Eugene is surrounded by rich forests of huge pine, cedar and fir trees. Timber was the foundation of the local economy until the 1980s, and there are still many lumber mills in the area. Because of the abundant lumber we have very few brick houses (mine being an exceptions), but for reasons that Paul has shown here at CC over the years, and that I will explore in this post, we do have an abundance of brick cars.
The term “brick” is affectionately used by enthusiasts of the Volvo 140/160, 200, 700, and 900 series cars, manufactured from 1967 through the early 1990s. The word refers to the squared-off shape of the 140-series in contrast to the relatively curvaceous 544, 1800, and 120 series “Amazon” cars. Tom Klockau wrote a fine CC on a 144e that Paul photographed here in Eugene, in which he discussed the aesthetic departure the new design announced when it was first introduced in 1966.
One of the many classic Volvos in Eugene is my yellow 1972 Volvo 142e, here parked behind the red 1971 model belonging to my neighbor down the street. Both are “e” models indicating the fuel-injected version of the B20 engine, a technical novelty in the early 1970s. His is an automatic, mine a 4-speed manual with overdrive. Mine has rims from a 1980s 200 series, whereas his has rims from a turbo model, I think. His has original dash and seats, a couple dents, and a missing rub strip on the driver’s door.
Mine has replacement front seats (from a sedan, which makes access to the back a chore), and a round gauge cluster cut into the dash in place of the original ribbon speedometer. A previous owner in San Diego made these modifications.
Both of these 142s are un-restored survivors, and there are many more bricks in our neighborhood.
Tom Klockau also wrote up this 244DL that Paul photographed, just a few blocks away. That was a couple years ago, but it’s still here. It is in better original condition than mine, and has the same yellow paint. I love those big figure 8 black headrests, and the rims, but the sloping trim around the twin headlights doesn’t suit my tastes as well as the simple single lenses and small bumpers.
A brick connotes density, consistency, conservatism and reliability. The Volvos of the 1960s and 1970s, like the VW Beetle of the same era, appealed to buyers who disdained the frequent redesigns and planned obsolescence of Detroit models, and who were unimpressed by sex-appeal advertising campaigns. Literary critic and occasional New York Times columnist Stanley Fish once wrote an essay entitled “The Unbearable Ugliness of Volvos” in which he proclaimed that English professors like himself (and myself) drove Volvos because they did not want to look flamboyant or materialistic in a Jaguar or Cadillac: “the ugliness of the Volvo becomes its most attractive feature for it allows those who own one to plead innocent of the charge of really wanting it….we buy them because we want to be safe.”
This photo could use better depth of field, but enables a viewer to judge if my Volvo resembles a brick, and if either car or brick is beautiful. The key feature I think is the beltline running the length of the body, and the clean vertical front and rear ends. The proportions of this rectangle are close to those of the brick. The small bumpers of these early cars don’t obtrude on the rectangular outline the way the larger black mid-70s bumpers, and the sloping grilles and headlights of most 200-series cars do.
This photo in a rare Eugene snowstorm emphasizes a design motif that Volvo revived in the post-brick models of the 2000s, and which I believe is makes for beautiful cars, no matter what Stanley Fish says. The sill or shoulder of the body runs in a slight arc from stem to stern, making a ledge outside the large windows. Snow collects on the shoulder.
On my car, the shoulder means that the dinky little rear-view mirror does not stick beyond the side of the vehicle, which is a handy feature in my narrow garage.
The XC90, Volvo’s successful but now outmoded full-sized sport-ute, has a wide shoulder, and an enormous taillight. The XC90, V70XC, C30, and V50, and S60 don’t qualify as “bricks,” but I think perhaps they should, for they all have the shoulder.
All the cars photographed in this post live within a few blocks of my house. This household owns two S60s, and I like the way the shape of the bulbous, overgrown taillight accentuates the shoulder, which follows a crease across the hood and (on sedans) the trunk-lid. But I have to wonder about a couple who would each drive the same model of car. Does this suggest a certain lack of imagination? If so, it’s not a problem peculiar to Volvos for I see plenty of dual-Camry households as well.
Just a block away from that car is this 960 wagon, its leaky sunroof sealed with tape, parked beneath a big deodar cedar. The household also owns a 960 sedan that sometimes parks out front. If there were more Volvo-rich neighborhoods like mine, perhaps Volvo would not have sold out to Geely of China.
The safety-geek, risk averse conservatism of the Volvo owner was satirized by John Irving (who lived in Iowa City back when Paul did) in his best-selling novel, The World According to Garp. The hero, T. S. Garp, is an over-protective family man and writer who drives Volvos, and perhaps the most memorable scene in the book is when he unwittingly avenges his wife’s adultery by crashing into their Volvo, at the same time killing his son. Irving suggested that Volvo owners were over-compensating; that by obsessively worrying about driving, death, or marital fidelity, they actually exposed themselves to greater risks.
The turbo models seem especially popular with Volvo enthusiasts, who may embrace the “brick” moniker for the paradox of speed and density. With the 200-series turbo variants introduced in 1981 Volvo tried, with some success, to revive the racing heritage of the 544 and Amazon, and keep up with the sporty image of its rivals Saab, BMW and Mercedes. This nicely-maintained red wagon from 1985-89 doesn’t scream “sports car” and has endured better than most sports cars. The CC readers can chime in on the question of whether the blown engines fell apart sooner than the naturally aspirated 2.0 liter and 2.3 liter engines. Around Eugene it seems like fewer of them, at least of the 1981-83 models, survive today. We do enjoy a number of Volvo specialist repair shops, however, including Swedish Engineering, and Alpine imports.
What I love about my 142 is the fuel injection, which always starts on the first try, and the overdrive, which makes highway cruising possible. It also has the best outward visibility of any car I’ve ever owned, and a monster-sized trunk, large enough for a lawn mower, or even some adult-sized bicycles.
Even better would be a 145 wagon, such as this one, owned by a true Swedish patriot that lives here in Eugene.
I enjoyed the little cultural references in this well-written piece. And I kinda like the yellow coupe, and car-shoulders in general, but I really dislike the tail of the sedan with the “run now” plate.
Whenever I see one of those I picture some designers, proud of their crisp boxy furniture, who were told at the last minute to make it look “aero.” They rounded it off but did it crudely enough to let us know they’re not happy about it.
That may well be the case if the wagon was designed first and the sedan adapted from it rather than the other way around.
Bricks are beautiful. Imagination is overrated. I love cars that feel like they are just broken in when they pass 200k. Have had a recent fill of GM midsized SUVs that don’t.
As an almost lifetime resident of Oregon, mostly in Eugene, I’ve only ridden in a Volvo once, and have never owned or driven one.
They. Are. EVERYWHERE.
As the license plate says “Run Now” 🙂 I loved both of our Volvos (740T, V40) and we always look at some when we buy another car. Not sure if we will ever own another, not really wanting to send more of my money to China.
Yellow with injection this is what my friend Mathew bought to run his house thru an inverter great engines very reliable they will idle away for hours on end.
My law school roommate had a full-on man-crush on a brick Volvo back in 1984-85. At that time, Volvo was calling them DL or GL. He got one for a test drive and I rode along with him. The car had a definite “old school” feel to it, particularly the way the doors opened and closed. The car we drove was a 4 cylinder automatic, which automatically disqualified it in my mind.
The car didn’t do that much for me at the time. I went from a 77 New Yorker to an 85 GTI, and the Volvo seemed too “betwixt and between”. Another law school buddy bought a turbo brick around that same time.
I have come around on these. I found a nice wagon that I tried to talk my son into looking at, but he wasn’t having anything to do with any wagons. Pity. I really like yours, I have not seen a 2 door in a long, long time.
Mr. Sayre,
Congratulations on keeping your old brick on the road. I have a 1991 740 sedan that has a mere 165k miles on it and it still feels as solid as the day it was built. I don’t plan on getting rid of that car.
If I may, I wanted to ask a few questions – 1) Do you use the 142E as your daily driver, and 2) Is it your only car right now?
It is not my daily driver, but I use it at least once a week. Both interior and engine show signs of the former owner’s maintenance, such as replacement carpets that are not glued down, and replacement fuel lines for the injectors, and an auxiliary cooling fan that was not a good fix. But it runs fine for the time being.
Hi Gordon,
I am a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. I am interested in talking to you about fancy foreign cars in Eugene, owned by international students.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Thanks much!
Lord, I miss my yellow 145 wagon. It’s one of the two cars I wish I never sold, the other being a ’71 Mercury Marquis with the 429……
Gordon,
I know this is not polite, but I really covet your yellow brick.
I was wondering about that ribbon speedometer. I saw this Volvo 142 in the local junk yard and it had this cluster in it. The other thing I wondered about was the radio position. The radio is way over in the passenger side.
That view brings back memories of my best friend, fellow cycling fanatic, glam rocker, girlfriend swapper (every Friday night, midway thru the evening) and fellow acid head Steve Kneller from Erie, PA. He had a blue ’69 144 that we rallied extensively, drove to the Agora in Cleveland for numerous concerts, and did a whole lot of stuff that would not be possible today due to social intolerance.
One of the things he really wanted badly for that 144 was the optional dashboard – which, if my memory is correct, is what is in the yellow 142 at the beginning of the article. That, or something that looked very close to it, was a factory option on the 140 series, and highly prized, as the ribbon speedometer was not necessarily the most accurate instrument. It tended to accelerate slower than the car.
I think the cluster was the sports or GT dash. I’m not fully across the terminology or the option range, but here is a sports or GT grille on a 142 I found when I was researching my articles.
and a pic of the car itself.
My first car, bought by my dad for $200 (bad head gasket) was a 142. It’s been 24 years, but i think it was a 1972. Same mustard color as the one above. Dual carbs, four speed on the floor, with it’s really long gear selector. I remember the radio was perfect for the passenger to use. My dad gave me a chilton’s book and use of his tools, and i replaced the head gasket. I drove it for eight months until the motor blew spectaculary – it shot a rod through the side of the block. Recently, i was visiting my parents, and we discovered the hubcaps with backing plates, and one of the lifters that we found along the road. The back bumper, btw, found it’s way onto the front of my dad’s 1967 international Scout.
Nice ride, Gordon. I had a 145 wagon bought from my father as my first car. Being an unreconstructed car snob back then, I wasn’t very impressed and couldn’t wait to get into my next ride. But time keeps on slipping, and these days I look fondly upon my wagon. It was a big bumper model with the new dash – one of the best dashes I have ever encountered. I tried to find another recently, but over here in Australia they have mostly been swallowed up by the tin worm. Even the early 240s are hard to find. There was a period where we all inherited these cars from our parents and pretty much drove them into the ground.
I really have come to respect Jan Wilsgaard’s styling on these. Not a single extraneous line, although as Ingvar has written in the past, the sedan rear doors on the wagon look a bit expedient.
Thanks for sharing.
That’s a nice yellow roadbrick you’ve got there. It brings back a memory:
I used to work with a guy who had a red ’72 wagon. His car had been in a front-end collision at some point, and the bumper was bent upward in the middle This made the car look like it was frowning. The owner was a dour and cynical fellow (to put it mildly), and that frowning Swedish car really suited him.
Eugene is even more of a car utopia than Portland due to the lack of DEQ. What a lovely cluster of bricks. I used to drive toy cars along the hips of mama’s 70 Dart.
I always saw the concept of Volvo cars as being anti – establishment as rather amusing. These cars were never cheap. I recall a neighbour buying a 245 wagon in 1974 and paying $9000 for it, almost $45,000 in 2014 terms.
“But I have to wonder about a couple who would each drive the same model of car”
Then this will blow your mind…
My dad drove a 69 142 and my mom drove a 80 242. At one point, my dad bought another 142 (73?) as a donor car. So we had three 2 door bricks at once. The 73 was for harvesting the overdrive for the 69. Each of the 2 doors were blue too. The third Volvo lasted for a couple of months.
Several years later my dad bought an RX7. My mom pitched a fit, so he bought an RX7 for her too – they weren’t the same color though. At that point we had two bricks and two RX7s simultaneously.
I’m sure the neighbors thought we were wacked out in a major way.
My parents divorced 25 years ago. This year they each bought a new Forester – and they are both the same shade of blue.
The 69 was sold back in the late 80s. I’m pretty sure I saw the 69 two weeks ago. I posted a pic in the cohort.
Volvos seem to inspire this. There was a house in my neighborhood that, for most of my childhood, hosted 3 240-series, IIRC a green 245 (quad round lamps), a yellow 245 (quad rectangle) and a blue 244 (quad rectangle). Those Volvos were a fixture on that street from when I moved in until 20-ish years later. I haven’t seen them in my last couple of visits, though I don’t know if that means that the cars are no longer on the road or if the family simply moved, taking their ageless bricks with them!
Station wagon hell! I used to throw my bicycle into the back seat of my 164E. That was after the leather started crumbling!
Dudley Moore, in the 1990 movie Crazy People, wrote an ad exhorting people to “Buy Volvos, They’re Boxy But They’re Good”, one of the reasons he ended up in the dingaling academy.
Dudley was right!
Just goes to show you don’t have to be “Thick as a Brick” to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road”. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Great car Gordon. As I mentioned in my 144E CC, friends of my folks had a mint green 144E identical to the one Paul found in Eugene. That was a really neat car and I was always wandering into the garage to check it out!
I think that yellow 244 is earlier than the one I wrote about; it appears to have the nose with the four round lights. Some nice Volvos there in Eugene! I haven’t seen a 140 in the metal in 20 years.
Tom, I think you are right. The 244 you wrote up, with Oregon plate DQW 198, is one I’ve seen around the neighborhood, but it does not (as on the one pictured above) have the rims from the turbo models that are also found on my neighbor’s red 142. So that makes another yellow brick in the neighborhood. And yesterday just down the street I saw this spotless yellow 240 sedan. It is perfectly clean and shining yellow brighter than any of the other three.
Regarding nicknames, there are a couple of guys locally who rally 142/144/244s and refer to their cars as “Viking longboats”, which they are compared to Datsuns, Escorts, Peugeots etc.
Nice 142. Too bad about the seats & dash but still a very nice car.
How many miles are on it? Rust? I sold my ’72 142. Yeah, I was
young & stupid. Thought I needed a Porsche. So… is it for sale?
-Max
I am looking to buy 142 Volvo 2 door good shape , to change engine to Ford 8 cylinder