It's hard to believe that, nearly 150 cars into this series, we've only seen three Volvos up to this point (the '66 Amazon, the '68 P1800, and the '69 144S). This area is Volvo Central, what with Berkeley only a few miles away and all, but for some reason we don't have many pre-200-series Göteborg machines on the island. However, we have tons of early 200-series Volvos... which I've sort of ignored, since the 200 series remained essentially unchanged well into the 90s. But maybe I'm being too picky- and that means it's poll time once again, so we can let the readers' voices be heard on this controversial topic.
The 164 was Volvo's upscale machine, with a six-cylinder version of their B20 4-banger under the hood and a grille that seemed ripped off from influenced by the early-60s Studebaker Lark.
They weren't huge sellers in the United States, so I was happy to spot this solid-looking example parked at a downtown Volvo-centric garage, right down the street from the '87 BMW L6 we saw last week.
The side view looks very similar to that of the cheaper 144, which is understandable- the 164 is based on the 140 series platform, with different front bodywork and a nicer interior.
Love those mudflaps- just the thing for safety-obsessed Swedish roads! I'll keep my weather eye open for more old Volvos, perhaps even including the occasional '75 or '76 200-series. Sadly, you see more of the 60s models in the junkyard than on the street these days.
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