**The Volvo 240: A Car That Saved Lives**

Volvo now, in the lead, and beginning to pull away. When we talk about other cars that have been around for over 20 years, we say things like, the 2nd gen Camaro, or the 3rd generation Mustang but not with the 240. No sir, or ma'am, other than minor changes to the lights and grille, there was one generation of Volvo 240 for 20 years.

And the trim levels, and special editions L for Luxe, DL for Deluxe GL for Grand Luxe, GLE for Grand Luxe Executive. They had so many trim levels, I can't even list them all for you but they got so nuts with naming that the options in Scandinavia with the catalytic converter was called the Volvo 240 Katalysator. Why even put that on the car? If you like special editions, the 240's got something for you, everything from long wheelbase limos and wagons for government and school bus duty to cop cars and hand-built Italian chop-top Bertone coupes.

Everyone who owned one of these cars absolutely loved it. As a result Volvo built the 240 for 19 years and sold 2.8 million of them. And between 1990 and 1994, not one new 240 sedan driver died in a solo accident, not one. Much like how Brendan Fraser didn't have a bad film within that same time period. Coincidence? I think not.

Whoa, whoa cut, come on guys. You don't sound too good little buddy. Oh, hey Bart. Whoa, hey, hoo hoo-- (electronic buzzing). Ah what the hell is that! Relax James, this is fixed OBDII reader. Was that thing in my body the whole time? - This connects wirelessly to your smartphone to read all the codes that your engine's giving ya. In this fantasy situation, your body. Whoa.

Yo, you are throwing a lot of codes James. You gotta start drinking more water, probably should get to sleep earlier... Okay thanks Bart and Fixd. You gotta start working out, maybe you should get a personal trainer --- Alright, thanks Bart and Fixd!

Volvo got so many letters and calls from owners thanking them for making cars that saved their lives. PR boss Bob Austin got an idea. Hey Greg, come in here I got an idea. Sure, uh what's up Bob? Volvo gets so many letters from the owners, thanking us for making cars that saved their lives. I think we should start a club.

Uh, what should we call it man? I'm thinking the Volvo Saved My Life club. Ooh, it's a little on the nose. You know what Greg, (bleep) you. I hope you get in a car wreck, but you don't make it into the club. So Bob started the Volvo Saved My Life Club in 1990 with members from all over the world united in their belief that if they had been driving any other car, they'd be dead.

Top this all off with that crumple zone under the hood. Not only is there a ton of space to fit whatever engine you want, they're rear wheel drive. The body is pretty light, and they handle surprisingly well. And with a reputation for slow, plodding safety, they're the perfect sleeper. Nobody expects to get their doors blown off by an old Volvo.

(car revving) Today it's not uncommonto see 240s drag racing, drifting, rallying, road racing, even off-roading. It's not fast, it's not fancy. It's just an honest car. Yo, I am super excited to officially collaborate with Tabasko Sweet over at Super Deluxe on his new show, Cheap Thrills. Boosted! We turned a truck into a Gucci flip flop.

If you like Swedish cars, watch this episode of Up to Speed. As always, click that subscribe button. I'm gonna go to the Gucci store.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(car revving)(crash)- It's the super safe swedish sedanthat started on sedate suburban streetsbut sped its way straightto souped-up sleeper status.It went from haulin' thekids to haulin' (bleep).(car screeching)It's been rallied, it's been turboed,and it's saved lives.This is everything you need to knowto get up to speed on the Volvo 240.(8-bit music)Jan Wilsgaard was studyingdesign in Gothenburg.This kid had promise, so much sothat Volvo plucked himright out of design schooland got him to work right away.Kinda like how Donut scooped me right outof yelling about carson the internet school.Long story short, the dude was good.Like, really good.During his tenure atVolvo Jan had his handin pretty much every model they put out.Daddy knows a think or twoabout having his hand in models.(laughs)Everything from the Amazonand the 140 to the Philip.They named a car Philip, and you guyswon't let me make the Pumphrey?Fast forward to 1972, Jan and Volvowere working on their new VolvoExperimental Safety Car, or V-E-S-C.The concept featuredpedestrian safe bumpers,reinforced doors forside impact protection,crumple zones and aback up camera in 1972.It was a big camera on the trunkwith a bigger TV in the dash.Volvo was ahead of thesafety game and they knew it.They had to get this tech onto the streetand make the roads safer.Jan and Volvo gathered all of Sweden'sgreatest minds to design their next car.It was time to build the most iconic carthat Volvo would bring into the worldIt was time for the Volvo 240.♪ Hallelujah ♪Like the VESC the new car wouldbe boxy, just like my dad.The 200 series borrowedstyling queues fromthe concept and aside from the front,the body was basicallythe same as the 140.The 240's crumple zones were yuge.And the back was designedto protect the fuel tank.If you crash the engine mounts would sendthe engine and transmissionunder the floorto keep them out of your lap.The steering column wouldmove out of the way.These things were so good thatthe National Highway TrafficSafety Administrationwas like...- Volvo, we think these things are so safewe'd like to use some as the standardthat other cars are measured against.- Ja? Okay...Then you can buy some.- So, NHTSA bought two dozen Volvo 240s.Next up was the engine.Sweden's roads are twisty and narrow,and half the time they'recovered in ice and snow.(car revving)The 200 series didn't need to besome crazy fast group B reject.It just had to get it's passengerswherever they needed to go.Volvo 240s mostly had some versionof a 2-ish liter, 4-cylinder engine.Ah, yes.- Uh, why were they called red blocks?- The engines?- Why were they just called red blocks?- They were called red blocks becausethe engine blocks were red.- Ohh!Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.Heh, thank you.- You're welcome cutie!The first 240s were carburetted.You wanna know how those work,check out this episode of Science Garage....had pushrods and madeless than a hundred #hrsprs.I wasn't kidding when I saidit didn't have to be fast.They switched to an overhead cam in 1976and never looked back!To conform to the progressiveemissions regulationsin the United States the240 got fuel injection.But, only over here.An oxygen sensor, combinedwith fuel injectionand a catalytic converter cleaned up 90%of the bad stuff comin' out of the pooper.(engine revving)The engine even won an award fromthe notoriously strictCalifornia Air Resources Board.Volvo 240s were notonly safe for the peoplein the cars, they even made the air saferfor everyone outside the car, too!That's safe.During the 1970s gas crisis Volvo offereda 2.4 liter inline-six diesel enginethat they borrowed fromtheir buddies over at VW.And those were so bulletproof,that you can stillfind them puttin' aroundLouisville, Kentuckyrunnin' on used vegetable oil.(wheel screeching)Volvo wanted to make cars for people.Which I know sounds obvious, what are theygonna make cars for dogs?But when the people neededa more fuel friendly car,Volvo said,- Your wish, is my command.- But, by 1980 the boys at Volvowere trying to change their image.They realized that safetywould only get them so far.(crash)So they had to start making their safe,slow 240s into safe, faster 240s.The designers were like,- It's ze 80's, and ze Germansare making fast sedans.- Ja.- So, let's make a fast sedanvis a turbo or something.- Ja, I like zat idea!- Ja me too!- Look, our factory also is a weight room,let us celebrate by working on our muscle!Hoon-kah, hoon-kah.- Lift me, let's do gymnastics!(crash)You threw me so high!- Hoon-kah, hoon-kah- You are so strong!(percussive music)- Volvo turbo.- Turbos were finally addedto the line up in 1981.Giving us a new sport trim the 240 G-L-Twhere the T stands for turbo!(car revving)Now that they were turbo-charged anda little bit faster, theyhad to get the word out.And Volvo realized they need to testthese bad boys on the track.To get the 240-T into thegroup A touring car classVolvo motor sport hadto get a little sneaky.Rules stated they needed to build 500homologation models to get into class A.So Volvo fitted a bigger turbo and a bunchof other performance modifications.They streamlined the hoods a bit,and these race specialsbecame known as flat hoods.But Volvo didn't have enoughtime to build them in Europeso they threw all the racegoodies into the trunksof the standard 240-Ts andsent them to the U-S of A.250 of their homologated cars were madeon each of the US coasts, and all 500 wereready to be inspected in just three weeks.A US representative ofthe FiA approved the cars,and Volvo would get to go racin'(tire skidding)- Throwinghis Volvo 240 Turboaround with gay abandon.- They sent one car back to Europe to racein group A touring, and the restof the homologated 240s allstayed here in the States.But could Volvo's boxy, reliable carshandle themselves in a race?Yeah they could!In it's stock form the 240 wasn't fastbut it was light and handled well.Make it a 350 #hrsprs version,and the 240 can run with the best of 'em.(heavy car revving)It ran in British touringcar, European touring car,Australian touring car,and DTM championships.And it won a lot!But when the smoke had cleared and Volvowas on the podium news broke abouta little sneaky sneakynessthat Volvo pulledduring the homologation process.They were supposed to be 499cool (bleep) Volvo racersin the States but there weren't.Turns out, that as soon as the door hitthe FiA inspector in his little butt,Volvo stripped the go-fastparts off all but one car.The one that they sent back to Europe.Everybody was pretty ticked off that Volvoskirted the hardest part ofthe homologation process,selling a race car forthe street to the public.But Volvo motor sport was like,- Ah, ah ah...Za rules only state zat za cars needto be built and inspected, not sold.- Hey man, don't hatethe player, hate yourselffor not being as clever as the player.And those other 499 240s were sold here,with the bigger inner coolerand the signature flat hood.These Volvos became the first batch ofthe 1983 240 Turbo Intercooler models.And they sold quite wellthanks to the successof the 240 in racing abroad.- Volvo now, in the lead,and beginning to pull away.- When we talk about othercars that have been aroundfor over 20 years we say thingslike, the 2nd gen Camaro,or the 3rd generationMustang but not with the 240.No sir, or ma'am.Other than minor changesto the lights and grillethere was one generationof Volvo 240 for 20 years.And the trim levels, and special editionsL for Luxe,DL for DeluxeGL for Grand Luxe,GLE for Grand Luxe Executive.They had so many trimlevels, I can't even listthem all for you but theygot so nuts with namingthat the options in Scandinavia withthe catalytic converter was calledthe Volvo 240 Katalysator.Why even put that on the car?If you like special editions the 240'sgot something for you, everythingfrom long wheel base limos and wagonsfor government and schoolbus duty to cop carsand hand built Italianchop top Bertone coupes.Everyone who owned one ofthese cars absolutely loved it.As a result Volvo builtthe 240 for 19 yearsand sold 2.8 million of 'em.And between 1990 and 1994not one new 240 sedan driverdied in a solo accident, not one.Much like how Brendan Fraser didn't havea bad film within that same time period.Coincidence?I think not.(coughing)- Whoa, whoa cut, come on guys.You don't sound too good little buddy.- Oh, hey Bart.Whoa, hey, hoo hoo--(electronic buzzing)- Ah what the hell is that!- Relax James, this is fixed OBDII reader.- Was that thing in mybody the whole time?- This connects wirelesslyto your smartphoneto read all to codes thatyour engine's giving ya.In this fantasy situation, your body.- Whoa.- In fact, Fixd is sponsoringthis episode of Up to Speed!- Yeah, isn't Fixd offeringUp to Speed fans 10% offof their order if they enterthe code DONUT at checkout?- Yo, you are throwinga lot of codes James.You gotta start drinking more water,probably should get to sleep earlier...- Okay thanks Bart and Fixd.- You gotta start working out,maybe you should get a personal trainer--- Alright, thanks Bart and Fixd!Volvo got so many lettersand calls from ownersthanking them for makingcars that saved their livesthe PR boss Bob Austin got an idea.- Hey Greg, come in here I got an idea.- Sure, uh what's up Bob?- Volvo gets so manyletters from the owners,thanking us for making carsthat saved their lives.I think we should start a club.- Uh, what should we call it man?- I'm thinkin' the VolvoSaved My Life club.- Ooh, it's a little on the nose.- You know what Greg, (bleep) you.I hope you get in a car wreck,but you don't make it into the club.- So Bob started theVolvo Saved My Life Clubin 1990 with membersfrom all over the worldunited in their belief thatif they had been drivingany other car, they'd be dead.Top this all off with thatcrumple zone under the hood.Not only is there a ton of spaceto fit whatever engine you want,they're rear wheel drive.The body is pretty light, andthey handle surprisingly well.And with a reputationfor slow, plodding safetythey're the perfect sleeper.Nobody expects to get theirdoors blown off by an old Volvo.(car revving)Today it's not uncommonto see 240s drag racing,drifting, rallying, roadracing, even off-roading.It's not fast, it's not fancy.It's just an honest car.(honking)(bass music)Yo, I am super excitedto officially collaboratewith Tabasko Sweet over at Super Deluxeon his new show, Cheap Thrills.Boosted!We turned a truck into a Gucci flip flop.If you like Swedish cars, watchthis episode of Up to Speed.As always, click that subscribe button.I'm gonna go to the Gucci store.