The 142E

This is my 1971 Volvo 142E. This is the last 'car in a box' that I ever buy! I say that in jest, because I really had a good time bringing it back to road-worthy status. I bought the car from a friend who had begun the restoration process and then ran out of time. It had an incredible (and accurate, to the best of my knowledge!) 19,720 miles on the ticker when I first began work on it. Of course, it hadn't been started since 1978 or so, and the engine was laying on it's side under an old wooden boat... Purchased new in 1971 in Racine, Wisconsin, the car was parked in 1978. It lived in Edwardsburg, Michigan under a cover until 1991 or so when my friend purchased it. With the help of some friends (Garth, Chris, Dave, Al, Mike, Larry, Todd, and Rick - who made it possible for me to afford this beast in the first place) and about three months worth of work, we managed to get the old Vo back on the road for the first time in about eighteen years! With original paint, this car is still in extremely good condition. I hit a deer (welcome to Indiana!) in the fall of 1996, though, and have to have the left rocker replaced. I hit the deer going at least 60 mph and did almost NO visible damage to the car.
The Volvo reputation for sturdiness is well deserved!

This is my 1971 Volvo 142E. This is the last 'car in a box' that I ever buy! I say that in jest, because I really had a good time bringing it back to road-worthy status. I bought the car from a friend who had begun the restoration process and then ran out of time. It had an incredible (and accurate, to the best of my knowledge!) 19,720 miles on the ticker when I first began work on it. Of course, it hadn't been started since 1978 or so, and the engine was laying on it's side under an old wooden boat...

Purchased new in 1971 in Racine, Wisconsin, the car was parked in 1978. It lived in Edwardsburg, Michigan under a cover until 1991 or so when my friend purchased it.

With the help of some friends (Garth, Chris, Dave, Al, Mike, Larry, Todd, and Rick - who made it possible for me to afford this beast in the first place) and about three months worth of work, we managed to get the old Vo back on the road for the first time in about eighteen years!

With original paint, this car is still in extremely good condition. I hit a deer (welcome to Indiana!) in the fall of 1996, though, and have to have the left rocker replaced. I hit the deer going at least 60 mph and did almost NO visible damage to the car.

The Volvo reputation for sturdiness is well deserved!

Using Bosch D-Jetronic injection, the 2 litre ohv motor generates about 130 bhp. This car is equipped with a manual 4-speed and a stalk actuated electric overdrive. 0 - 60 mph times are in the low 9 second range, with the car topping out around 115 mph. The Mighty One now has 39,000 miles showing.

Note that the only real modification is the removal of the original airbox and the installation of a cone-type K&N Filtercharger. Noisy, but VERY effective!

Unlike most Volvo's of this vintage, this car has 15" factory alloys (from an early '80's TurboVolvo) that have been powder-coated bright white. They're wearing Goodyear Eagle Gatorbacks. The shocks have been replaced with Bilsteins for a much firmer ride. The brakes have been modified, as well. Steel-braided hoses, drilled rotors (front and rear), and Repco brake pads give this car the ability to stop so fast it'll nearly pop your eyes out of their sockets! I installed an ipd sway bar kit (front and rear, though these cars didn't come with anything on the rear) and I added urethane grommets. These sway bars deserve every accolade that have been heaped upon them - probably the most significant improvement that I've done to this car!

DATELINE: 17 October, 1998

Well, the Mighty Volvo is wrecked. It's totalled. Fortunately, no one was hurt. At about two in the afternoon I was visiting my friend Gordon in Charlevoix at his folk's house, and we had a head-on on their driveway. I guess it's more of a private road than a driveway, but I digress.

Gordon was on his way up the drive, and I was on my way down. There is a small uphill area where there is an absolute blind curve. I had stopped to see if he was in the barn, and had just removed my foot from the brake. I actually still had my foot on the clutch! He came up the hill doing less than 20 mph, and WHAM! A head-on between a vintage Volvo 142E and a very modern Mercedes-Benz 500 SL. He crawled right up under the Vo's driver side front end.

His airbag never went off and the roll-bar didn't snap up, so we weren't past the threshold speed. It's really a very good thing that I wasn't moving- had I been moving at the same (albeit relatively slow) velocity, I would surely have ended up on top of his car and killed him. Sobering, isn't it?

Following are some photos that I took the next day. Both of us are bummed.

The Final 142 Chapter


Well, the end of the story goes like this: My insurance company totalled the car (no suprise there!) and I kept the wreck. I turned around and sold it lock, stock, and barrel to the man who did the initial estimate.
At the time of the accident the Vo had just turned over 44,000 miles and was running like a top. Well, I guess it's time to start over! I think this time I'll try to find a 1978 Volvo 242 DL. I'll need a rust-free example, and mechanicals don't really matter too much.

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