Suburban Perversions

[akirlu]

I've just fulfilled a long-time dream, and hooked up with a 17-year-old. I think I may be in love. She's beautiful. I wonder what I shall call her?

She's a 17-year-old Volvo 240 DL, and yes, we're back to being a two-car family. A two-Volvo family, forsooth. Suburban perversion, indeed. But with Hal going on graveyard shift soon, and all the general errandy stuff that we need to do relating to the house, it turns out that getting by on one car is a bit tricky.

And besides, I'd never actually taken out an auto loan solely in my name before. In fact, I was thinking about it, and this may actually be the first time I've bought a car entirely on my own, start to finish, without partner participation in the process. How weird is that? I might become a grownup yet.

And there's something marvelously bourgeois about the Mercedes-esque lines of the late-vintage 240 sedans. It makes me feel positively extravagant. Heck, the car has power windows. I've never had that before. (And in fact, I suspect I may live to regret that part -- I'm not big on gimicky electrical bits that can break.)

I do repine a little, not having bought a car that had the leather upholstery, but then how could anyone tell it was my car if it wasn't covered in dog hair?

Comments

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

Congrats!

Wait -- which Volvo is older?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

The wagon we already had is older -- both in years and miles. I think it's an '86, so old enough to drink and vote. It's the fact that the wagon has been so solid that made me reasonably certain that a 4-year-younger 240 with 70,000 fewer miles on it was going to be a good bet.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Volvos are good.

I'm probably buying another one in October -- a 4 year old V70 turbo diesel estate, to replace the 11 year old 850SE, which is rather more spartan and drinks twice as much fuel. (And with fuel pushing £1 a litre, burning less of the stuff is important.)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

The V70s are handsome, but what I really REALLY want is a p1800es, the handsomest Volvo I've ever seen. Heck, handsomest estate car/station wagon I've ever seen, for that matter. Wants. Maybe on the next go round.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

My first thought on seeing that was "that's not a Volvo, that's a Scimitar!" (British car of a certain vintage.) Yeah, it's handsome. I wish they'd build something that looks that classy this decade, with modern engineering and subsystems.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

No, it doesn't look anything like what Volvo did for yonks afterward. Not boxy at all. And in fact, the first few thousand p1800 (coupe) cars were built for Volvo by Jensen before production was moved back to Gothenberg, so there is a UK connection of sorts. Given how many automotive carriage design shops are going a bit retro lately, it's not impossible that Volvo could put out something like it again. Deeply unlikely, tho, alas.

Volvo 164

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

My own favorite, an almost exact contemporary to the P1800ES is the Volvo 164 (http://www.boost242.se/164_hos_henke_small_tjanster.jpg). It has Mercedes-ish lines, but I'm incurably bourgeois anyway.

One of our preferred mechanics will usually have examples of either model in the Graveyard of the Volvos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hal_seattle/288180936/).

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I don't care for power windows much, but I've gotten used to them in Julie's car (which I drive at least as often as Raven these days). The thing that took adjustment was remembering to roll up the windows before turning off the car.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, remembering the windows-before-the-ignition thing is a trick, all right. Especially since I still have Californian habits about leaving windows cracked in the summer time, which can lead to some pretty wet seats in Seattle weather.