I vote for pre-plastic lens headlight (aka pre-'86) Volvo 200-series cars to be included. Especially Turbos!

I've long liked these 164s, but I've only ever seen one. It was an immaculate white example...hmm, now you have me searching eBay Motors again!

I might consider owning a 200 series, but I won't be caught looking at DOTS pics of one. Unless of course it's been caminoed, dekotorated, donked, etc.

These were really nice cars, a cut above the plebian 140s and full of what-passed-for-luxury-in-1970 things like leather seats. The front isn't so much Studebaker as Rover in my mind, the Swedes being influenced by the Brits when it came to design cues that connote plushness.

The family across the street owned one. The owner was doing paperwork in his 164 one afternoon in SF, parked at the bottom of one of those very steep SF hills. The semi at the top of the hill lost its brakes and rolled right over the Volvo, crushing it up against a retaining wall.

Needless to say the family never owned anything but Volvos for the next 30 plus years.

How about some old Saabs? There's got to be a Saab 96 or 99 somewhere, no?

Love me some Volvos, bring 'em on!

Mmmmm. 242GT. Tasty.

Nice find! These were never common anywhere, except in MacGyver as KGB cars. I think they were trying to imitate Jaguar rather than Studebaker with the nose.

I agree with Heep about the years, but I'd be on the lookout for a GT or Bertone. Those might be just different enough not to put the "normal" people to sleep.

looks Anglican in the front and
Russian Orthodox fromt he side and back
neat

Isn't there supposed to be a diagonal bar cutting across the grill with a "V" or "volvo" inside a crest on the grill. I love the fuel filler cap. I bet when this car was new the cap's handle lined up with the chrome rub strip to create one continuous straight line.

I remember my neighbor having one of these when I was a just a little POLAR, and I said to myself, "Self, what the hell is that thing?" And a new chapter opened in my life as wee car guy who discovered that cars in the rest of the world looked different from dad's old Valiant and my cousin's '68 Camaro.
Shortly after the 164 showed up, some other dude appeared with a BMW 2002 and I lost it from there, I was hooked.

I remember when these things were new. We had an exclusive Volvo dealer when I live (Right next to a Renault, Peugeot, Citroen Dealer.... go figure) and I always thought the oddest detail with these cars was the Automatic Transmission Selector. It had a Huge Knob, and it never fit in your hands well, (alright, get your minds out of the gutter) and to conceal the shifting mechanism, they used nylon bristles instead of the usual rubber or leather boot.

Ok that really makes me sound like some kind of a (insert your comment here).

Volvos are highly confusing. There's a ton of model names denoting very small differences in the cars...DOTS is great for picking them apart. A six-banger 200-series? Very cool.

I ditto the call for Saabs (which seem more challenging to keep on the road), and where are the Subarus? I don't I think I've seen one, and there's gotta be a bunch of pre-origami smoky boxer goodness kicking around over there. Where I live, even the Loyale-era cars are fading out fast.

@UDMAN: If I recall correctly, my grandmother's '80 BMW 528 had those bristles around the shifter too.

My Saab 9-3 still has them on the e-brake lever.

@sliderule: Depends on the year - the diagonal belt was a design reference to the belts that used to hold on radiator covers in the frigid motherland. I don't think that became a design element until the mid 70's.

Please warn me ahead of time if you are going to show any 200 series Volvo's, I'm Pygmachophobic- I have a fear of boxes.

These 200s in various denominations used to be everywhere. I like the totally blank but benign stare it has. This one is in great shape to be almost 40. And boring or not, it's a survivor, it belongs in DOTS.

@brandegee: Actually the old numbering system is very simple. First number denotes model series, second is cylinders and third is doors. So, 264 is 200-series, six banger, four doors.

@UDMAN: The bristles were actually pretty standard stuff for euro handbrakes and automatics. For a weird detail, the Amazon had the handbrake on the wrong side, I think this one has it too... it's tucked between the seat and the door.

I said no on the 200-series, just because I still see a ton on the road.

Then again I forget that the rest of the country doesn't enjoy the rust free weather that we do in SoCal.

@TurboBrick: Just like a Lotus Esprit! There, now old Volvo owners can associate with British exotica owners. Kinda like 300ZX guys can associate with Diablo owners on the grounds of shared headlights!

Absolutely. I love these things. My first car was a '71 142 and the ease of fixing these cars was a big influence on my interest in cars. And even the lowly 142 have a good following. Sliding choke, thermometer speedo, 3 foot long gear handle, room to stand in the engine bay and work on the miniscule engine. what's not to love?

Ahh. Coment eaten again.

short version: yes, in. thoughtfully designed cars. prefer the 142 (first car). people still love these.

crazy website.

Most pre-200 series cars were sacrificed in the early hours of Dagens H, hence why there aren't many in the New Country.

Here in Arizona I see plenty of college-folk and hippies still driving 200-series Volvos, so I'm not particularly interested.

In fact, I own one. It's sitting on my dad's lot somewhere. Some day I'll change that fuel pump.

Flathoods! Flathoods! Flathoods!

I live in Portland and see more 200-series than Camrys (Camries?).... Although I guess I wouldn't mind a particularly interesting example in DOTS every now and again...

I voted "nay". I see lots of 200 series here in the salty midwest. Now, if you see a rare, unusual, or particularly stunning one, it may not hurt to toss up some pictures, but these are just too common to be DOTS-worthy.

Nothing sceams "Professor's Car" more than the 160. The mid 80s 240 Turbos were sweet. The worst were the 260s with the Renault V6 motor (yes the SAME motor used in the Delorean) The cams would go bad at 40K and Volvo actually sold a kit that allowed you to punch holes in the fire wall to change out the cams.

Bring on the 200-series cars. Or, at least, some of the older, more interesting variants (is there a 242 Turbo, or a 262C Bertone kicking around Almeida?).

It's interesting to see this, and how it fits rather nicely into Volvo's current market segment (or, well, the 40 year old equivalent).

@TurboBrick: So a 240 has no doors? Cool, Swedish General Lee!

200-series are common enough that you'd have to find something unique about it (an eclectic collection of bumper stickers does not count).

It's a funny old world.

During the '90s I used to look at people who drove 200s with a mixture of pity and revulsion.

Now, I look at them with a sort of....distant longing.

They are all disappearing from this neck of the woods. And my intrigue in them is at the point that I actually bought brochures for the 245/265 from Ebay. What I really want is one for the US spec 200 turbos.....

A 200 bertone coupe with 5.0 conversion...a really undercover sleeper

@Mad_Science: Yes, it's a 780 called King Gustav Wasa with a Swedish flag on the roof and used for hauling moonshine... unfortunately after the "no number at all" experiment the system is no longer as clear.

@Maymar: There's a 262C Bertone that I see every day, but it's always in a driveway and thus off-limits for DOTS. I don't think it has moved for 10 years.

Early 200-series are smart. The coupés and turbos are particularly unusual and interesting. Oh, and the estates are definately DOTS-worthy!

Anyway, this 164 is a nice find. Cool old cars. I do prefer the styling of the 14- models though.

When I was just a lad being schlepped around in my mother's Peugeot 504 and my father's 505, I thought these things were awesome. Just like the Peugeots, I never really realized how rare and odd they were until I got older. For some reason, the two little round grilles between the headlights and the main grille really appealed to me. Nowadays, I'd rather have a 142S prepped to run in vintage racing events. On the other hand, it might be fun to take the front ends of 164s (which only came as sedans) and put them on two-doors and wagons.

My family had a '74 when I was a kid that ultimately became my college beater, so I remember the automatic shifter well, the know may have been odd but there was no detent between 2nd and Drive so you could slapshift it. We ran that car until terminal rust made it pointless, plus there was the time I drove over a flooded bridge and killed the EFI computer, when water came through the rusted out floor.
The older 164s had niftier details, like the door handles and the strip speedo with the little sliding arrow like a red line marker. Also I agree with tinachow that the front end has a strong hint of Rover P5 to it
The grilles between the headlights were used for driving lights in Europe, which struck me as way cooler, I always pined for the cop car 164 on the frontispiece of the Haynes manual.

Thanks for the Volvo! But where are the pictures of the "nicer interior" that sets this 164 apart?! Murilee, you need to be more voyeuristic and take pictures of the insides.

BTW, I have some photos of a pristine Amazon 4-door that I found parked in Greenwich Village that I need to submit to you!

@SethyT: It's tough to get interior photos, due to reflections on the glass and the fact that I look like a car thief up to no good if I get too up close and personal with a car I'm shooting. I get them when I can.

Send in the Amazon photos: murilee at jalopnik dot com.

You've had three Volvos, but no Saabs. I know for a fact that they're everywhere in California, but they're rare as hell where I live.

@NotACoolGuy: How old must a Saab be to qualify for DOTS? I see plenty of late 80s Saabs in Alameda, but nothing older so far.

@Heep: No, especially ones with V8 conversions!

I've got a dream of someday owning a 242 Turbo though. For now I'm occupied with a NA, low-compression, two-headlighted '89 244... shame really.

We gotta get the Bertone on here, Murilee, just not as a DOTS car.

Looks Like Ford is selling VOLVO after all .
It looks like there is a god after all.
this summer it is finally happening ......xxxoooxxxooo
lets hope that its AB volvo that is doing the buying 6 'billion.
Earl

@Armand4:

Actually, there were 165s as well. (just think of a wagon as a "5-door" and the numbering system makes sense) And even pre-'86 bricks are rare as hen's teeth here in Maine, 160s and 140s more so. It's been years since I've seen an Amazon..

I've owned 2- an '84 and a '78 244 DL -I say, bring 'em on. A car that can (and does) run for 300 or 400 thousand miles after the trunk floor disintergrates deserves a spot on the pedestal next to the Plymouth Valiant.

The 164 was actually designed to look like a 1959-1961 Wolseley 6/99 Google the name and you'll get the picture. I own a 74 that Janes Joplin mother purchased new. It's a very solid car and spends more time in my garage than on the road now. I have restored her to original condition even down to OEM leather seats from Sweden. Love this car.

Google "ghost ridin the 164e" and you will see a video of my daughter doing something with my car that got her grounded.

The only 165 I have ever seen was when someone took the front clip of a 164 and put it on a 145 wagon. I don' believe Volvo offered a production 164 wagon.