A Volvo 240 is a car designed for racking up the miles. You won’t get there fast and it certainly isn’t a flashy vehicle, but it will get the job done for decades without missing a beat. Perhaps that’s why bidding for this late-production 1993 240 here on eBay has already eclipsed $10,000 with more than two days left. With under 30,000 original miles, you’re practically buying a new one.
The pictures aren’t great (which is a shame for a car this special), but it shows you what the seller describes as a car owned by an elderly woman and never driven in winter conditions. It is your standard-issue 240 sedan with an automatic, but the later cars received special edition BBS wheels which helped to add some style to the boxy hauler. This Volvo has functioning A/C for the summer and heated outside mirrors for the winter – a vehicle for all seasons.
The gorgeous 601-code red paint is also an unusual find. I know some Volvo fans who are quite passionate about this color because it seems like most 240s were brown or silver in color and very few wore this striking shade of red. The exterior seems to be blemish-free, and the fact that the car wasn’t driven in winter despite being in a snowy climate like Illinois is a win for the next owner. Even the black textured surfaces are in great shape.
When you look under the hood and still see factory stickers in place and hoses that maintain their lustrous appearance, that’s a very good sign. The painted surfaces under the hood also appear to be without fault. Overall, this 240 presents as advertised. You don’t get many chances to buy a Volvo 240 in near-new condition, and this one will likely outlive you if purchased to simply use as a weekend cruiser in the warmer months. Have you ever seen one this nice?
Nice find! Even with the automatic (did they still offer manual + OD at this point?) this is a “life” car…one you buy and pass on to your heirs…assuming they are interested. And I, for one, LOVE those wheels, despite the difficulty to clean them.
They were common with 5 speeds in Europe.
Love it. Always did like the 200 series Volvos, used to do inspections for a Volvo dealer for the used car department. I rarely found and major issues with them. The dealer had no fear of selling cars with over 120k on the clock, unheard of for a us builders dealers. I’ve seen several of these still running with a million miles on them. Nice find.
https://youtu.be/tKOVF1qwPzI
I’ve never seen a red 200 series Volvo. That paint pops!
Last year of the 240.
One of the few European cars that I find to be very reliable and quiet boring.
I had four all wagons. My favorite one was the 84 diesel. Very slow, but if you had to get rid of a tail gaiter, all you had to do was step on the gas…….
Nobody could stand the black smoke. :)
I, too, was a big fan of the “smokescreen” option.
These are the best of the series. Worked on a lot of them for the last 25+ years. They’ll put up with a lot of neglect (we had an 85 come into the shop that had never had the hood opened… made it 60K miles on the factory oil!)
They mileage doesn’t matter much on them, as much as exposure and years. Rare to see one that was actually garaged and is truly rust free.
The 5-speed (M47 trans) was the only manual option for the US models after 1987. The 4+OD (M46) trans was fitted to older cars including Turbos. Of course the US market was heavily tilted towards automatics. Anyone who gets this one would do well to get it looked over, because of the years on the components, but really should need little work. Watching to see where the sale ends up.
We worked on, bought and sold a lot,of them too. I generally agree with you but think the cast iron B20 ngime was much tougher than this slant 4 with aluminum head. By this time Volvo was using more plastic…like heater cores I remember and less brass and hard metal with more complication. Still good cars, just a notch down from the fuel injected B20 cars.
Now, if this is a ’93 it’s particularly special. ’90 was slated to be the final production year, but at the request of Volvo employees the 240 production was moved to a small building previously used for prototypes and other small speciality builds. The 93 cars all received a plate on the dash (which seems to be missing, it should be one of those two square gauge delete plugs) as well as the builders signatures (engraved?) in the drivers door jamb.
The last 1600 240s were designated Classics – not all 1993s
I believe that only the last 1600 240s were deemed classics not all 1993’s
From Wikipedia:
Classic (1993; numbered version of the last 1600 200-series Volvos produced for North American market)
Here again, is a low mileage car. I hope people begin to see the difference between cars like this, and well, others less represented. I had a 240, and can say it was a wonderful car, although, at the time, parts prices were astronomical, which some say, has leveled off some. I think the 240 convinced more people that Volvo was one of the best smaller cars out there. Even the 7 series was good, but had begun to escalate in price to appeal to a different crowd, and I won’t even begin to say anything about modern Volvo’s. Not the same car, I feel. I’d say, this was the best Volvo made. Super find, but it will cost you. You won’t be the only one that wants a clean Volvo like this.
I had a 76′ 242 when I lived in Germany many years ago, was so broke I didn’t even lift the hood for inspection when I bought it. It was the only car I could afford that ran for I believe it was 700 Marks, or about $350 dollars at the time. Ran like a clock, a really good clock.
This one has the dash plaque…same price so far but with a 5 speed and another 100k miles…..is it a ’93 without a plaque?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Volvo-240-240-Classic-5-Speed/132010482814?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38530%26meid%3D7d8b0f8a287048dcbc549a54e0ceab64%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D282272998938
The classics had the monochrome grill and mirrors, wood trim strip along the dash under the radio running from one end to the other. The 14×6 Scorpius wheels are rare (and I need one for my classic). They were painted green or the burgundy only.
Something fishy about this one:
First:
http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/volvo/245180-volvo-240-only-original-26000-miles.html
Second, a VIN search shows a salvage title.
Ruh roh.
So goes the old adage: “If it seems too good to be true….”
FYI – I just did a VIN search on the State of Illinois Secretary of State website and this car does NOT show as salvage or rebuilt!
VIN search looks good!
Interesting, that classifieds listing for $2,750.
About 2.5 hours to go, bid on eBay to $12,400 and still “reserve not met”.
When 3.5 ROI over a very short term is insufficient, AKA making $9K plus in a couple of weeks is not enough…. Maybe someone is getting a little greedy, eh?
I am 99.99% certain that the classified ad is completely bogus! It appears that site is collecting email addresses. Try and contact the seller and see if you have any luck. They seem to steal their material from eBay etc. The eBay ad is legit and I have seen the car in Schaumburg IL at the sellers shop and it is absolutely mint.
Nice ride. Had a few early ’80s 240s. Too bad they don’t make something like this anymore.
As for buying a ’93 anything, in pretty “original” “not driven much” condition, that is just fine, but, if you want to not be calling AAA every weekend, you replace all the rubber and plastic and cork and fiber hoses, and belts, and gaskets that you can get at (and even the old, but plenty of tread Michelin tires) (so the head gasket being a big labor job you just wait until it goes), since at the age of 20 plus the non metal parts have aged out. My ’93 Allante needed all of those, except the tires which were only 7 years old, AND a new radiator (I could not understand why a then $64,000 Cadillac had a radiator with plastic end tanks, but it did). So assuming the car is as represented, plan on spending a few bucks if you really want to drive it and get home the same day.
Charlie comparing your 93 Allante to a 93 240 is a bit like comparing Kim Kardashian with your mom. Sure they’re both women, but only one of them is going to be there to love you in 20 years no matter how old and wrinkled you both get.
I have a soft spot in my heart for these 240-series Volvos. My best friend had a “side business” buying up sedans and wagons cheap when they appeared in the classifieds, then fixing what it needed and selling ’em for a few hundred bucks profit. He even found one for me, a silver 1980 240 GL with the sunroof you opened by turning the overhead crank. Slow as a snail but comfortable with “European handling.” Dependable to a fault, you could not kill it. It had like 220,000 miles on it when I bought it for $1800, drove it for several years and put another hundred thousand miles or so on it and sold it for $2000! I have no way of checking but I wouldn’t be surprised if that car is still on the road, chugging along.
nice ride always liked this model , wish it was closer !!
solid, like a rock
Low mileage, elderly lady owner, garaged kept, flawlessly service…… Someone ought to write a song with those lyrics… They sure crop up a lot.. True once in a long long while…. But more often , a lot of lipstick on a pig!
These were boxy and dated (around 1967 vintage ) but true Volvo owners believed in them for safety and reliability. Still a lot of them out there.
“Still a lot of them out there.”
I’m livin in ‘240 & Outback country’…
Where in southern and mid coast Maine do you live? :-D