Snow White: 1971 Volvo 145S

Double Thorsday on a Wednesday?! With the Winter Olympics going on, it's pertinent to talk about choices of old affordable cars for ski trips. If you live in the great frozen North then you already have a winter beater and need not apply, but for those of us who have to drive to the mountains to slide face first through the snow into a whiteout oblivion, we need to think about whether our vehicle will get us there without much drama. Find this 1971 Volvo 145S for sale in Hermosa Beach, CA for $6,250 via craigslist.
Tip from Erik202.

Safari Ready: 1974 Volvo 142

If you find a true boxy Volvo fan they will tell you a few things. First, the 140/240/740 is the best car to have ever been built because it can be a: daily driving sedan, family wagon, race car, drifter, sporty 2-door classic, custom wagon, autocrosser...I think you get the picture.  But today, we've got a special treat for you, a safari ready box.  Find this 1974 Volvo 142 offered for $2,700 in Mobile, AL via craigslist.  Tip from Zach.

Auction Watch: 1974 Volvo 142

Find this 1974 Volvo 142 here on eBay bidding for $6,700 reserve-not-met with a few hours to go, located in Escondido, CA.

Auction Watch: 1973 Volvo 144

Check out this 1973 Volvo 144 here on eBay bidding for $4,050 with a few hours to go, located in East Longmeadow, MA.

Rallye Cluster: 1969 Volvo 142S

Once again, the SFBay craigslist delivers. With another tip from KBZ no less! The Volvo 140 series is getting hard to find in decent driver condition - it seems like the examples left in 2015 are either restored and immaculate ($$$$) or have one wheel in the junkyard and barely running ($). It's refreshing to find one in between, and this car is even being sold by the guy we originally bought our 1800S from. Find this 1969 Volvo 142S for sale in Vacaville, CA for $2,600 via craigslist. Tip from Kaibeezy.

Dipped in ipd: 1971 Volvo 142E

Volvos haven't always been boxy, but the car that started the trend was the 140 series. These were introduced in the mid/late '60s and laid the groundwork for the 240 which was discontinued after the 1993 model year. If considered as one model lineup, it lasted for almost 30 years, meaning there are many different versions to choose from. The 2nd iteration of the 142 (2 door) has some of the sportiest styling of the bunch - what if you took it further and made a streetable racer? Aftermarket parts manufacturer/distributor ipd (Import Parts Distributing) did just that in the early '70s, and this was their test car. Find this 1971 Volvo 142E on ebay with bidding near $10,000 (reserve met) in El Cajon, CA. Seller submission from Josh.

3k: Bloody Beater: 1970 Volvo 142S

Douchebag car collectors might have you convinced that the $3000 beater classic is dead, but they are wrong.  It has simply moved away from things with the Porsche/BMW/Volkswagen crest on the front to oddball brands like Volvo/Saab, hiding in the bushes like a hungry tiger ready to pounce.  LONG LIVE THE $3K BEATER...(whoa, why are you shouting so much and calling everybody a douchbag?  KNOCK IT OFF.  Okay).  Find this 1970 Volvo 142S offered for $3,200 in SF Bay Area, CA via Craigslist.  Tip from Fueltruck.

5k: Square Peg: 1974 Volvo 142 GL Custom

The Volvo 140 was first introduced in 1966 as the first in a long line of boxy sedans from those crazy Swedes.  The 140-series was a huge leap stylistically from the curvy Amazon and the same basic shape survived into the 1990s with the 200-series.  Somebody figure out that the square peg will fit in the round hole if you use a big enough hammer.  Find this 1974 Volvo 142 GL Custom here on eBay currently bidding for $5,600 reserve-not-met with 3 days to go, located in Cambridge, OH.

5k: Rally Cool: 1973 Volvo 142

It is one thing for a millionaire who wears a bulletproof suit and fights crime to be called a hero, or an impervious, flying, alien do-gooder, but the true heroes are those who save the world despite their personal situation, not because of it  -- like Russel Casse (played by the inscrutable Randy Quaid) from Independence Day.  This next feature is the unexpected hero looking for a new home.  Find this  1973 Volvo 142 rally car offered for $3,850 in Tallahassee, FL via craigslist.

5k: Party Like It's Thorsday: 1971 Volvo 142S

The Volvo 140-series (1966-1974) was the bread and butter offering of Volvo's product lineup and was built on the same mechanical parts as the 120/122/122S Amazon.  It won't wow you like a 60s American muscle car, or appreciate wildly like something from Germany, but its Scandinavian ruggedness will withstand the test of time, and get you to where you need to go...probably.  Find this 1971 Volvo 142S offered for $6,900 in Aptos, CA via craigslist. Tip from Kaibeezy.

5k: Thorsday Torsk: 1970 Volvo 144 Sedan

\Magazine pictures of models can be very deceiving, not just photoshoping fat away from their bodies, but also a softness of the light and use of correct angle lens can make something look like pumpkin pie in print, even if it looks like a cow patty in person.  Proper lighting and a good pose can have the same basic effect as beer goggles, and the same principle applies to a used car.  What looks great in a professionally staged photo might not look so good when you get it home...but man it looks good under stage lighting.  Find this 1970 Volvo 144 Sedan currently bidding on ebay for $4,550 reserve-not-met with less than 24 hrs to go, located in Syosset, NY.

5k: Unsafe Appreciation: 1968 Chevrolet Corvair Monza 140

The Chevrolet Corvair is the cheap way to get into a classic with an aircooled flat six out back...or at least it was.  Recently the Corvair market has seen some price appreciation including a 1965 Corsa 140 that recently sold for $17k on ebay and a 66 Monza Yenko clone currently offered for $22k. It is probably a good thing for the current Corvair owners that the car (specifically the desirable post '65 models and rare '68/'69) is finally getting the respect it deserves, but it also means that the days of cheap Corvairs littering craigslist will soon be over...see "history of 911 prices in the past decade" for reference. Get in cheap while you can; find this 1968 Chevrolet Corvair Monza 140 offered for $3,850 in Sun Valley, CA via craigslist.

Update: 5/2/2014 -- This car is still for sale, same asking price.

3k: Suicide Seats: 1969 Volvo 142, Ford V8 Swap

The Volvo 140 series is a classic we like at DT because they are inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to run and generally a good deal for a European classic car.   The ancient suspension, steering and pushrod engines aren't for everyone and it won't be remotely fast in stock configuration.  Things change when you swap in a domestic V8 and add some wider wheels...maybe for the better.  Find this 1969 Volvo 142 with Ford V8 for $3000 located near Houston, TX via craigslist.

5k: Thorsday Scarlet: 1974 Volvo 142 w/240 drivetrain

Our New England area readers (if there are any Yankees reading this) might want to check out this nice little Volvo we stumbled across recently - it's what appears to be a very solid 1974 142, with upgrades in the form of a one-year-newer built pushrod B20 engine, M46 4spd + overdrive transmission, and some custom interior work. The deep red color suits the 140's crisp lines well, and the fog lights mounted on the massive Commando bumpers mean that you'll be able to clearly see anything you bash into, and then drive away unscathed. Find it here on Albany's craigslist (but located just across state lines in western New Hampshire) for $5500.

5k: 1970 Volvo 142 - 23k Mile Mustard Classic

Per the suggestion of DT reader Scot, we've been rolling with the "every day is Thorsday" idea lately, and why not, when there are so many reasonably priced classic Volvos out there? We're not sure if the brick market will hit a thermal soon and rise to the stratosphere (relatively speaking), but we are sure that there are plenty of good deals to be found at the moment. The economic recession in the US is keeping attainable classics at low prices for now, and the same looks to be true back in Sweden, except even more so. We found this ultra minty clean 23k-mile 1970 Volvo 142 advertised on our new favorite foreign classified site, blocket.se, for sale in Malmö, Skåne, Sweden for only 21000 SEK. That's only about $3160 US at today's exchange rate!

5k: 1973 Volvo 145 - Thorsday Red Brick Special

Thorsday without a cheeky old Volvo wagon would be like getting the meat with no potatoes...and everyone knows, potatoes are good. Especially with butter. We wouldn't recommend buttering up this 1973 Volvo 145 though; unless you want to turn the long, long roof into some sort of dairy-based slip n' slide. It might make for good entertainment but consider the consequences - a hard crash to the unforgiving asphalt below would be your sad fate after sailing off of the brickishly square rear edge (with the greatest of ease). Shenanigans aside, this lil' red wagon is just about the nicest 145 we have seen in recent memory and it looks remarkably complete and original. It is available here on ebay for $3700 Buy It Now (with bidding around $2k currently) in San Diego, CA.