[Auto ] COAL:1984 Volvo 245 Diesel – The RWD Diesel Stick-Shift Brown Station Wagon Mythical Beast of the Internet

[THē-GHōST]

Ask any 10 automobile enthusiasts, and you’re likely to get 12 opinions. Yet for some reason, enthusiasts seem to be in complete agreement on the desire for one car: a brown, RWD, Diesel station wagon with a manual transmission. At least in the USA, this is a rare beast. I may be one of the few Americans who has ever owned one. As the Packard ads used to say, “Ask the man who owns one.” Well, I don’t anymore, but I used to, and here’s the story…
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I had a fairly successful side business of buying junk Volvos, mostly 240s, and parting them out for sale on eBay and some of online Volvo forums. At one point, I had listed on eBay a set of immaculate door cards from a 1980 244GL, in blueA fellow from the next town over contacted me, asking if I would be willing to deliver, if he won the auction. I was happy to, as I was not particularly excited about boxing up door cards. That’s how I met Bob.
Bob was an anachronism. At the time, he was a 25-year certified ASE Master Mechanic, working at what must have been one of the last remaining Service Stations in America. Yes, they sold gas and had 3 service bays. You could drive across the hose that made the bell go “ding” inside, and an apprentice mechanic would run out, pump your gas, air up your tires, and wash your windshield! in 2002!Being that Bob had done every common auto-repair task hundreds, if not thousands, of times, Bob made a hobby of buying obscure vehicles and restoring them. This was his way of taking on new challenges.Bob had done a mechanical restoration of a 1985 Volvo 245DL Diesel. The body was pretty rotten though, so he had found a 1984 Volvo 245GL Diesel with a dead engine, and was in the midst of a re-body.He was using the blue interior from the donor car, but it had holes in the door cards for window cranks. The new body had power windows, and that’s why he needed my door cards.The new body was brown (of course!) Volvo never sold a brown over blue 240, so Bob’s creation was a one-of-a-kind. I found the color combination quite fetching.Bob and I became good friends, and still are. He’s now past 40 years on his ASE certifications, and he runs his own one-man shop.
Fast-forward to 2006. I was driving another mythical beast, a 1992 Plymouth Voyager minivan with a five-speed manual. I was already planning my relocation from Michigan to Las Vegas and although the van was running decently enough, the air conditioning was totally inop, and I knew I would want A/C in the desert.I brought the van to Bob to assess the viability of a full rehab of the A/C system. His estimate was 150% of my purchase price of the van. I asked Bob if he had any better ideas.“Well,” said Bob, “The guy I sold my Diesel wagon to is looking to get rid of it. Last I saw it, the A/C still worked.” I called the guy and bought it immediately for $1000.I spent about another $500 for Bob to do some neglected maintenance and minor repair. Since the whole car was Bob’s work, I knew it was good. I trusted and respected Bob more than any other mechanic I have ever met.The gasoline-powered Volvo 240 was no speed demon, and the Diesel was worse. Even on a fresh rebuild, the 0-60 time could be measured on an hourglass. I was no stranger to slow cars, having previously owned a Mercedes 240D (stickshift, naturally), so I re-taught myself how to drive a slow car and had a blast driving my “new” wagon! Still, I was planning on driving this 22-year-old car on a cross-country relocation, so it needed a good shakedown. A couple of months after purchase, I took my wagon to a family function, round-trip from Michigan to DC.With the exception of a loose alternator belt, the trip went flawlessly. I discovered that the D24/M46 was happiest at 100 km/h, or 62 mph, so I kept to the right lane and let the cruise control do the work. At that speed, even on the rolling hills of that trip, I got 36mpg. It made me happy, and all it took was some patience.

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by YaKuZa--BoSs
Closed Topic/complete 1 day.