Volvo 240 GL Estate Goes for a Drive 

A perfect example of 'don't build them anymore like that'. Indestructible. The proverbial Swedish tank...and what a lovely one it is!

Beautiful condition. The colour & depth of the paintwork is factory fresh.

We had 3x 240 estates all from new, a 1973, 1976 and 1979. Loved them all. Drove all 3 from north west UK down to southern Spain and back on holiday. Never a problem.

What a cracking example of one of my favourite cars, having owned a total of four estates (most had over 200,000 miles on them) never had a breakdown, the only problem was rust. I always preferred the the auto box over the manual, I can still remember how comfortable those lovely leather seats were, and how easy they were to service.

Love a 240 estate. The car of my childhood. We had an 88 GL which had the stereo instead where the fur lined cubby is and had gained electric front windows and padded front headrests. Still had the twelour though but a more subtle grey! We didnt have the built in rear seats in the boot but we did have a dog guard. Said dog used to delight in doing laps of the boot too. For some reason ours hated the damp and sitting outside overnight and was often a bit of a pig to start. Thankfully it had a warm garage so most if the time all was well. Great to see one again and so good to see they still have the loyal following

I think if you get run over by a Volvo 240 estate, a paper cut from a headlamp wiper is going to be the least of you worries.

My parents had 240 estate from 1983 to 1995. What a cosy car it was. I remember the holidays with it to the UK, France and Norway. Or taking the dogs out with it to the beach. It was built like a tank. My parents replaced it with a Citroën XM break, which I also drove for years. Furious many thx for posting this trip down memory lane. Happy holidays to you !

It’s the box that safety comes in. I have had five Volvos and my current one is a 1993 240 with the same blue interior. Love it!

Happy Memories, we had four between 1974 and 1981.(All Automatics) M Reg 240GL Red Estate R Reg 240GL Red Estate S Reg 245GL Orange Estate W Reg 245GL Met. Blue Estate. Great cars.

From when cars were practical and you could actually get something in the back.

Glad you reviewed this, it’s an iconic lump of Swedish steel. Great cars.

Misty eyed memories of the 240DL estate I used to own, I want another one!

I absolutely adore my 240s. Hope to continue driving them until fuel & spare parts become completely unobtainable.

My 240 GLT estate Auto 1985 in metallic mid blue made me fall in love with Volvos.

What a beauty and you did a great review on it Matt. Can't wait for you to meet a 140 to do a review on and watch you trying to park it without power steering. My father was a main Volvo dealer from mid 70's to late 80's. He used to put a 2" x 24" sticker along the top of the rear window with the slogan "Volvo for Safety, Quality and Reliability". Cars imported into Ireland were of poverty spec so radios, floor mats and mud flaps were an extra except for the 300 & 240 GLS/GLT/GLE models. Those lower feet vents open a flap inside the wing allowing fresh air into the cabin. They are carried over from the 140's … as were those door handles, heater controls.

My first car was a 245 (the estate) Turbo! The only made these for two model years I think and it was the world's first mass produced estate turbo. Mine only had around 140K kms on the clocks, but unfortunately I had to sell it when failing MOT because of lots of rust issues. The turbo has a turbo gauge in the dash in the blank spot. At the time I read that ten percent of the cars in Sweden was a 240 (not even counting the other models in the volvo line up), that's an astonishing number! Today you still see them, but rarely in the winter since they're mostly entusiast owned.

Brings back memories. My first car was a C reg Med Blue 240GL. Great car wish I still had it

My dad had a 1979 265 GL (six cylinder, 2.7L automatic fuel injection) back in the early 80s. Silver, leather heated seats - it was such a beautiful car. Compared to what he had before it was like a space ship.

There was an addon for the low ressesion to the right of the dash, a small box with a lid to keep coins for parking. The Airmix is just a bypass valve for the middle outlets bypassing the heatercore, so mostly it was on hot during winter and cool during the summer. The upper slider regulates a coolant valve by the feet of the passenger, and if the rug is damp there then the valve is leaking. It also has an eter tube from the valve into the heather to even out the set temp in the coupe, changing the heater fan was the least fun thing to do as I think Volvo started with that and buildt the car around it! ;)

I didn't expect the Swedish inquisition...

Volvos don't have tea shelves, they have smörgås-boards

My mother had a 1990 Volvo 240 GL Estate from two months old until 2001. It had a number of niggling faults, mainly electrical, but the good old red block engine really didn't give any problems at all. Love the upgrade to the GLT wheels on this example.

Bring back the estate cars drive like a saloon mostly and more practical than these SUV MPV things

Absolutely love these particularly the late ones. Dark metallic blue estate GL with the blue velour interior with the the dished hubcaps is my favourite spec.

Wow what a great looking car! Fantastic video, loved the B-roll shots on this, I feel like the production quality of your videos keeps getting better! Love the colour of those seats too.

Stunning GLT alloys My mum had a gold GLT estate back in the day,and as a kid I enjoyed trying to wash it just to look/ feel the alloys (I know) but I loved it.

Those rear seats are really a throwback to the Volvo 940 we had when I was growing up. Fairly sure they're near enough the exact same, I have absolutely no idea how anyone managed to fit in them all the way around Scotland, but somehow it worked. Can also confirm that the back of the car was exceptionally safe. Also really hope to see a Volvo 480 at some point, as ive got my eyes out for one of them, and they have the same fantastic Volvo following but on a much smaller scale more niche scale.

I lived in one for 8mths no problem put the mattress in the back and slept in laybys or industrial estates loved it !

Love that car , when Volvo made Volvos , now they just make cars . Clever folding seats years before the Vauxhall Zafira and Honda Jazz .

What an absolute dream! I love this car, I always wanted one and am determined at some point I will!! Great video to watch with breakfast.

The 240 estate is possibly THE iconic car of the Volvo brand 😍 absolutely love these things - such a lovely car and in stunning condition too! Deadlining - love that haha. Great review Matt!

I’ve had mine 20 years all that’s gone wrong is fuel pump relay , it’s a 1993 tor’s landa estate, with the large roof rack

There was an equalizer to mount in the upper cubbyhole, and later also a DIN radio mount later on, also you could mount extra guages in all five possible places. The vents on the outer legrooms are only cool air, it opens to the same area as the vents between the hood and the windshield. But lovely during the summer, heat for the feets are from the middle and under the front seats for the rear passenger. If you close the outer vents and spray water down the air intake water will fill the sills under the doors and drain out through several intentional holes, making flushing the sills from birchseeds and such doable! :)

My grandfather had a 1989 F-reg 2.3 240 DL estate with a carburettor and a choke. I remember 1st being low and 2nd being high making that change bigger than you expect and slowing you down.

They were indeed the weapon of choice for 70s and 80s antique dealers complete with a full length roof rack. The dealer I used to buy stuff from used to buy a new one every year and he put a large board on the flat floor to stop the chests or drawers from damaging it. Sadly the antiques trade has gone the same way as the old volvos and few shops are left. I think the old antique dealers must have used them as coffins!

They really are a proper work-horse with just enough technology, but not enough to scare home tinkering and maintenance. Great video and review of a stunning example.

The single carb B200 A engine in this is lucky to put out 80 Bhp. (ooft!) The Dual carb has a bit more (B200 B) with 105/110 BHP and the later fuel injected versions are around 130 Bhp in 2.0 Litre form. The 2.3 GLT saloon you drove, had 130BHP (I looked it up!) Went on to evolve 16V and Turbo units in the 7 and 900 series, although the 240 Turbo had fun in the Group A in the early eighties. I can imagine a 50 BHP difference in a 240 estate would be huge!

Love love love this car!! This is the best. Great review. Keep them coming

I used to be able to sleep flat out in the back of mine with the seats folded down and it was very comfortable with just a thin foam pad. Fabulous car.

Beautiful example. I love the old 240. I have had a 245 wagon, (to us in Aus.) a 740 like Matt’s, a 264 GLE and a 240 wagon with 5 speed manual. Full credit to whoever prepares these cars at Stone Cold Classics. Obviously a lot of work gone into this.

My old man had one of these SKY358Y in GLE spec with cruise control carb was forever needing work to keep it running right remember having fun with the after market monroe adjustable rear shocks

Love these things, just have to get mine back on the road !

Love the video, spent many a childhood trip in the back of these, we had an almost identical one in metallic green on a B-reg new, replacing a 240DL with the egg-crate grille, my dad swore by them as tow cars. Electric windows were a novelty back then which our GL had along with electric mirrors - was the switch between the seats? Early Volvo's had automatic heated seats so just came on without a switch I remember

Thanks for doing a video on this Volvo Matt, love all the Volvo content. 👍👍👍

Almost passed out when I saw how much the asking price is ! My parents had a 1974 145 auto for 30 years and IIRC it was around 3 grand when new. Who'd have thought that a 240 estate would appreciate so much ?

I love the appearance of the fog lights on the front of the car. Solid and utilitarian.

WOW! Absolutely luscious and so practical! Check out the condition! I'm surprised there were no meatballs and dill in the glovebox!

I love these volvo videos you keep doing, I'm not going to complain its another 240 as i love them. I had a 245 DL, the older and lower spec estate of this one, which was a late 1970s version, back in the early 90s. The person who owned it before me used it for transporting their dogs for walking and to dog shows so it had done starship mileage but it still just went on and on. I sold it to someone who lived around the corner to me and they had it for almost another 10 years and it only ended its life when another car scraped it in a car park and it was written off. These things are built like tanks and as reliable as clockwork. I love your reference to if a Velour and a Tweed mated and their offspring would be this material. I would say it would be a Veleed as a Twelour is southern hemisphere lol. They are so very comfy too, i must admit i like the cloth trim in these more than the leather as usually in the summer the leather gets really hot but they are both very nice to sit in for long journeys. The doors too are on a kind of spring hinge that can make them shut very hard and if your fingers are in the way, that can hurt. I speak from experience, i thought i had broken my finger when it got trapped in the door and had to go to the hospital just to check, luckily i hadn't but the doctor said "never mess with a volvo, you will come off worse every time" and its true. Great video as always

Wow! I've had two of these beasts, absolutely love them.

What a cracking bus. Always a soft spot for the Volvo's. Nice wheels on it too....

I'm in love. I've always wanted one of these but no way it'll get past the gaffer and I have tried, believe me. Dad had a 1983 240gl in white, with the extra seats in the back. Great fun to be in. One day, one day....

Got to love old estate dont make like that anymore brill video merry xmas and all the best

Beautiful car!!!! My grandma owned a 1992 240 and I will always love this car ❤

That Volvo is stunning 😍😍😍

The switches in the centre dash are heated mirrors and heated rear screen. They did come with adjustable mirrors and the switches were in the panel by the hand brake lever if they were fitted. The top pocket would have had the standard radio fitted and if it was the basic one the speaker would have been fitted under the top dash grill. Where the radio is fitted now would have been the pocket. We used to have to fit speakers to the doors after cutting out the hole in the door card first, all the wiring was in the door from factory.

It's very nice to watch a British man getting excited about a Swedish product. Your video put a warm smile on my face.

Great video, Matt. Love these cars. I've never driven one with the 2 litre. Our 81 had the 2.1 with a single Zenith carburetor. My 90 has the 2.3 litre 4 cylinder with multipoint Bosch fuel injection, backed up by an Aisan-Warner AW71 automatic with overdrive. I do know Arthur is not the fastest in straight line acceleration, but man, does he carry speed on the corners. This one, being an estate, takes a different size of tyre. It came with 285R14 tyres. On Canadian assembled cars, the tires were Goodyear Polysteel. The 92/93 wagons went to a 195/75R14, which is also difficult to find. That wagon, on Virgo wheels, should be running a 205/65R15. Volvo offered a plethora of auxiliary gauges to fill that one blanking plate and the cubby on the middle. The large tach was a dealer installed option. They also offered a tach the same size as that small clock. I could not tell what tire is in the spare well, but if it is the "Special Spare" it needs to be tossed. The well is able to swallow a wheel and tire that matches those on the car.

It was fun to watch a nice tidy car. It was like a brand new. I use to make them back in the 90'. And of course the 740/940.

What a beautiful and handsome car the Volvo 240 is! Cars with such elegant lines are no longer made.

What perfect timing for this video! Just about to head out to fix my stranded 1985 245! Very reliable cars.. except when the engine mounts break causing the engine to twist and break the clutch master cylinder

Absolutely love that car 😍. My dad had the saloon version as a company car cos he worked for volvo

We had one of these in the very early 70's with the rear facing seats. As kids, that was great fun when we used to go to the beach....Hull to Scarborough or Bridlington. We even went to Sweden and Norway in it ! Odd for a ten/eleven year old to remember the plate , but I think it was VKH 818H

So glad i came across this video. My Old Man ran one of these from 1985 to 1993. It was immaculate. I have so many memories of Family Holidays around the UK in it. Best car ever. My Wife is still worried about me winning the Lottery because she knows i would sink £1000's into one...

My uncle had one of these in the late 90s early 2000s. Funny blue colour with a blue interior on a D reg. Only paid about £50 for it. Went very well for such a big car

You forgot to mention the Choke that is visable in the bottom of the picture at 11:38. You had to pull that one out get the car to start during cold winter days. It increases the fuel/air intake to make it start easier, but if you forgot to push it back in after a while, it would consume twice as much fuel during your trip. My first car was a 1986 Volvo 244 with carbureter and the exact same instruments as this one. Good memories!

Great vid! Been driving one of these for nearly 30 years. I found your mirror controls. The camera scooted past them. Would you believe, down low between the front seats either side of the handbrake. Very cool spot for them. Very random too. lol

The blank plate below the clock had an economy gauge as an option (or mine did anyway), the quality of the interior materials in these things was unbelievable, I had a 14 year old 1981/2 (X reg) one and it looked like it had never been sat in! The earlier cars were 4 speed with overdrive and the 2.3 was a lot more willing than the example you have there ;)

the mirror controls are the little nubs next to the handbrake. the cubby could be swapped for a gauge pod and that extra space could be another gauge. they offered ton and tons of dealer option gauges. i'm working on one now that has an oil gauge ambient temp gauge a clock an economy gauge and a volts gauge. ive never seen the side light warning lamp we don't have them on american cars

You make my favourite car review videos Furious. This one was well up to that standard. Pete 🇬🇧

It's very interesting seeing the European-spec 240s versus the US-spec ones. Here, the estates/wagons were only offered with vinyl upholstery in the DL and leather in the GL and GLT/Turbo cars. The cloth is a nice look. Interesting you panned right over the mirror controls without seeing them - those tiny joysticks mounted under the park brake lever. What an odd place Volvo put them. If a purchaser opted to add them on to a car with standard manual mirrors, then the controls were on the center console along with the defrost, air conditioning and other switches. My family had a '78 245DL estate, an '84 244DL sedan and my '82 244GL (sunroof and electric windows all around with velour upholstery here in the US). They were wonderfully reliable, solid cars, and mine served me well during my university years. A side note - one of our family friends was rear-ended in her '88 245DL estate with 7 people in the car, including two kids in the rearmost seat. As you mentioned, the rear compartment was very well reinforced on these cars, so nobody was injured, although the damage was extensive.

I remember my Grandma having a white 240 estate and it was my favourite car of my childhood, more so than my mum’s mark 3 and mark 4 escorts. When my Grandma finally replaced it with an 850, I was one sad 9 year old. Would love to own one of my own.

One of my favourite cars of all time! We used to live in the back as kids! 😂😍🤪

Had a 1989 240GLT Auto estate for 10 years. Paid £350 in late 2009. A reliable load lugger and daily/only car for 8 years until I bought a 1996 940 SE LPT Auto estate for £250 Sold the 240 after 10 years for £500 with 3 months MOT. The last 2 MOT's needed the outriggers welded. £70 and again a few years later for £150. Main reason in changing to the 940 was the heater fan worked. The 240 one had died 4 years earlier. Above 30mph got a bit of natural convection from it but with fan like a nuclear reactor meltdown. I like my 940 more, but the 240 is what people think of when thinking of a Volvo. That 240 is super clean and seems very rust free.

Nice. Lovejoy had one I think in the first series of, well Lovejoy in '86. Lovely machine. A nice big sunroof and original stereo is all that it might need.

That's one handsome looking estate car! Great video as always.

Definitely built for trips to Ikea

I had the 245 it was a lovely car, I run a gardening business at the time and you would be amazed at the stuff I got in it, and I also used it to move house not many modern cars could do that now, they not a fast car but if you put them on the motorway get up to 70 eventually it will stick at that no matter what gets in the way Wind hills whatever

Wow a classic Volvo estate is there anything better? Laughed out loud when you invented the Twelour or Veleed :-) And even more when you said "ooh a 5 Touring that's lovely" :-) :-) I guess that was an E34, great things. Volvo seats have always been the best in the business. I don't know how they manage it with every generation but those seats are so immensly supportive and comfortable. Would be interesting to see if the Polestar 2 has as comfortable seats as, say, the V70.

I had a white one . bought it in Stockholm . left hand drive. Great car for me as a musician. Slept in it to.

I went to look at one of these with a friend back in the dim and distant nineties . It was for sale at a place the sold stuff that had been repossessed or impounded by customs and the fuzz. The exterior was immaculate, the interior wasn't there! It had been stripped by Customs looking for drugs and was just gone. Nothing left, dash, door panels, seats, trim, everything. Apparently her Majesty's men had kept all the bits for evidence. Needles to say, my friend declined the offer and bought a Merc 190E instead. That konked out on his journey back to Kent from Essex due to the cam chain breaking! Ouch.

До сих пор езжу на такой же 240GL. С практичной точки точки зрения - лучший автомобиль!

I really like the way you did the dash view with the camera!

One of the finest cars ever. I drove one to Stockholm via the Nurburgring 10 years ago and it didn’t miss a beat. The car driven here needs a new viscous clutch on the radiator fan and either an engine or gearbox mount to straighten the gear leaver out. Lovely condition otherwise.

Was watching gingiums 240 build. This seems to be volvo's time to shine

Early coffin nose 240 (only short production), 240s were carburettor until 1987, where they changed to k jet mechanical injection, bringing LH injection in 1990 for electronic injection. The base model DL came with a carburettor from start to end of production.

In my sedan, I had the center arm-rest installed. It had a pull-out two cup full cupholder out the front and two out the rear.

Outstanding example. Great video !!!

Damn wat a beauty, had one for a couple of years. Same nose, self leveling boot. 2.3 liter in line. 4 speed overdrive. Miss that car.

I drove two saloons : a B200E injection manual and a B230K carburettor automatic. The former was nimble and agile, the latter a slow drunkard. Two completely different cars with that great build quality in common. ANd yes, they do get under your skin

I love the blue twelour interior, same colour as my 1976 cavalier GL mk 1 i used to own.

furiousdriving : At 14:32 You can adjust the electric sidemirrors with the two little switches between the seats in front of the emergency-brake handle.... When the ignition is turned on..

This and the W123 TE's are definitive European Estate cars. Back in the 80's there was local to me a Burgundy 265 GLE with the number plate 265 GLE. This seriously impressed me a teenage car nerd, I wonder which came first for him the plate or the car!

I remember one of these Swedish barges, parked across all 4 spaces at my local village shops car park. Volvo drivers.

I've been riding sportsbikes for the last 6 or 7 years but i'm currently learning to drive and definitely want a 240 as my first car.

This volvo is very nice. This and the 123 t-model are the best wagons of the late 70s and early 80s. 👍

Loving this car back to front, top to bottom. Gorgeous.

Witham Garage at 4:38. I live in Grantham and said garage doesn't exist any more. It was demolished in the mid-1990s and is now the site of Asda car park and Sankt Augustin Way.

I had a 1989 240 GLT Auto estate from 2009 to 2018. Bought it for £350 and sold it for £500 with 2 months MOT left. It was very reliable B230E K jet mechanical injection. It was my daily driver for 8 years until I bought a 1996 Volvo 940 Se LPT Auto estate, B230FK engine. 240 covered 76,000 miles with me over the 10 years. Sold as needed work and had 2 other cars, heater fan dead and rust hole in door sill. Bought 940 as couldn't believe how much quieter it was, and wanted AC and ABS. When you think Volvo you do think of the 200 series. Rust is their enemy. The car you drove looks a lovely example but basic. Probably has the same B230K engine as in my previous volvo from 2002-2007 a 1986 740 GLE. My first car. Loved fitting an electric sunroof motor and switch from a 940 and fitting 240 GLT "Virgo" Alloys to it. Still own the 940, my work vehicle. Just run in at 205,000miles.

Brilliant video......you can easily see why people love Volvo

Ι always admired this model. Even as a kid I used to have a small majorette model