Volvo did effectively sufficient promoting the PV444/544, Amazon and 140 in the US, nevertheless it was the Volvo 200 Sequence that basically launched Göteborg iron into the American large time. Launched right here as a 1975 mannequin, the 200 stayed in manufacturing for almost two full many years and stays probably the most immediately recognizable Swedish automobile ever made. This is an early-production 244, present in a Denver-area automobile graveyard not way back.
The 200 Sequence could possibly be thought-about an replace of the late-Sixties-vintage 140 Sequence, because it’s primarily the identical automobile from the A pillars again. The primary distinction between the 2 is the MacPherson strut entrance suspension within the 200 Sequence.
Volvo went by way of a number of naming programs for U.S.-market 200 Sequence automobiles over the many years, with the preliminary one being the best to decipher: a three-digit quantity adopted by a two-character trim-level designation. The primary digit within the quantity represents the collection, the second represents the variety of engine cylinders and the third the variety of doorways. There have been six-cylinder 262s, 264s and 265s bought in the US from 1976 by way of 1981, powered by the identical PRV V6 engine that went into the DeLorean DMC-12, so it is incorrect to consult with all 200 Sequence Volvos as 240s.
This automobile is the best-selling member of the 200 household, with a four-cylinder engine and 4 doorways. It is a fuel-injected 2.1-liter SOHC straight-four, rated at 98 horsepower and 110 pound-feet; the 1975 240s acquired the two.0-liter pushrod engine from the 140.
There have been two transmissions accessible within the 1976 240s: a four-speed guide or a three-speed computerized. This automobile has the automated.
Even thought it is a base DL mannequin, this automobile’s first proprietor paid an additional $456 for air con (about $2,580 in 2024 {dollars}), on prime of the $500 premium for the automated transmission ($2,829 after inflation). That pushed the fee for the automobile as much as $7,551, or $42,717 in immediately’s cash. You may get a swanky new 1976 Buick Electra Restricted four-door hardtop for simply $6,852, however these wise Volvo patrons knew it was price paying a premium for real Scandinavian security and construct high quality.
European-market headlights had been strictly förbjuden on American roads throughout the early Malaise Period, in keeping with federal security rules, so Volvo needed to set up these ugly sealed-beam rigs on their automobiles right here. Just a few years later, the U.S.-market 200 Sequence Volvos went to considerably better-looking quad-rectangle sealed beams, lastly getting trendy composite headlights for the 1986 mannequin yr.
This automobile’s proprietor or house owners took excellent care of it over its close-to-half-century life. The inside seems to be superb for its age.
The paint is light however there isn’t any rust-through anyplace.
I nonetheless discover loads of 244s and 245s in Colorado and California junkyards, together with fairly a number of well-loved machines with greater than 300,000 miles on their odometers (and one with higher than 600,000 miles). If you happen to’re in search of a Volvo 200 Sequence challenge automobile and you do not insist on a two-door, head west and you will have no downside discovering a strong one which wants a perpetually house.
This automobile did not break any mileage information throughout its life, except the speedometer cable broke many years in the past and it actually drove a few million miles.
That is the primary Volvo I’ve seen with “wire wheel” hubcaps.
No catalytic converter, so it ran high quality on Vitamin Pb-fortified fuel.
So many sensibly Swedish options, for individuals who assume. 87% of Volvo patrons are college-educated … the opposite 13% are simply plain good.
