1979 Volvo 242 GT from North America - Comments

The alternator has gone bad with this car. But it did not cause me to not drive it. or leave me stranded.

However nothing else has gone wrong with it.

I do regular maintenance on it myself. I've changed the transmission and rear axel, plus the front suspension before it caused me any problems. but Eventually all moving parts do wear out, its enevitable.

I really cannot see myself with another car. The 242 GT is the ultimate car I could in vision for me. It is my first car, and I hope it would be my last car. I seriously believe this car would last me forever. And I give this car so much abuse that if I were to drive, lets say a Honda of some model. It would have died 5 times over by now. Just to give an example of the abuse I give my Volvo. We call them bricks for a reason!

Right on! My 78 gt brick is currently going thru a full restoration, but there was nothing wrong with it (except rust) and has been in the family since new. also the first car that I had ever drove and it took years of abuse. 3 paint jobs 2 accidents lot of air caught on back roads and went up one meridian, but my kids will end up driving it. If I let them.

I had a 80 GT. I only had it for 16 months. It was a constant pain to keep going. Bad airconditioning compressor. Syncros in the transmission were machined wrong and would kick back the shift lever... broke my thumb. Rust on the body on the rear quarter too. This car was only 16 months old and bought new! No more Volvos ever for me.

If that is your case then it wasn't a Volvo. Volvo's take damn near forever to develop rust. The running costs are virtually free and Volvo transmissions still work unusually well when in bad shape. My 77 242 has the stock 4 speed trans and although the syncros are nearly shot (the last owner was an idiot) I just double clutch from 3rd to 4th and I'm fine.

I also bought a new 1980 Volvo GT, on the Tourist & Diplomat program in England. I have had the car for almost 30 years and drive it regularly. It has been reliable, comfortable and easy to maintain. The local dealers still stock 240 parts! What they don't have is generally available from the aftermarket without any major issues.

If it had a little more power and a cruise control, the GT would be perfect. I did put air conditioning on it after I returned to the states.