blue cloth trim and a blue paint job, ladder roof rack and a dog guard.
Now – off to ebay!
- update - well maybe the Volvo forum where business this morning has resulted in this being the new scooters daily - collect in a couple of weeks time!
For me Sweden IS the Volvo 240.
Designers have long admired the Swedes’ understanding that less is more and there is beauty in functionality and simplicity. Their Nordic ancestors took a hatred of the gauche to extremes by sailing over the sea and burning any churches which dared to deviate from simple pine benches and whitewash, murdering all the monks and parishioners and sailing back to Scwveden having confiscated their silver thus meaning that they would be unable to over decorate in future. Fortunately, they don’t do this anymore and instead spread their culture through IKEA – love it or hate it- the fact is that most of us in the developed world now furnish our houses with Swedish designed furniture and associated tat. I read in a Sunday supplement that the 20 year expansion of IKEA represents the first instance of Swedish design being rolled out globally – what utter tosh – I regret that I am not a retired Major and don’t live in Tonbridge Wells because if I were and did by golly, I would have penned my ire to the editor of the rag in question (The Sunday Times BTW). All lovers of the kit know damn fine that Saab and Volvo have been leading the Swedes up the beach ever since horned helmets and belching at the table went out of fashion! And arguably the most influential and pure expression of the ideals of Swedish design are expressed best in the Volvo 240.
So why the 240 – well, I am not going to bore you to death about the development history – most of us know it all already – this is about me trying to reconcile why I love, what is essentially, a pretty dull car.
We are in the process of launching a new business and I am looking at ways of cutting back the bills, this means that the BMW will probably have to go and be replaced by a reliable high mileage muncher that won’t cost the earth to fix as the simplicity of it means I will be able to tackle it myself and I can’t get the 240 out of my head – it is there like an itch.
As autoshitters we are lovers of the unusual and the retro – not for us the plastic curves and over engineered flummery of a modern car, we see the logic in the simplicity and affordability of the older, often unloved, car. We are also a sentimental bunch and, as I approach the big four-oh I find myself living 200 yards away from where I grew up (out of no design - it just happened)and morphing ever so slowly into my dad.
The spoon that was crammed in my mouth at birth wasn’t exactly silver but certainly was sliver plate. I grew up in comfortable middle class, pinkie out when you are drinking your tea, Jean Brodie –esque Edinburgh. My old man was a solicitor in that town of lawyers, my mother was a physio, I went to a respectable private school in town where I was taught to play rugby and dance the eightsome and all those other tools to surviving what was the Edinburgh chattering classes in the 70’s and 80’s. Houses were stone, kitchens were Habitat, furniture was pine, food was lentils and the car was a 240 estate. My old man had 3 identical blue 240 DL estates from the late 70’s till 1996 when he traded the last one in for a Westfield SEi – (an acknowledgement that he was free at last maybe). The 240 was the family car, the indestructibility of it, the hard wearing cloth seats, the basic functionality of what was an expensive but solid car. We went everywhere in it – dogs and all the 3 of us fighting to get a window seat. Each July when the Scottish schools broke it was off to Hull to get the ferry to Europe and 2-3 weeks of camping – no air con – very few Volvos in Europe in those days – you would get flashed by French drives because of your running lights. I remember having to chum dad from Spain to Avignon to pick up a part as that was where the nearest dealer was at the time.
We turn into our dads don’t we – I have driven some spectacular cars – the E34 535i is arguably one of the best cars made in the last 30 years, better than its successor even – why oh why would I want to trade it in for a 240? Well, maybe because in this world of the crushing responsibility of kids, mortgages and rent to pay, uncertain economy, one pay check from the bailiff, health worries, work pressures, maybe it is that I am looking for that sense of security I felt as a child and of course that was an illusion itself as my Dad had would have had the same worries?
So, when the BMW goes I have decided to try and find a 1993 Torslanda estate. This was the last of the 240s and was a special edition of a car that had become a favourite of Dukes and plumbers. It is perhaps fitting that the model was only sold in Northern Europe and Sweden, the countries where the model made its name. It is also fitting that the Torsy (for those who don’t know) is a very basic stripped down model of the 240 – no GL or GLT flummery here (I never could get my head around a ‘luxury’ version of the 240, a bit like putting bone handles on a colander) this baby came with no chrome, no leccy windows, no aircon, no cruise in fact nothing that could fail at low temperatures – it is a model designed for the Swedish winter and to survive it, the only concessions it has are power steering and a radio and the usual heated seats. The designers doffing their caps to commemorate the passing of a car with the functionality and simplicity of a reliable workhorse which established Volvo as a producer of safe, quality and slightly dull cars.
Yes, I know the 940 is a great machine and the 740 more refined and despite owning a hooligan of an 850 estate the fact remains that in my humble opinion the greatest Volvo ever made was a 245 DL estate with blue cloth trim and a blue paint job, ladder roof rack and a dog guard.
Now – off to ebay!
- update - well maybe the Volvo forum where business this morning has resulted in this being the new scooters daily - collect in a couple of weeks time!
Last edited by scooters on Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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