Volvo 244DL 1977 brochure image. Source: oldcarbrochures.com
Welcome to the second installment of my notes covering the long lifecycle of the Volvo 240-series in the U.S. market. (If you’re just catching up, Chapter One can be found here.) Today we’ll cover model years 1977 through 1979. For those not old enough to remember, this was a rather difficult period in U.S. automotive history, as carmakers struggled to contend with emissions, fuel economy, and safety standards (as well as, for some, their very survival, as we will soon see). The quoted sales figures are sourced from Volvo records and Automotive News Data Books covering the relevant years.
Model Year 1977
Volvo introduces the “Lambda Sond” oxygen sensor on California-spec 240s, along with a three-way catalytic converter. (For those interested, a somewhat more detailed look at this ground-breaking emission-control technology is available here.)
Volvo engineer Stephen Wallman shows off the Lambda-Sond oxygen sensor.
A four-speed manual transmission version of the 245 is introduced, and carbureted 240s in all three body-styles are added to Volvo’s Canadian product lineup. A 242/244 GL with manual overdrive transmission is also introduced in Canada.
The low-volume 262 GL is deleted, leaving Volvo temporarily without a top-line coupe.
Datsun introduces the 810 series, its first “luxury sedan” in the U.S.
Despite sharing the 240-Z’s six-cylinder, the first Datsun 810 was no sports car. (source: eBay)
BMW introduces the E21-based 320i. With marketing clearly aimed at enthusiastic drivers, it is still available only in two-door form.
The BMW 320i. Car and Driver’s David E. Davis called it “the best-balanced small sedan around—a lively, agile four-seater for the demanding driver.” (source: eBay)
Volkswagen becomes the first post-war “transplant” car manufacturer in the U.S., as it re-opens a former Chrysler assembly plant in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, to build Rabbits. (Rolls-Royce was the first; its Springfield, Massachusetts assembly plant was in operation from 1919 through 1926.)
VW Rabbits on their Westmoreland production line. During its ten-year history (1978-1988), the plant produced more than 1.1 million cars. (source: www.loc.gov)
Ford begins importing its German-built Fiesta subcompact, responding to the Rabbit’s popularity.
Shown here in a 1979 ad, Ford’s short-lived (three model years) captive import could be called a cult classic today, unlike its successor, the Escort. (source: eBay)
General Motors begins to downsize its vehicle lines, starting with its standard size sedans and station wagons, which are fully redesigned for the 1977 model year. For GM’s in-house take on these new full-sizers, take a look at this CC by Robert Kim.
The National Environmental Industry Award is presented to the Volvo 240, in recognition of Volvo’s leadership position in advanced automotive emission controls.
For calendar year 1977, import auto sales in the U.S. total 2,077,100 units, an increase of over one-third compared to 1976. Sales of domestic models are also up by almost 500,000 units, totaling 9,104,454.
Volvo’s U.S. sales rebounded slightly in 1977, reaching 46,790 units. Of that total, 33,022, or 71%, are 240 series cars.
Model Year 1978
The 240 series expands with the introduction of the new 242 GT, a two-door with silver metallic exterior paint accented with black and orange striping.
A color-coordinated grille, headlamp bezels, and grille-mounted fog lamps, as well as a front spoiler, are standard equipment on the GT. Orange accents also appear on the instrument panel and on the new model’s black corduroy-like upholstery.
Also featuring alloy wheels and a somewhat stiffer suspension, the GT is available only in non-sunroof form with the four-speed overdrive transmission.
Volvo employees were sometimes tasked with modeling for our U.S.-market sales brochures, as in this photo of the 242 GT.
A total of 2,681 GTs are sold during calendar year 1978.
Additionally, 244s and 245s receive an updated front end design, using the hood and grille from the 260 series; quad round headlamps also replace the larger dual round headlamps previously used. The 242 continues to use a “flat” hood and dual headlamps.
The 240’s new front end, somewhere in northern-New jersey suburbia. The dual windshield-washer nozzles had been added for the 1977 model year.
Road & Track magazine’s March 1978 teat of a new 242 GT concluded “As much of a driver’s car as this 242 has become, it is still basic Volvo, so you can load it up with family and plenty of luggage…we’re not sure the GT name applies, but…we are sure, though, that this is the most enjoyable production Volvo we’ve driven in almost a decade.”
In April 1978, it was announced that Volvo would supply a prototype turbocharged B21F engine for use in the “LRSV”, a Large Research Safety Vehicle whose development was to be funded by NHTSA. The LRSV was intended to meet emissions and fuel economy requirements of the mid-1980s.
For the 1978 model year, Audi introduces its new “5000” sedan, replacing the smaller 100 LS series.
An early Audi 5000 ad. In which a young Ferdinand Piech photo-bombs his Audi colleagues. (source: eBay)
SAAB adds a turbocharged three-door hatchback to its “99” series. A total of 15,662 SAABs are sold in the U.S. during calendar year 1978.
At Volvo, we kept tabs on SAAB, but didn’t really consider them a primary competitor yet, since few customers cross-shopped the two Swedish brands. (source: Bring a Trailer)
Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr, which replace the Maverick and Comet respectively. The new cars are said to have the interior room of a mid-size car, the fuel economy of a compact, and “an array of luxury touches.” Some contemporary road tests implied that their efficient use of space had been inspired by the Volvo 240 series, such as Car and Driver, which began its September 1977 review by noting that “Ford builds a Volvo – and it works!” See GN’s previous CC take on the Fairmont here.
Lee Iacocca is fired as President of Ford Motor Company in July 1979, and in November of that year assumes the presidency of the struggling Chrysler Corporation.
In 1978, Oldsmobile Division breaks the 1,000,000-unit annual sales mark for the first time in its 82-year history.
“We sold over one million Oldsmobiles this year, and all I got was this lousy…oh, never mind.” Twenty-six years later, the last Olds rolled off the assembly line. (source: eBay)
Honda becomes the first Asian “transplant” automaker in the U.S. when it opens an assembly plant in Marysville, Ohio.
Domestic car sales in the U.S. reaches 9,307,998 units for calendar year 1978, an increase of just over 2%. Imports account for 2,000,500 sales, a drop of about 3% from year-ago levels.
Calendar year 1978 U.S. Volvo sales increases nearly 9% to a total of 50,880 units. Of the total, 37,428 (over 73%) are 240s.
Model Year 1979
240 sedans feature a redesigned rear end, with a lower trunk lift-over height and larger, wraparound tail lamps with integrated side marker lamps.
This foreshortened photo emphasizes the 240’s redesigned rear end. (source: Bring a Trailer)
Orange accent stripes are deleted from both the exterior and interior of the 242 GT, which is now also available with a manually-operated sunroof.
Six-cylinder sedans and station wagons now receive the “GLE” designation.
In 1979, the 240 receives NHTSA’s Safety Award for the second time.
In December, 1978, SAAB introduces its “900” series, a face-lifted 99 whose overall length is increased by about one foot, primarily for improved frontal crash protection.
General Motors enters the front wheel drive family sedan market with the mid-year introduction of its 1980 “X-Body” compacts from Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac divisions. They are hailed as breakthrough designs from the largest U.S. automaker.
A choice of body-styles and very-’80s two-tone paint treatments didn’t save the X-bodies from “Deadly Sin” designation, but they morphed into GM’s long-running FWD A-bodies. (Source: www.motortrend.com)
Meanwhile, Chrysler seeks Federal loan guarantees to save it from bankruptcy. President Lee Iacocca and others testify on Capitol Hill as the company’s future is in doubt.
Lee Iacocca, shown after President Carter signed the “Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979”, a $1.5 billion lifeline for the struggling automaker. (source: www.businessinsider.com)
Renault takes over American Motors and announces plans to build a Renault-designed car at AMC’s Kenosha, Wisconsin assembly plant.
For calendar year 1979, sales of domestic nameplates plunges by almost one million units in the wake of the country’s second energy crisis; the total is 8,315,622 units. Imports, however, set an all-time U.S. sales record, with 2,327,932 deliveries.
Honda sells its one-millionth car in the U.S.
Calendar year 1979 ends with a total of 56,602 Volvos sold in the U.S., up 11% from the previous year. Of this number, 42,884 (76%) are 240s.
During these three years, Volvo managed to recover nicely from its uneven mid-decade sales performance, helped by improving product quality, a broader vehicle lineup, and the increasing numbers of U.S. new-car buyers now considering imports. Next: What will the ’80s hold?
“The low-volume 262 GL is deleted, leaving Volvo temporarily without a top-line coupe.”
It is always a little bit strange to her / read Americans calling a two door sedan a “coupe”.
The “two-door business coupe” had a history in the US. Plymouth in 1971 briefly offered a four-door hardtop version of the “Gran Coupe”. The notion of the four-door “coupe” was then still novel although Rover had been selling them for a decade-odd. Rover at least cut down the P5 coupé’s roof-line a little, a nod to the history of the word coupé (from the French coupé, an elliptical form of carosse coupé (cut carriage), past participle of couper (to cut)) but to US manufacturers terms like coupe, landau et al had become mere model names, sometimes related to the body-style, sometimes not.
Stephen, thanks for weaving the 240 history in with other automotive happenings of the time. I was one who cross-shopped Saab and Volvo. Twice. In 1977, after graduating from college and having a real income for the first time, I test drove both a 99 and a 242. And in 1986, when my Mom was shopping for a replacement for her 122S, I drove a Saab 900 for her, as she didn’t want to deal with going to the closest Saab store to her, which wasn’t very close. But she had already made up her mind on a wagon, despite the 900 hatch’s roominess, and got a 245.
240 trivia question: when was that little piece of stamped metal trim added to the top of the D pillar? And why? I’m pretty sure there was no seam there to hide.
Having removed dozens of those pieces of D-pillar trim, to my recollection there *was* a seam there.
damn,
Not sure when that trim piece was added (possibly part of the transition from the 140 to the 240), but it did cover the seam between the rear pillar and the roof. Volvo stopped filling the seam with lead (for environmental reasons) and needed the trim piece to cover the now-unfinished junction…
MY 1973 and MY 1974 140s also had it. MY 1972 and earlier didn’t.
Thanks. The 140 had a smooth painted junction there with no visible seam, so I guess it was filled and ground lead. I felt like my Mom’s 1986 240 had so many bits and pieces of metal and plastic trim on the exterior that didn’t hold up well over time. Very different than the early 140’s that had simple bumpers, hubcaps and grills. Mostly aluminum or stainless.
Great series detailing the 240s. I own a 76 245 (bought used), built in Nova Scotia to US specs. It was delivered with the 4 spd manual and electric OD.
A four-speed manual transmission version of the 245 is introduced (1977)
I can’t imagine that there wasn’t a manual before.
Paul,
I should have added “with overdrive.”
Mea culpa.
My 1976 245 has the M46 transmission…4 speed with electric overdrive (little switch embedded in the shift knob). It’s the original transmission, On the other hand, I have been told that Volvo back then tended to play kind of fast and loose with model years and what parts were installed on what cars, so maybe I have one that was let out of the gate a bit earlier than intended.
IIRC it’s actually a hydraulic over drive, Laycock built under license .
My big brother’s Diesel Volvo station wagon had it and due to lack of maintenance the oil internal pump that made it work ground itself to death .
Is was electrically controlled .
-Nate
Don’t forget to mention that AB Volvo celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1977. For that reason, selected markets in Europe and the UK got a 244 anniversary special edition (alll painted in silver metallic and with blue plush upholstery inside. The States got a 264 GL anniversary edition (see image below).
Thanks for jogging my memory here. I’ll have to add that to the next revision. Volvo produced press photo with the Anniversary car paired with Jakob, the first Volvo of 1927…
Stephen, it is my recollection that in this era, a majority of Volvo sales worldwide came from North American sales. Can you verify if there is truth to this?
If it’s true, Volvo (along with most other European brands) was in serious trouble in North America – and therefore worldwide – owing to currency fluctuations in this period. In another of your posts, someone commented that a ’77 244 cost more than a V-8 Impala. Since the 265GL was the most expensive station wagon sold, that means you could get a Buick Estate Wagon for less. Volvo’s sales – and therefore survival – came down to the fact that there were enough loyalists to keep enough cars selling to keep the company alive until the “Yuppification” of European brands in the early 1980s.
I was heavily into Volvo/Saab lore back in the 70’s, living in Erie, PA. I desperately wanted to trade my Chevys on a Saab, and my best friend, cycling partner, fellow rock & roll junkie, and acid-head owned a 164 followed by a 245 which we rallied heavily, plus drove almost every weekend to the Agora in Cleveland for whatever band was touring thru.
At least where I lived, Volvo ownership wasn’t affected by the Mulroney sticker. You wanted a Volvo, you bought a Volvo, and no way in hell were you going to consider a Buick wagon in place of a 245, no matter what the cost savings. Erie had a very good, very profitable Volvo dealership on the far southern edge of town (south of I-90) that, two years ago, if still going strong, and a real strong owner’s group in the area.
The U.S. was Volvo’s largest market at that time, and remained so for many years thereafter.
Having read this article, the one thing that really sticks with me is that Oldsmobile sold 1,006,344 cars in 1978 . . . . . . and 26 years later they’re history.
If anything defines GM after my father left the Chevrolet dealership (the beginning of the 1966 model year), this is it.
IIRC, Olds was able to keep the party going until 1986, after which sales began to fall off a cliff.
Was there a 262 sedan in the US, as the only two doors I remember are the chopped top 262C and the 242?
There was a 262 two-door, sold very briefly in extremely low numbers. It was dropped before the 242 GT and the 262C were introduced. I have seen a couple on Craigslist and Bring a Trailer, but they are extremely rare birds…
The 1979 reworking of the rear end was very clever, incorporating the larger wraparound taillights that eliminated the need for separate side marker lights. I had a 1980 242DL and appreciated the lower lift-over height for the trunk lid.
Couple of mistakes in your account — Iacocca was fired from Ford in July 1978 (not ’79), and I’m virtually certain the photo of the VW Rabbit assembly plant was not taken in Westmoreland, PA. I had an early-build 1979 Rabbit from that plant (first model year for US assembly), and it had rectangular headlights. (Diesel Rabbits that year were still imported from Germany, so they retained the original circular headlights.)
It is Westmoreland; it was shot during pre-production training. I was taken at first glance by the round headlights, but the setting and most of all the people did not look at all like Wolfsburg.
Thanks Paul, that makes perfect sense as preproduction training would have been necessary. My apologies to Stephen.
No apologies necessary Sir ;
All VW junkies/nutters know that Westmorland never produced round head light Rabbits .
I too was thrown by the picture, it’s also the cleanest and roomiest Auto Assembly plant I’ve ever seen .
-Nate
Yes – that beast really existed. All in all, 3239 units were made. 3009 with VIN-code “E” (MY 1976), 230 with VIN-code “F” (MY 1977).
Source: Björn-Eric Lindh, VOLVO – The Cars from the 20s to the 80s
[ Posting refers to slow_joe_crow, 262, see above ]
Can’t wait for the next generation. Even those are getting rare on the ground in Northern California except it seems the 85-88 with the disappearing wire harnesses. I have always liked this car. Deep down if I ran across a Volvo 240 manual, Saab 900S manual, Mercedes 300 turbodiesel manual (can fantasize), or a Peugeot Diesel manual I’d buy it. Strange addition to my American cars but then I have an AMC.
One of my Volvo test cars back in the day was a naturally-aspirated, stick shift diesel 245. Its acceleration could be best described as leisurely, but once one gained momentum, it was actually a pleasant drive. I regularly got over 40 MPG on my daily commute.
I once drove a Mercedes 300D automatic. Leaving Orinda, east bound, you must drive up a bit of a hill which then flattens out. I was being passed by everybody but once at the top the car pulled like an locomotive steadily to 85 with no complaint. My take away. Stay on flat ground and stay away from the Grapevine on US 5.
Awesome lineage and insider info! Always loved the 240.
1979 : Nate begins to wonder if his four year marriage was a mistake .
Both elder brothers buy new VW Rabbit Diesel two doors, bragging about 40 MPG and VW quality . Nate’s 1960 Beetle continues puttering along racking up serious miles and delivering 30 + MPG in mixed driving .
Getting old 1950’s & 1960’s poorly maintained vehicles through California’s emissions tests begins to be a problem, many hacks/tricks are developed / discovered, the biggest & best one is to load the test computer in cubic inches in stead of C.C. as this makes the machine looser in tolerance, God alone knows why .
-Nate
(who’s son still has the Beetle, he came home from being born in it)
“Ford begins importing its German-built Fiesta subcompact, responding to the Rabbit’s popularity.”
A funny aspect is, that these US-sold Fiestas were made in Germany whereas all German sold Fiestas of that generation were made in Spain.