Well, the Subaru was gone, taken by some mucous extract, and I had to think up an alternative vehicle. The problem with getting something similar is that the car's sitting near the station all day and anything that I find highly desirable is gonna look just as desirable to the snot beings who can't be bothered with a job.... And hey, I know the thought of public transport as a viable alternative to driving or riding to work might shock some people (hell, it shocked me!), but it's just so easy and point-to-point ...
Not to mention the mortgage floating around in the background all the time. Truth be known, I had considered selling the Liberty, but just couldn't bring myself to go through all of the hassle involved; not to mention driving something rattly, expensive to run and gutless. But now I've been forced to go looking, it's kinda hard to justify a new car under the circumstances. And besides, the mortgage has a redraw facility, should the old car get too much!
So what do you get if you want something that's not going to be too costly, isn't going to suck too much to drive, and isn't going to be missing from the parking spot the next time you get back from work at 9pm? A few cars do immediately spring to mind, but the things that occur to me somehow seem to be Italian; Lancias, Fiats, Alfa Romeos. Some of the Italian sedans from the late 70's have nice engines and drivetrains. The Alfisti are fanatical for good reason; my mate's Lancia Beta sedan may have been an acquired taste to look at, but to drive it was great.
But Italian cars have a tendency for requiring constant attention. Too many people will tell you that their Fiat 124 is a great drive but needs constant detail maintenance; my friend was very often under his Beta doing something minor. As an example, if memory serves correctly, the Beta has two brake lines for each wheel in case one gave way, meaning twice as much maintenance in that area.
So older Italian cars were scrapped as too much work; hey, I know they're not that bad, but after checking the fluids every month and just changing the oil twice a year you get spoilt! I couldn't think of anything particularly interesting from Japan from the late 70's to early 80's, at least in the cars sold locally. The Americans gave up on Australia in the 60's, so that really only left an older Australian car, or something from elsewhere in Europe.
The older Australian cars are, however, getting a little hard to find. You can get all sorts of XY Falcon GTHO Phase III replicas, complete with 5.8 litres and 300kW of Cleveland engine, but I somehow doubt they would stay untouched at the station for very long. Same with the shape of Monaro I love, the HG-HK-HT, and those are starting to get out of the "cheap and cheerful" price range anyway. A good Charger of some description would be interesting too; but with theft a problem again. And without the interest value in the family sedan versions of these cars, it is a little annoying to drive a late 60's car when you're used to a turbo 1993 model. There's nothing wrong with these cars, don't get me wrong; they're generally mechanically reliable, and being pre-pollution they don't use as much fuel as you might expect. They're just old ...
So back to Europe; maybe something French? But the Citroen BX I looked at was very, very tinny, the plastics feeling really cheap by now. A CX might be nice, but manuals aren't very common. Nothing German inspired me or fitted into the price or insurance category I'm after. An Audi Quattro or BMW M6 might be great, but having fairly modern performance and a good name, they're still pretty expensive. Same with any 80's BMW or Mercedes really, except maybe the early 3-series which doesn't have the best reputation.
So, while scanning the private ads for a good 1985-odd Falcon or Commodore, an early 70's Mercedes, or almost anything out of the ordinary (but semi-reliable), the Stupid Gene started doing its thing. What about a Volvo? Hell, they're reliable, they don't seem to rust much, and they cost next to nothing for a well-equipped car! The stupid idea started to grow ... after all, NOBODY is going to steal a Volvo; and how bad can they be to drive, compared to other run-of-the-mill late70's cars? I think I'm old enough now to ignore the continual hassles you no doubt get if you drive a Volvo!
The best bit is the price. A top of the line, great nick 244 with all the luxury stuff is a similar price on the used market to a VB to VH Commodore; but the 244 has half the power again of the six cylinder Commodore, in a car that weighs the same amount! I did a little bit of research, and there's heaps of stuff on the 'net; try Altavista with almost any car and you get heaps of info, for example "Volvo 240" or "240 Turbo". Until then I'd totally forgotten about the 2 door 240 series, although a few people did ask me if I was talking about the ugly Bertone-bodged chop-top 262.
Once you've come up with a stupid idea, you naturally start to justify it. And I've since come up with a couple of excuses to give people; like how they're cheap, how Robbie Francevic won the Australian Touring Car Championship in a 2 door Volvo 240 in 1986 (with John Bowe 7th in the only other Volvo out of 52 cars), how a car like that can't depreciate because it's a little different and a little rare. But I really think it was a case of wanting something different, whether that is a good or a bad thing.
So I looked at one and drove it; and it really wasn't all that bad to drive - for a 1980 model car which badly needed shocks. Performance isn't exactly in the Impreza WRX league, but it really isn't too bad; it's supposed to do 0-100km/h in ten seconds, and with a grunty (not revvy) 103kW/195Nm engine it'll run with the 80's hot hatches. I thought about it for a while, and then I bought the thing!
So there you have it, my shame revealed. My first step is shocks, and then better tyres than the current cheapies. And considering a $1500 140kW 740 Turbo engine just bolts straight in with the potential for 200kW without much effort ... but nah, you couldn't do that with a Volvo. Could you?
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