Here in New England, we savor the times of the year when weather accommodates the parking of cars on grass en-masse and having a good old fashioned lawn event car show. Typically we get a few months in the summer to do this and maybe if we’re lucky one in early fall. During that time, the lawn events flourish. One of the best places in the area to attend such an event is the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts.
So come along with me and Håns Flœrjëndørffsön as we participate in one of our seasonal events. Swedish Car day at the Larz Anderson.
Yup. 301,193. About 301,300 now.
Stayin’ Alive
Many of you know (or if you followed the link above, now know) that Håns is the 1976 Volvo 245 that originally came to live with us as my youngest son’s first car. Then came college where no car was permitted for the first several years. Then after college (which has now morphed into graduate school) it was determined that sending a 45 year old rust-free vehicle into battle with the elements and the particularly insane drivers in that city would be cruel and unusual punishment for any motor vehicle.
So we sent the Honda.
Subsequently this has allowed Håns to live the retirement life back here in relatively bucolic Massachusetts.
Aside from traditional geezerly activities such as lengthy naps, frequent fluid exchanges, and periodic healing rituals, there are the opportunities to get together with other ancient Swedes and just look sharp.
As is the case with all codgers, political differences sometimes emerge, but those are best confined to nursing old wounds and ruminating on scores long since settled.
Yeah, 1970 144…guess which of our bumper sticker guys is STILL ALIVE!!??
Buildings and Food
This year’s Swedish Car Day seemed quite well attended with cars filling the museum’s lower field as well as the upper lawn directly outside of the museum building. We’ll get to more about the museum itself before we’re done, but first the cars.
I was quite surprised this year to see many fewer truly “old” Volvos and Saabs than I had come to expect from previous years’ attendance. In fact, my 245 was the oldest 240 series car at the event. Given the popularity of 240s, and 245s in particular, that kind of blew me away.
Unfortunately, I never got a photo of the Duett with its hood closed.
Aside from this 1967 Duett, my 1976 245 was the oldest Volvo wagon at the show, period. In the past there were some finely restored 145 wagons, but those apparently did not show up this year.
Which is not to say that there weren’t some nicely – perhaps overly if you want my opinion – restored 140 series cars. I would gladly eat out of the engine bay of this one. I have the feeling that the owner would rather I not bring food anywhere near his car, much less eat off of it.
The same could be said of the engine compartment of this 1800S.
Scary clean.
Super Trouper
There were several 1800’s at the show, but none more special to me than the red one in the photo above. One of the cool coincidences for me at this event was winding up parked right next to the same 1972 1800E that I saw a month earlier in Amsterdam, NY while on the Erie Canal bike trip. This 1800E is owned by a terrific couple from Syracuse, NY and has only 46,000 miles on the clock. That may not be the case perpetually as the owners frequently drive it to shows and have traveled twice to Florida in it since they restored it in 2021. It still has some miles to go before it reaches the super-high/Guiness record mileage associated with Irv Gordon’s p1800 (or even Håns’ fraction of that), but I think there’s hope.
Regardless of mileage, Joe and Kim’s 1800E is an incredibly sharp-looking car and I was lucky to wind up parked next to it (and its owners) as it garnered a tremendous amount of attention.
Some of that attention came from the dealer-installed 8 track player which seemed to be as fascinating as the car itself to many viewers.
If anyone has any ABBA on 8-track, let me know. I may be seeing these folks next month at the Volvo Club of America national meet in Maine, and Håns would like to present a token of appreciation to his slightly older (and a lot more shiny) cousin.
Speaking of shiny, there was this devotee of having a spotlessly dry car on a rainy day.
And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Secret Agent Man
Other highlights included this 1978 242 GT. Masquerading as just any old Volvo…unless you know. As discussed in Stephen Hansen’s recent Volvo 240 timeline series, an authentic 242 GT (and I believe that this one was the real thing) is one old Volvo that truly deserves the value that one of these has.
This future CC reader (in the green boots) quite impressively seemed to know all about the GT, and also demonstrated the ability to pick out the diesel-powered 240s without looking under the hood.
Trolls Go Marching Two by Two
The event also featured Saabs, although many fewer old ones than new(er) models.
Still, if one is looking to wander the lawn and encounter more Saab 93s and 96s than you’re likely to see (even here in the Boston area, ground zero for old Saabs) in a year on the road, this is the place.
For some, the sound of those 2 cycle engines is alone worth the price of admission.
There were also several nice, and well used, Sonnets.
This Sonnet III impressed me as just a little bit of car body wrapped around an engine and a transmission. Very cool.
Swedish Car Day also turns out to be a great place for dog-watching. Larz Anderson events are all dog-friendly. All the dogs I saw were quite friendly.
And some clearly knew how to sniff out the best cars.
Money (That’s What I Want)
The Larz Anderson Auto Museum is housed in the “Carriage House” of the former Larz Anderson estate in Brookline. The carriage house is an office building-sized structure created entirely for horses by the estate’s original Guilded Age owners.
That’s Larz Anderson and his wife Isabel. Larz’s Wikipedia page opens by calling him a “diplomat and bon vivant”. From what I can tell, Larz would have no objection to either of those labels. He definitely was an enthusiastic partaker of the good life. The Carriage House came as part of an estate acquired by Isabel from her grandfather in 1899, having originally been built (the Carriage House) for Isabel’s cousin’s fleet of polo ponies.
Yes, Isabel came from a family that had things like vast collections of horses in the Boston suburbs. Having inherited in 1881 at the age of 5 $5 million from her grandfather – William Fletcher Weld, she was loaded. For those keeping score, that’d be about $171 million today.
The Weld family (yes, the same family as banker, attorney, former Governor of Massachusetts and let’s face it, “bon vivant” Bill – “I Know You Elected Me, But I Don’t Really Feel Like Being Governor Any More So I’m Moving Back to New York” – Weld) was rolling in it, and has been since roughly the 16th century in England. Isabel wasn’t her grandfather’s only heir, so you can imagine just how “rolling in it” Grandpa Weld was. Even after financing big chunks of Harvard University, there was still enough to pass around to the grandkids. Anyhow, Larz Anderson managed to do quite well by hooking up with Isabel. Ostensibly at least, life for Larz was bon, bon and more bon.
Larz dabbled a bit in politics – that’s where the diplomat thing comes in – but mostly he collected stuff. Fortunate for us, and me and Håns on our periodic visits to the Anderson’s (former) Carriage House, is the fact that Larz was an early and enthusiastic adopter of the then new-fangled automobile. As a well-resourced guy (thank you Isabel) he bought some fancy cars and proceeded to just keep them as he bought more and more. These are the cars that all still exist, mostly un-restored, in the Larz Anderson Museum Collection. If you are eager to see things such as a 1906 CGV – a car that cost the Andersons $23,000 (in 1906 dollars, or almost $804,000 today) – or a gigantic 1907 Fiat (one of 85 built), this is your happy place. Personally, I find these mostly huge things that appear to be half carriage and half locomotive to be so other-worldly that they barely seem automotive. I could no more imagine driving one than I could taking a dinosaur out for a walk after dinner.
Nevertheless, there are a few vehicles in the collection that fascinate me in a good way. Isabel’s two electric cars fill that category. As the museum interpretation points out, there was a wide range of electric cars to choose from in the early 20th century, and they were often marketed specifically to women. Apparently being quiet, not smelly, and easy to start (in those days before the electric starter was invented in 1911) were all seen as attributes attractive to female drivers.
In an age where starting ones car could easily break a nail, or your arm, I think I might have opted for electric as well.
The Andersons gave all of their cars nicknames. Hence “The Good Fairy” wasn’t something this Bailey came from the factory with. So if Tesla or BYD wants to name one of its new models “The Good Fairy”, that should be available. Just a suggestion.
Isabel’s Bailey was produced by the Amesbury, Massachusetts-based S.R. Bailey company. Amesbury is about 45 miles from Brookline… if one drove their Bailey carefully (and kept it slightly below its 15mph top speed), it would be just about possible to get to Amesbury and back on a single charge. Although odds are that when Isabel needed the Bailey serviced, they came to her down at the Carriage House in Brookline.
This is the “mercury arc rectifier” required to convert AC to DC and to charge a Bailey’s battery. You can read more about these devices here.
Back in 1908 it was possible to buy aftermarket batteries and charging devices for your electric car, and the ones from Thomas Edison (aka, GE) were the choice of electrified bon vivants in the know.
Swedish Car Day, 2024 did include a handful of Polestars, silently gliding to their parking spots on the Anderson’s former yard.
Isabel would probably have appreciated that.
Just fyi, all of the subheadings in this article open new tabs with Genuine 1970s Songs™ (in case you didn’t notice), thereby providing an appropriate soundtrack to the article, and simultaneously satisfying WordPress’s urging that I include subheadings for “readability”. Well, maybe it IS more readable. Or maybe not. Still I suppose that musical accompaniment is always a good idea no matter what.
There really are some great songs in there.
Great selection… I’ve had both Saabs and Volvos. Enjoyed them both.
I’m glad you got the shot of the Duett with the hood open. I never realized that the opened up like that. Thanks for the history lesson.
Thanks for this tour! I am reminded of a former co- worker who had a later model Saab wagon, which he named Lars. Which I always found funny because the one guy I knew named Lars had been a mechanic in Sweeden, and his advice was to stay away from Saabs and drive Volvos instead.
I liked seeing your wagon, which I have trouble considering as old.
I have trouble seeing it as old too. Not that it doesn’t feel kind of old — my personal term of endearment around how Hans drives is “agricultural”; although that’s not entirely fair since I once had a Volvo 144 that had the same school bus-sized wheel but also a big old floppy 2′ long gear shift that was JUST like driving something down on the farm. But no, my problem with considering the 245 as “old” is that it’s from 1976.
I mean, that wasn’t all that long ago, right? 😉
I’ve owned both Saabs and Volvos as well. Ironically, I had much better luck with Saabs, which I think is counter to most folks’ experiences. That 242GT calls to me, but a 900SPG would really scream at me. I do love the OG 900’s in any configuration. I noticed there weren’t any highlighted in this post, but then remembered that it’s New England. I recall from living in Vermont that they’re practically like Camrys and Accords are to the rest of us- so common as to be almost invisible. But I suppose their numbers have dwindled a bit in the 15 years since I’ve spent any time up that way.
I recently rode in a Polestar 2 on an Uber trip. Two thoughts as a rear seat passenger were that the interior was quite nicely trimmed, and that I found the experience much more pleasant than my more frequent similar rides in Tesla Model 3s. I’m always a little cranky when I wind up with a 3 as an Uber (I’m a 6x per week Uber-er on average). I totally ‘get’ why they’re a great choice from the driver’s perspective, but the back seat is just not one that I enjoy. And I’ve experienced a very wide range of back seats (that sounds trashier than it’s meant). I should consider doing a few Uberreviews for CC. I can assure you, I have plenty to say about some of them.
I am not really up on my Saab facts, but I don’t believe that there were any 900 SPGs at this year’s event. That’s unlike the last time I was there (2019…they took about 3 years off for COVID). I think that there are several in this picture I took back then.
I am totally with you re. the Model 3 as an Uber. I am not a particularly tall person, but I have a heck of a time extracting myself from the rear seat of one of those. There’s some special talent involving bending your neck just right so as to get your head out without conking it on the doorframe that I just haven’t mastered.
I was behind a late model Saab wagon last night coming home from our hike and it made me realize just how rare they are becoming on the road.
Speaking of summer car shows, I’m just about to get in my old F100 and head up to Brooks for the Pacific Northwest Truck Show, where there is also the PNW Truck Museum as well as a number of other museums.
So a question might be around whether one sees more Saabs or Plymouths (actually badged Plymouth vehicles) on the road. I have to say that I see at least one Saab daily. Can’t say that about Plymouths.
I’m adding the PNW Truck Museum to my ever-growing list of places I need to visit!
In 1975, when your 245 was new, I bought my first car, a 122S two door. And I had grown up in a Volvo family, starting with a 1960 544, then a ‘64 122S wagon, both bought new on European delivery, and ending with an ‘86 240 wagon though that was already long after I’d grown up and left home. I had earned a bit of money doing oil changes and tuneups on friends’ and neighbors’ B18 and B20 Volvo’s, perhaps even one B16 544. Even when new and clean, those cars didn’t look as perfect under the hood as some of the examples you’ve shown. But I suppose that’s true with a lot of “restored” cars. I’m also disappointed that the red 1800 doesn’t have the period-correct glass topped fuel pump 😀. Thanks for posting, this was a great trip down memory lane.
Thanks!
Boy, a 122S wagon on European delivery is just a mind-blowing fantasy. I have to say that might be the only car that I would (currently) trade Hans for. They’re out there…
The red 1800 is a 1972, so past the glass-topped fuel pump. On the other hand, you’re right, the white 1800 engine I showed in the photo I believe as old enough that it might coulda have had one of those.
https://vp-autoparts.com/en/artiklar/fuel-pump-b18-61-64-wglass-bowl.html
Back when I owned a Saab 900 in the 1990s, I attended a Saab show once (this was during one of those brief intervals when the car wasn’t aggravating me with expensive repairs, and I could enjoy its otherwise awesome qualities). I remember the Saab enthusiasts at the show being an incredibly fun and welcoming group of people. Looks like Swedish car enthusiasts still are.
I’ve never heard of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum – but now this is on my list of places to visit next time I’m visiting my sister in Massachusetts. I’m only familiar with Larz Anderson because one of his other houses, in Washington, D.C., is now the headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati. When I first moved to the DC area, I came across the building and thought What on Earth is that organization, and why does it have such an incredible building? (it’s a fraternal society of descendants of Revolutionary War officers). Anyway, the museum in Brookline looks like a great place, even without a lawn full of Volvos and Saabs.
Yes, the Larz Anderson house in DC at Dupont Circle is one of those buildings that I’ve walked/driven/biked/bussed past since I was a child and never until more recent years put it together that this was the same Larz Anderson that had the place in Brookline.
https://www.societyofthecincinnati.org/the-story-of-anderson-house/
It was their “winter” residence.
Their “summer” house is by the way in Contoocook, NH. That’s about an hour north of me now, and about 90 min by modern car from the main residence (which is now just the carriage house) in Brookline.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkins_Manor_(Contoocook,_New_Hampshire)
I think that the Summer House still stands, but has been converted into an apartment building.
That 1906 CGV (the $800,000 car in 2024 money) that I mention in the article was supposedly purchased specifically for traveling between their residences. One of the reasons why it was so expensive was that it was essentially outfitted as the 1906 version of an EarthRoamer. Designed to live out of on what (at that time) were multi-day long trips over questionable roads between MA and DC and NH.
What makes that $800,000 equivalent so mind-boggling is that a 1906 car was likely completely archaic in just a couple of years. But while it was still state-of-the-art, I’m sure they enjoyed their driving between houses!
Very good point.
I was looking at the current pricing of EarthRoamers, and they do seem to be advertised at about $800K to a million. So, very much the same as what Larz paid for his CGV in 1906. Hopefully the EarthRoamer’s technology will last longer than the CGV’s.
I remember reading a story of a man who’d bought a 1909-model car as a boy sometime in the mid 1910s. He lived in North Dakota, and the town’s banker had bought a high-end car in 1909 (can’t remember the make… it’s something that didn’t last long). Within a few years, the car became archaic, and the banker stored it in his carriage house. Several years later, the 10- or 12-year old boy asked about it, and the banker sold it to him for very little.
The thought of someone buying and EarthRoamer-type vehicle and then having it depreciate so much that it’s sold to kid a few years later is simply astonishing.
(That “kid” ended up keeping the car for next 90 years, and sold it when he was 100… it was one of the few surviving examples of its make.)
It’s no different than with other nascent high-tech stuff. Think about how incredibly expensive computers were, and how quickly they became obsolete. In 1983 the Apple Lisa cost some $30k (adjusted).
Loved this piece Jeff. Made me wish I had paid more attention to the cars when I lived in Sweden all those many years ago. Fascinating history about the electric cars too.