I bought my first Volvo new in 1970. It was a far better vehicle, back then than most of the dreadful rolling stock on the road at that time. Ironically, Volvo didn't build it's best cars in the '70's. My 200-series Volvo's in the '80's were far superior, and they are still a far better car today than most of the stuff out there in the 21st century - I'm still driving a 1990 240.
It's almost 2023 and all my cars are 90s (almost): 1995 W140 Mercedes S class 1992 Lexus ES300 manual transmission 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon
Cool, Richard Mulligan and Al Molinaro! I love the Volvos from this era, certainly excellent cars, but Volvos peak was probably the 240-940 era with the 850-v70/s70 as a close second. Still love them all! Rock solid reliable ridiculously long-lasting cars period! For once, the ads were no BS! 😁
haha made you upset did i? ;) you can thought buy a mercedes for the same price as a volvo (2nd hand, which is best) and frankly fuel economy and all that is better in a merc. 90% of my friends drive volvo 240, 740 and 940 none of them ever makes it under 10L/100kms. while my mercedes never exceeds 10L/100kms which is quite critical when you are a student without an income. and my merc is 30 years old while their cars are 15-20 years. but old volvo's are reliable aswell and good in snow :)
my lads always say: "damn it rides smooth!" and they jump in the seats, the w123 seats are so soft and springy you cant help it. sure it doesnt take a 90° corner at 100km/h, but in what luxury/cruiser car is that necessary? a w124 should be even better in handling than mine, ive considered a w124 as my next car, if ill ever get rid of my 240D. ;)
I think the tweed jacket pipe smoking college professor who drove it for 150k miles than his kids drove another 50k miles it then they sold it to the some one else who used it a transpertaion put 100k more miles on the car than sold it to the 3rd owner . todays Volvo more luxury car than basic the brick that last 250k miles or more know some one with a 2001 S40 125k miles very good car last good Volvos I stoped looking at them when they went more luxury with 2018 v90wagon price went to $54k
Yeah, it was based on statistics on how long an Joe Lunchbox american of the time wore down his Volvo, compared to another Joe who ran down his american made car. The old Volvos were built in a wildly different way, out from a wery different aspect of what a vehicle was to be, and i think the comparison fails to bring a proper picture for why the Volvos tended to last longer. I own a 144S from 1970, that has been kept well and runs nicely after restoration. But i did own a 1970 144L that had 586 thousand kilometres behind it, matte black paintjob, purple flames on the sides, an interior that looked to had been the testing ground for some nuke, a raw 4 speed manual gearbox with a electrical 5 downshifter, a violently tuned Stromberg carb that was on the limit of soaring to space once toyed with to much. But that old bitch was the most fun car i had.
My 1970 144 saved my life in a rollover after being rear ended by a double semi! It was the last year for double roll bars. I now drive a 1988 244 that only has 120K miles. ❤ classic Volvos!
I enjoy these foreign Volvo ads. Here they weren't nearly as fast. I once tested a used low mileage 1974 144. It was 0-60 in 3.4 days. We're the only country in the world that puts on so much smog equipment that it actually uses more gas than it did without the equipment.
My parents bought a 1967 Volvo 144S in 1973 and drove it until 1985. We all loved that dark blue car with blue vinyl interior. Mother was very confident driving it even in deep snow. It never failed to climb out of snow drifts.
@@kenhammscousin4716 It was special to us. I have later learned it was special and still sought after. Only 1,500 made with that trim. Two blocks over from here, somebody reminded me about that this weekend. 😊
After seeing a horrific accident in early 80s i decided I needed a solid car as I had two young daughters,so I had two Saab 900s as they looked better but were solid as a Volvo.But obviously now I drive a Volvo XC70 still as solid as ever as drives like a dream.
I'm driving my XC70 right now on a road trip from Switzerland to Greece via Italy. Got me out of the mud a couple times already. Wouldn't drive anything else.
I like the subtle self-inflicted l jab at Women’s Lib movement in that last ad - “How are we supposed to mobilize when we can’t even get out of the parking lot?”
The stacked Volvos were not close to strong enough to withstand the weight of that many stacked cars. Volvo was later forced to admit that they had been greatly reinforced to withstand the weight... just for the commercials. Volvo took a lot of heat for it's dishonest advertising.
My parents bought me my first car a 1968 Volvo 144. I could fit all my stuff for university. It had issues. There was a problem with how the rear shock absorbers attached to the swing arm. I took the arms off and had a machine shop weld a fix which Volvo started doing later. At university in western NY it ALWAYS started. I made beer money jumping other kids cars in the winter. Jumping a GTO would cause all the lights to dim and electric Tach would drop 1000 rpms. Occasionally the large nut that held the stick shift in place would come loose and and you'd pull the stick out of the transmission. This added more peril to my commute in Philadelphia. As the car got older, if the engine got hot the carburetors would vapor lock and you could not restart the thing if the engine quit. I learned to "heel and toe" when in traffic to keep it running. I had the car for 20 years.
yea but i can buy parts and fix a volvo, for the same price on a merc i might be able to buy spark/glowplug. I mean we have a 1989 190 e 2.6 and a 1983 300 cd both great cars, but when shit breaks it them it takes some time and money to fix, while on our volvo 240 and 144 it takes only a couple of dollars and 30 minutes to fix some switches balance the carbs
11:25 I think the Volvo Wagon is pretty big too, but how big is the American Station Wagon in the 70s?? It looks bigger than today's minivans. It seems possible to sleep with 3 people lying on the bonnet. I love the way Volvo advertises. Serious but fun and reliable! It's sad that they've lost their Swedish flair lately and are no longer like Volvos. If I buy a Volvo, I will buy a used model that is at least 20 years old.
To be honest;y,in my area(somewhere in middle ofTaiwan) we call Volvos "the tanks on the street",because they are so strong that if you crash into a wall,is the wall that need serious repair not your Volvo(ok,maybe a new bumper and some paiting job) or you(You will die another day)
Ummmm..... We bought Volvos because Mercedes cost about 60% MORE.... two children in prep school... that's like saying "don't buy a Mazda RX-7 but a Porsche 911 instead."
Yeah but parts on Mercedes (original Mercedes parts) lasts longer and has higher Quality, which is why it would be a bit pricier, i restored my 1983 240D from sitting on a field to an almost rust free cruiser, i've only had my licence for barely a year so im not an old rich bloke.
See back in the Day '70s second hand wasn't in vogue.... my parents needed something new and reliable and roomy and preferably not domestic. They didn't have the types of warranties and coverage they do these days i.e. pre owned, etc. BTW my friend's father in Cleveland was a pioneer with that through Jaguar Volvo BMW British Leyland.
You include the 1800E here, but I feel like the 164 would have been pushed harder sales wise. From what I understand from swedish sources, Volvo was a luctury brand in the USA, so I am suprised to see that no 164 managed to slip in... (for those who don't know, the 164 was a 144 with 6 cylinders instead of 4, a different front end and a lot more chrome...)
yeah i pay around 100 euros a month which is almost the complete allowance (?) the money you get for studying anyways. i have 50kms to my school so i can only drive once a week, yeah mercedes did do many diesels you dont see many petrols of the older models, + many are converted into diesel aswell after they've been tax free. :) yeah the new diesels are just 1.6L torqueless plastig boxes with turbo's and smells like co2 water, yuck!
I'm 47 and do not remember most of these. Great stuff thanks for the laughs. I do remember the SAAB one with the car rolling down a hill, flipping 4 times and the guy gets in and drives off...
ok. we had a -86 volvo 245 when i was a kid, pretty roomy and cheap with the 5 speed non overdrive gearbox. ;) but not comparable to a mercedes, i know im swedish i should love volvo, the series 240 740 and 940 are the nr 1 most popular 1st car for boys in sweden, but everywhere else in the world they are classed as retired folks cars.. :P
gtr500able not exatly the chassie is reinfirsed for better safety and after a sertian year you want to buy the 940 becous of ford doing saves on produktion and so on
the 1966-1974 Volvo 140 Series was assembled in Torslanda, Sweden Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Ghent, Belgium Shah Alam, Malaysia
Tim Priddy Both Americans and Europeans restore and keep their old Volvo, especialy the Amazon but also the 444, 544 and duet. Every 1800 i have seen here was mint and well kept. I imagine at least as manny fans as of other brands.
Where did they get this footage from? Volvo had some of the best car ads.... so many memories going back to '68 our parents started driving Volvo... I can remember looking at Toyotas and such... they were all biege... I was only 3-4 years old my first memories are car memories hahahaa....
yeah i understand that modern cars are rubbish in snow, partly because of big rims and hard tyres and low ground clearance. ;) id say the Mercedes w123 and the volvo 240 are pretty similar apart from some bits of course.
no prob. :) yeah to be fair it is a diesel so comparing it with a petrol volvo wasnt fair., those carb. petrol mercs did drink a bunch. ive owned my car for almost 3 years and not much have gone wrong, ive never been left stranded except for once when i ran out of fuel. i wish i could afford to pay for more fuel but im just going + - nothing every month.
It's time when cars have supreme built no big dents while in normal accident but nowadays minor accidents even with cycles,bumper and bonnet damage easily
Loved the las tone, with all those dinosaurs on the parking lot...lol at that crane camera you can see reflected on the car´s windshield, slowly panning away...
i don't entirely agree, although you're quite right in places. but that's what i love about these things. a pensioner's car in a loooooooooooooong drift. as for mercs, they're good, i even had one, but for instance a w124 or a w201 are nowhere near as controllable as a 7/9, despite their multilink suspension. wobbly and shit. though a tad more comfortable. yet lacking silliness.
my grandfather owned an old 100 series Volvo. Thing was a tank. He was ahead of his time too as he had a little "recycle!" bumper sticker on it and mind you this was long before recycling was a thing most people do.
