The Last Undiscovered Classic? Here’s Why This Volvo 242 Is a Great Buy!

In this video we take a detailed look at an undiscovered classic, the Volvo 242!

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#volvo #turbo

[Earlywinters]

I had a 1971 142E with a 4 speed manual. Love that era of Volvo. Great review... and trip down memory lane.

[volvo]

Nice clean 242

I never see 2 doors, nevermind the gt... Rare.

Someone loved that car.

[yuriboguslavsky]

Great cars. Had several 240s and loved them all! Wagons were the best.

[wheelmannc]

I always liked the overall styling of the 200 series. That GT is amazing. I have never seen one of those. If only that had a decent turbo charger, it would have been even better.

[moparmission]

I had the black 1983 242 Turbo automatic. It had a dealer installed boost kit also. Super fast and I loved it

[danatmatchvox]

Finally some who gets cars on the TFL channels

[DuaneCaldwell]

Nice video of a rare classic Brendan! Thanks for bringing these blasts from our past to YouTube and TFL.

[anthonymrskipt]

I had a 1980 GT (no longer 242 at that point). The seats were amazing and the corduroy material was pretty grippy. We got 11 people in there one time. I had a sunroof and the black roof with the sunroof was totally cool. That car was hard to kill. It wasn’t that fast even back then, but it was great in so many ways. Overdrive only worked in 4th gear. I drove it all over New England for 5 years and had 100K miles on it when my sister ran it into a bridge in upstate NY visiting her boyfriend. My sister walked away with just bruising, but the GT was beyond repair. Even in death, the GT was amazing as it saved my sister’s life. My friends still talk about that car. I’ve had a lot of “better” cars since then, but none that I ever loved quite so much.

[FrankySilverFace]

This car is perfect! It's even the right size for almost anyone. The Dash and centre stack are exactly as things should be.

[andrelam]

I haven't seen one of these "in the flesh" in over 30 years. That car is in shockingly good condition. Normally the stripes look terrible after many decades of UV exposure. Just one thing, the OD should work ONLY in 5th gear. If it engages in other gears, you need to check the 4th gear sensor. Otherwise the OD could stay engaged when you try to g backwards. That will shred the OD. Amazing find.

[michaeltutty]

That is a beautiful car indeed. There is one thing on the outside that is not stock. GT came with model specific 14 inch alloys. The ones on this car are the 15x6 Virgos that came standard in GLT and TURBO.
The electric overdrive only engaged in 4th gear. It was standard on GT, optional on other models that were built with the 4 speed manual. Your Crown Victoria has roughly 22.5 cubic feet of trunk space. The Volvo is about 1.5 cubic feet smaller, so pretty close.
My 240 is a DL wagon. 76.6 cubic feet of cargo capacity. At 622, 000 kilometers, or a little over 390, 000 miles, the car runs like brand new. I will never willingly give it up.

[regsparkes]

Thumbs up for a `true` Volvo!
You just had to drive one of these cars to appreciate what a wonderful driving experience these cars gave. Comfort, `sporty feel`, stability and economy is what I had in my mine, back in 1988.

[huissi]

The overdrive is supposed to turn on only in 4th. Your sensor in the gearbox is broken if its engages in any gear. You can also break your overdrive if you use it in other gears.

[greathornedowl]

Thanks, Brendon, What Happened to Volvo? Up until the mid-90s they were great/reliable cars. Cars of my teachers/professors, wagons with a stick shift, and nearly bought an 87-89 wagon (well used 10 years later).

[matthewprather]

Fuel injection started in 1972 in the 140 series cars. First with Bosch D-Jetronic - which was actually more modern than the Bosch K-Jetronic that came out in 1974.

That 242 GT is rad! If it weren’t already so clean I’d be tempted to add a turbo to it. But modding such a clean car would be a shame.

[annietaylorsmith]

The first car I purchased by myself was a Volvo 240 DL 4 speed with overdrive. I loved that car.

[mabs]

My second car was an other special version. The 1980 Volvo GLT. It didn't say 244 or 264 anywhere on the car or even in the sales brochure. In essence it was a 244 with the 2.7l v6 from a 264 with 141hp, with blackout trim and slightly firmer suspension. They also made a version of the GLT in -80 with a 4 cylinder B21 tuned to 140hp.
The reason for this "sporty 264" was as a reply to SAAB 900 turbo, and before Volvo released their own Turbo in -81.

[nirmitshukla]

One of my all time faves. The 242GT is a true European classic from the 70s. I would love to own one some day, is it for sale?

[unclebob]

Well this is your best review yet, this was my first Volvo, best one i owned from 1980-2010, the wheels are period correct but they weren't available until 1979 when they came stock that year, i still have a set i have for summer wheels for my 1989 240DL and just make the car look great, my 1978 was over 300k miles when i sold it, it still rode and drove nicely had 2 other Volvos plus it needed a ton of body work, the overdrive on the shifter knob only worked in 4th gear from 50 mph if used at slower speeds they could and would jam up and then you had to fix it, by finding a good bumpy road and switch it off/on several times and that would fix it for you, my best buddy was a Volvo Tech back in the day, these cars were 10 years ahead of anything built or offered in North America at the time and had a drivers heated seat as standard equipment then, there was no switch for it, it was thermostatically controlled built into the seat itself, you could get one for the passenger seat as a dealer installed option, all options for these car were dealer installed by Volvo techs, that is how Volvo did most of the options for these cars right down to the A/C and cruise controls added cruise, side window deflectors and the passenger heated seat option, i couldn't afford the A/C, it always got 37 mpg highway, i never had to replace anything in the fuel injection system, just the filter which was under the hood on the drivers side which took about 5-10 minutes with 2 17mm wrenches and your done, you say it was lacking power in the mountains, Volvo had an adjustment for any car they sold in mountainous areas like Colorado or British Columbia that could be done that took about 1 hour and it did make a drivable difference so the sea level driving performance was not lost, the turbos that came out in the 80's were a more fun to drive and you'd easily get speeding tickets, I got 2 one drive to and from our airport, the judge let me off on one, lucky me, I miss that car, best Volvo i owned to date ❤

[anibalbabilonia]

Damn! That thing brings me back memories! My brother used to own one of those in 1981! Just a couple of years old it was! What a great looking classic!👌😎👍