- Description
- Art Center grad with automotive product planning, development, and research experience over 34 years with Volvo and Ford. Former Petersen Museum vault docent and freelancer for Bring a Trailer. Monthly EV sales reports and curated alternative powertrain news reports for Motor Intelligence. Still playing with cars after all these years, from a Sunbeam Tiger to a stick-shift Mazda5 van...
![Pat yourselves on the back, patient readers. You’ve come along for this multi-chapter ride during which we’ve covered the first nine model years of the Volvo 240’s U.S. story (already […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/85-Volvo-244.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "The Volvo 240’s U.S. Journey – Chapter Five")
![Welcome to the fourth entry in this chronicle detailing the life and times of the long-lived Volvo 240 in the U.S. market, as seen in real time by a […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-07-19-23.50.11.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "The Volvo 240’s U.S. Journey – Chapter Four")
![Chapter Three of our Volvo 240 saga covers the 1980-81 model years. (If you’re just catching up, chapters one and two can be found Here and Here, respectively). The 240’s […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1981-Volvo-GLT-Turbo-e1720729017223.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "The Volvo 240’s U.S. Journey – Chapter Three")
![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 […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Stephen-Wallman-with-Lambda-sensor.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "The Volvo 240’s U.S. Journey – Chapter Two")
![The venerable Volvo 240-series has been dealt with often here on CC (here, here, and most recently here –among other posts), but I hope readers will permit me to take […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/75-Volvo-Cover-Crop.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "The Volvo 240’s U.S. Journey – Chapter One")
![By late 1979, I had been a full-time permanent employee of Volvo of America Corporation for nearly two years, a welcome change from my earlier status as a “permanent temporary” […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VCC-Front-three-quater-e1719085574631.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: The Volvo Concept Car – A 700-Series Preview")
![The RoadSport was another special project I was fortunate enough to be involved in during my early years at Volvo. To set the stage a bit, we’ll first take a […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/tumblr_mantb5TKJY1r2dcdfo1_540.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: The Volvo RoadSport — Volvo’s Turbo Powered 1977 Show Car")
![“Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is, and must remain, safety.” This sentiment was originally attributed to the Swedish automaker’s co-founders, […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: The Volvo Safety Concept Car Of 1978")
![One of the parking-lot curiosities I noticed after joining Volvo of America Corporation in mid-1976 was a diminutive, boxy two-door sedan that bore absolutely no resemblance to any of […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/343-GT-Interior.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: The Volvo 343 GT Project")
![All was well for the first several months of my ownership of my first “fun car”, the ’67 Sunbeam Alpine. I drove it to work a few times, braving […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Alpine-brochure-illustration.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "COAL: The ’67 Alpine — A “Failure to Proceed”")
![One of the significant contributors to what is sometimes referred to as the “Malaise Era” in automotive history was the industry’s need to comply with increasingly strict exhaust emissions […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Lambda-Sond-Emblem-rotated-e1715889533148.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: Emblematic of Emissions")
![By mid-1977, I had secured steady (“permanent temporary”) employment and had begun to develop my design skills on real-world auto-industry projects as a Product Adaptation Specialist at Volvo of […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Alpine-Illustration.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "COAL #20: 1967 Sunbeam Alpine — The Rootes of My Classic-Car Ownership")
![During my first several months at Volvo, I put quite a few miles on the ’74 Audi Fox, considering that my commute alone added roughly 500 miles each week. By […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/76-Volvo-242-front-end.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "COAL #19: The Volvo Handicap Car")
![The “odd man hypothesis” was first advanced in Michael Crichton’s 1969 seminal techno-thriller novel The Andromeda Strain. Crichton presented it so convincingly that for decades afterward, I believed it to […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Volvo-240-Green-Books-e1714077045766.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: Volvo and the Odd Man Hypothesis")
![When we last left this saga, I was deep into my year at Syracuse University and had exposed my ’74 Audi Fox to the worst of a typical Central New […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/74-Fox-Brochure-Shot-e1713469564557.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Auto-Biography: The ’74 Audi Fox Becomes a Commuter Car")
