Rare in Red: 1991 Volvo 240

It’s hard to ignore an ordinary car when it appears in a unicorn color. The classic Volvo 240 is basically the textbook example for painting a car in silver, white, or gray, so it’s always a treat when one shows up in a less typical color. Classic Red is the name of the paint shade on this clean but high mileage 1991 Volvo 240 wagon listed here on eBay, and while a paint job alone doesn’t change a model’s basic purpose in life, it does make one of the more conservative models out there slightly more interesting.

Why is the Volvo 240 such a well-loved classic? Well, for one, it’s enormously practical. You can haul an enormous amount of gear, junk, whatever inside a 240. Put the seats down, and it will rival most anything you can buy for under $5,000. The engine bay is spacious to work in, and the Redblock engines are bulletproof. There’s the enthusiast network around old Volvos as well, full of all kinds of drivers, from modern-era tuners who love the “R” series models to old school professor-types who simply enjoy them for the impressive reliability.

This 240 has over 377,000 original miles, which is downright impressive. While the drivetrain is known to reach 200K and 300K with relative ease, closing in on 400,000 is an achievement. The seller has opened bidding up at $3,000 with no reserve, which also tells you a bit about how little the enthusiast marketplace cares about how mileage on these Swedish workhorses. The seller does bounce around between calling this a project car and a “..dependable car with plenty of potential,” which raises some questions.

Is it one or the other? I generally consider a vehicle a project car when I’m not sure it will make it up the driveway. I suppose the seller is just being careful because anything with over 377K could develop an issue without much warning. The listing reports that the Volvo has been regularly maintained and will come with a variety of new replacement parts. With 114 b.h.p. and 136 lb.-ft. of torque, the 4-cylinder engine isn’t a powerhouse, but as we can see here, it’s not afraid to go the distance.