The meaning of the word “Volvo” comes from Latin “to roll.” With that in mind, Volvo Cars was established 97 years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden as a subsidiary to a bearing and seal manufacturing company. The first Volvo rolled off the line in April 1927, and Volvo has been rolling ever since.
The Pick of the Day is a 1984 Volvo 240 sedan listed on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Tarzana, California. (Click the link to view the listing)
“Original and unrestored,” the listing says. “Kept in a garage for 22 years.”
From the very beginning, Volvo’s key objective was safety: The company’s Managing Director, Assar Gabrielsson, was quoted as saying, “Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain safety.” True to that original mantra, the company later went on to pioneer or improve open things like laminated glass, side impact protection systems, three-point safety belts, and blind spot information systems. Innovation is still happening even today.
The “240” model came about as an iteration of what began as the broader 200 Series in 1974. There were two-door, four-door, and station wagon variants of the 200 Series offered over the course of its production run – and that production run was lengthy, to say the least. The same general architecture continued into the early 1990s with a total production volume of over 2.8 million units.
Unfortunately, relatively few of those units have survived as well as today’s example. The seller says that the car is a rust-free “California native.” For being 40 years old, the car looks well-preserved. Aerodynamic it is not – but then again, most family sedans in the early 1980s had a similar boxy silhouette. The baby blue paint job is complemented by a matching fabric interior.
Under the hood, power comes from a 2.3-liter SOHC inline-four mated to a four-speed automatic transmission which directs torque to the rear wheels. The car was only rated at about 114 horsepower, but this was during the Malaise era of engineering. For comparison, even Chevrolet’s 5.0-liter Camaro Z28 from the same year only put out 190 horsepower. The Volvo’s odometer shows just 90,487 miles, and the seller says that the car runs well.
With Volvo coming up on a 100-year anniversary in 2027, perhaps vintage models like this will be on the rise in the collector marketplace. It’s perhaps the most practical classic car you can buy.
The asking price is $15,800 or best offer.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, roll on over to Pick of the Day.
