Author Archives: Jay B.

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.

Is that a Wagon… or a Hatchback?

I sat behind one of these Honda Crossturds this weekend and was just mystified at the design decisions made in the construction of this abomination. How can you see out of a rear window that is practically parallel to the ground? How are you supposed to be able to get a stack of boxes from Ikea under that sloped roof?

Jalopnik has a couple posts exploring the etymology behind the term “station wagon” (hint: what would you need to take a stack of boxy luggage to the local train depot?) and clarify the difference between “wagon” and “hatchback”.

LINK: Why is it called a “Station Wagon”?
LINK: What makes a Wagon a Wagon?

Quick to be slow


Earlier this month Jalopnik took reader suggestions for the “Top Slow Cars to Drive Fast“. Our beloved bricks came in 5th. Quote from a Jalopnik reader:

You haven’t lived until you’ve gotten one of these sideways, steering by looking out the side windows as you listen to the rev limiter have an epileptic seizure and the only thing you can smell is tire smoke as your mind reels at the insanity of it all… At 14mph.

The Diesel Decision: A Short Story


Beardy McBrick was traveling to the annual hacky sack festival with his buds when he came upon the most dreaded of obstacles: a hill. He warned his friends it would be a long, hard slog in his diesel 245 and that they should just relax. “Bummer,” his buddy Phil said. “At least we have a good way to pass the time,” Phil chuckled as he handed around his packed chillum.

An hour later they’d past the half-way mark when something blue flashed in McBrick’s smog-coated side-view mirror. It was a car; a diesel in fact. But this was no ancient Benz or Volvo. It was a BMW, and it was coming up fast. “Maybe you should slow down and let him pass,” his girlfriend, Sunflower, suggested. And he did. They looked in awe as the strange rocket car passed by with nary a puff of smoke. Phil stared with mouth agape as the blue streak sped over the apex and out of sight. “Damn, McBrick!” he exclaimed, “you shoulda’ bought that car instead of taking this donation from your English professor.”

“Yeah…” McBrick thought, as he looked with dread at the climb ahead, “then these damn hills wouldn’t be such a drag.” The wagons’s exhaust belched a dark cloud and woke McBrick from his day-dream. “Hey Phil!” he shouted good-naturedly, “quit bogarting and share the love!” They all laughed. McBrick flipped his cassette of Shakedown Street and settled in for the rest of the hill.

– Inspired by “Changes”, an ad for diesel engined BMWs.

Back to School Bricks

Jalopnik this week asked for suggestions for the “Top Car for College” and the Volvo 240 wagon won top honors, beating out the Buick Roadmaster Estate and Ford Crown Vic. From the editors:

You can move entire apartments in this thing, when it breaks down it’s usually capable of being fixed by someone with limited repair skills, and they’re fun at low speeds. And if you have to sleep in a car, it’s one of the most comfortable.

Wired’s Autopia came to the same conclusion last year, but they included 700 and 900 series as well.