The Volvo 240 wagon ranks 5th in Jalopnik’s Ten Best Cars for Driving Insane Distances. Yes, it does.
Go the Distance
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Category Archives: Volvo For Life
Drive Your Brick Off a Cliff
Ye olde Volvo commercial. That’s quite a slide.
Can’t Kill It
A brick lover has to be careful when searching YouTube with the term “Volvo 240”. It seems like half the videos involve groups of teenage boys hooning their car into the ground… or off the ground, flying through the air to the music of Rammstein.
The rollover at 5:35 is pretty bad ass. None of the glass broke. Keep watching to see in slo-mo.
Volvo’s Unintentional Crash Demo
We know Volvo loves to crash their vehicles to demonstrate safety features, but in a recent demo the crash was truly an accident. To show off their Collision Avoidanceâ„¢ system with Full Auto Brakeâ„¢ technology, Volvo launched an equipped S60 toward a stationary truck at 20 mph, in front of press and video cameras. Unfortunately, the system failed and the car plowed into the bumper, destroying the front end of the vehicle and the careers of the people in Volvo’s PR and engineering departments.
So deadpan; so awesome.
Homecoming Halloween Horror
When the story begins “I was only 15 at the time so of course i wasn’t legal to drive, but i drove anyways” you know it’s not going to end well. From car-accidents.com comes the story of an out-of-control 1989 240, flipping, rolling and sliding on its roof. As usual, the driver lived to see another day.
The Volvo Experimental Safety Car
The frowning driver in this photo must be seething that he has to model with such a fugly car. But what this Volvo Experimental Safety Car (VESC) lacks in looks, it makes up for in driver protection.
How did anyone survive the 1960’s?
After seeing this video, I have no idea how anyone survived driving in the 1960s. When you combine ridiculous amounts of power with minimal seat belts, no child safety seats and inadequate chassis rigidity, it’s no wonder accident survival rates were so low.
I love my headrest!
Via How We Drive.
Jalopnik Hearts Bricks
In their Question of the Day “What Car Makes you Feel Safe?” Jalopnik shows the love for the 240:
For an almost 25-year-old wagon it’s quite nimble and we feel maneuverability is just as important as anything else because you’re best advantage in a possible crash is avoiding it.
50 years of crash test dummies
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety celebrated their 50th anniversary by playing chicken with a 1959 and a 2009 Chevrolet. Neither car blinked and now they’re dead. If I had a choice, I’d go with the 2009 Malibu… and my life.
This is the extended footage, which includes scary interior footage from the Bel Air.
Safe for 1974
A 1974 244 runs into a wall at 45 MPH and all the impact is absorbed by the front end, with the passenger compartment barely affected. Nice.