Volvo has been linked with car safety as long as it has existed. The brand even invented the first three-point safety belt in the 1950s, and gave away the patent to everyone so that all car occupants could benefit, not just those in Volvos.
When Volvo presented the VESC - Volvo Experimental Safety Car – in 1972, it should have come as no surprise that some of the design and technology behind the machine should make it into production, and the 200 Series Volvo was almost a direct successor.
The four-cylinder 240 was Volvo's small executive car of the day, occupying broadly the same position as the S60/V60 does today, and proved incredibly popular. Across both the 240 and V6 260, Volvo built 2.8 million cars over a 19-year production run, most of which were 240s, and sold worldwide. It even had a relatively successful motorsports career. 20210325_143727.jpg3.73 MB
The History
It's a little unusual to find a Volvo as a Japanese import, but that's precisely what this 240GL is. The Swedish car hit the streets of Japan first in December 1989 and it's been there ever since, up until it arrived in the UK in August 2020. The current owner spotted it was available and brought it over essentially on a whim.
That means there's not a great deal of recorded history, though various stickers around the car highlight the fact it has been serviced and maintained during its life in Japan.
Here in the UK it's proven to be just one vehicle too many, which means it's time for a new owner to get the benefit of something out of the ordinary.
As noted above, there's not much by way of physical paperwork from the car's life in Japan. That's not especially unusual, but you will find various stickers around the engine bay and door shuts that show the car has been serviced – a recent one in the driver's door notes an engine oil change under 2,500 miles ago, and one under the bonnet dates a cambelt change in July 2016.
The UK paperwork is more recent and comprehensive, covering not only the V5C but the car's first UK MOT – in August 2020 – and registration, along with notification from HMRC that appropriate duties have been paid.
The Volvo's cabin is a pretty remarkable place, with classic 1980s fabrics and vinyl just about everywhere. It's an impressive size given that the car is actually a little smaller than a modern Ford Focus saloon, with four pretty ample seats and a fifth in the centre of the rear bench.
All of the seating is almost spotless, with the only real blemish being what looks like a cigarette burn on the driver's seat. Otherwise it could be brand new. The same goes for the carpeted door cards, trimmed in another pure 1980s fabric.
There's also vinyl trim throughout, on those classic Volvo headrests, the dashboard and the door cards. This is easily damaged but again looks brand new. All of the floor carpets are in excellent condition, with some small signs of wear in a boot that's easily big enough to swallow four sets of golf clubs. The spare wheel and original tool kit are stowed in the passenger side.
As far as we can tell, all of the buttons and switches in the cabin work just as they ought, and the car includes an aftermarket Pioneer Carrozzeria removable head unit.
One advantage that Japanese cars often bring compared to UK-market vehicles is a relative lack of corrosion – largely due to the fact there's no road salting in Japan - and this Volvo just about exemplifies this.
Considering it's over 30 years old now, the silver paint is mostly impressive, but there are some areas on the passenger side – particularly at the rear – where there's an unusual finish; the paint looks thin in places, but you do have to get pretty close to spot it. There are one or two small stone chips too.
The wheels – five-spoke Borbet CB items – all seem to be in great condition, with one of the centre caps a little more worn than the others.
Underneath, the car has clearly covered some miles, but again as a testament to Japan's lack of road salting, seems to be in good condition generally – far better than you would expect from a British car of similar vintage.
The 240 presented here comes with the 2.3-litre, B230 version of Volvo 's Redblock engine, a large four cylinder producing around 118hp. It fires up without any issues, and settles to idle quickly and without any rev hunting. Out on the road it makes some pretty good noises too, and the engine bay seems clean, well maintained, and free from obvious leaks.
We couldn't detect any signs of less welcome noises from any of the other mechanical components, with the auto gearbox having no trouble selecting forward or reverse gears, no undue wobbles or complaints from the suspension, and no creaks or groans from the brakes. At a little under 65,000 miles, it is after all barely run in for a Volvo.
Volvo has been cultivating a more upmarket and cool image in recent years, but even back in the 1980s they were something of a left-field, thinking man's car – and the 240 particularly was an unexpected motorsports icon. The 1980s has been coming back into fashion too, and thanks to this car's life in Japan it's a pretty well-preserved time capsule of the era.
Notice to bidders
Although every care is taken to ensure this listing is as factual and transparent as possible, all details within the listing are subject to the information provided to us by the seller. Car & Classic does not take responsibility for any information missing from the listing. Please ensure you are satisfied with the vehicle description and all information provided before placing a bid.
All bids are legally binding once placed. Any winning bidder who withdraws from a sale, is subject to our bidders fee charge. Please see our FAQs and T&C's for further information. Viewings of vehicles are encouraged, but entirely at the sellers discretion.
Please see our FAQ's here and our Terms & Conditions here
Consulta le nostre FAQ
qui
e i nostri Termini e condizioni
qui
Il modo più sicuro per acquistare un'auto d'epoca online
Il sistema di pagamento sicuro di Car & Classic protegge acquirenti e venditori. Al termine dell'asta, l'offerente vincente trasferisce il pagamento su un conto vincolato di terzi. Una volta completato il trasferimento del veicolo, entrambe le parti confermano di essere soddisfatte della vendita e il denaro viene rilasciato al venditore.
Maggiori informazioni su come acquistare con noi
1989 Volvo 240GL
Come funzionano le offerte massime
Il processo di offerta massima ti permette di fare offerte senza preoccupazioni.
Inserisci la tua offerta massima e il sistema farà offerte automaticamente per assicurarsi che tu sia il miglior offerente - fino all'ammontare da te stabilito come tetto massimo.
Anti-sniping
Car & Classic contrasta il fenomeno dello “sniping”, ovvero il fenomeno dei rilanci all'ultimo secondo per vincere l'asta.
Se viene fatta un'offerta nei 3 minuti prima della chiusura dell'asta, la scadenza di questa viene automaticamente estesa di 2 minuti per permettere agli altri offerenti di reagire e, se lo desiderano, di rilanciare.
Incrementi di offerta automatica
Se la sua offerta massima è uguale o inferiore al prezzo di riserva, la sua offerta massima sarà applicata per intero se lei è il miglior offerente.
Se siete il miglior offerente e fate un'offerta massima superiore a quella di riserva, la riserva verrà automaticamente inserita come prima offerta.
Una volta raggiunta la riserva, Car & Classic si assicurerà che tu sia il miglior offerente utilizzando solo gli incrementi di offerta indicati di seguito.
Vi terremo in testa fino alla vostra offerta massima O all'incremento più vicino alla vostra offerta massima, a condizione che la vostra offerta massima sia sufficiente a coprire il valore dell'incremento.
Ammontare dell'offerta
Incremento
Da £0 a £9,999
£100.00
Da £10,000 a £49,999
£250.00
Da £50,000 a £99,999
£500.00
£100,000 +
£1,000.00
Superamento immediato dell'offerta
Quando piazzi un'offerta massima e questa viene immediatamente superata, questo significa che un altro offerente ha impostato una soglia di offerta massima superiore alla tua.
Puoi fare nuovamente un'offerta o impostare una soglia più alta di offerta massima e il nostro sistema rilancerà fino alla nuova soglia, cercando di portarti a essere il miglior offerente.
Offerte massime di pari ammontare
Quando ci sono due offerte massime di pari ammontare, quella impostata per prima è quella che viene considerata “migliore offerta”.
Pre-autorizzazione
Potremmo trattenere un piccolo importo di pre-autorizzazione sulla tua carta fino alla fine dell'asta, quando quest'ultimo verrà poi stornato. Se vinci, verrà prelevata una caparra che verrà detratta dal pagamento del prezzo di vendita per il veicolo e non comporta costi aggiuntivi per te.
Cosa sono le Offerte pre-asta?
Offerte pre-asta significa che avete la possibilità di fare offerte prima dell'inizio ufficiale dell'asta.
Verrà comunicato se si è il miglior offerente o meno all'inizio dell'asta.
Problema con l'offerta
Le offerte sono contrattualmente vincolanti. Per tutelare l'utente, sono previste alcune regole nel caso in cui si ritenga che sia stato digitato in modo errato. Si prega di controllare e modificare quanto inserito.
