Tag Archives: beater

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.

Beater Review: The 240 Series

This column from Beater Review in 2007 contains my favorite description of the Volvo 240:

Ask any child to draw â€œa car,â€ and chances are youâ€™ll get an uncanny representation of the Volvo 240.

The review is pretty good, as it covers the known issues of failing electrical parts (apparently made from eco-friendly bio-degradable materials) and the heater blower. Good comment below the article also.
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On doing a Google search for “beater brick” to find the above image, I saw I have the dubious distinction of being in slots #1 and #2 for that term. Here’s hoping I can nail a three-peat with this post.

Image via Andrew on Flickr

What’s the Best Cross-Country Beater?

Is this even a debatable question? Jalopnik asks, and then answers its own question of what’s the best, cheap car to ride across the country this summer:

Though we’ll always answer Volvo 240 wagon when it comes to reliability, a working wagon with A/C is getting somewhat harder to find.

This makes me feel a little better about all the money I dumped into my AC last year. My brick is now a rare find.

But ultimately Jalopnik decides the brick just doesn’t make the grade and instead choose the Subaru Forester. Be sure to add your answers.