I owned three Volvos, the latter two being a 40 sedan, the other being a
145 Station wagon. I really like that wagon. Performed well, hauled the
family, made lots of good trips in it. but the best of the three, the
one I simply loved, was the first one I ever bought - that was a 544. It
had the look of a late thirties/early forties Ford - sort of a potato
beetle shape. Manual tranny with a big stick right up out of the floor.
Had the sweetest B18 4-banger engine up front with dual carbs. The only
description I could ever come up with to describe that ride was a quote
from Jackie Gleason - "How sweet it is!"

All this was long before I ever even knew a single thing about Loafs and
Vanagons.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

neil N wrote:
> The following is "said" with a PhriDaye kinda "bent".
>
> Ok. I'm not trying to start some kind of Swedish War here, ;)  (Oh
> yes. I am part Swede) but IMHO, almost any $1600 car bought offa CL,
> is likely going to cost the owner muchos $$ whilst doing a long,
> heated, trip. And.,.....
>
> ..... being a former Volvo 140 series owner, but I'd have to say that
> the Volvo 140 (and liekly the 240 series from what I've heard) had
> solidly built/designed engines. They were also quite comfortable.
> Plus, that wagon-o-mine was a great little hauler. At one time I
> thought I'd "have it made" if I could keep my collection of Life-Gear
> small enough to fit in that green wagon. Cha. Right! And I have truly
> digressed.......
>
> I miss my old 145S wagon. It didn't have the electric OD, but it was a
> good vehicle. I beat that thing silly, running it low on coolant,
> revving it too high etc. and it finally developed a REALLY LOUD
> intermittent "whack" in the engine. It actually ran fine. It just
> whacked a little now and then. (eh..... I'll leave that one alone ;)
>
> Not trying to start a Volvo flame, but I guess I did rekindle an "old
> flame"  Volvo memory.
>
> Neil. The PartSwede.
>
>
>
>
> On 9/7/07, Pensioner <al_knoll@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>> If one googles "The Frugal Road Trip New York Times"  you can learn how to
>> spend gobs of cash herding a decrepit OvLov across the fruited plain.  Fun
>> to read.  Keep me away from vintage OvLovs.  Rather have a Vanagon.  Wonder
>> if Chris Dixon knows this guy?
>>
>> Vanagons rule most of the time.
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia -
> "Jaco"  (Bustorius)
>
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
>
> Please send fav Vanagon/Westfalia links to me at:
> musomuso1963@hotmail.com
>
>
>