Check out this Modded 245
If I’m honest, if I had the last 13 years with the Volvo again, I would have stripped the shell a decade ago when it stopped being my daily, and fitted an LS V8, T56 gearbox and a BMW M3 back end. The interior would still only have two seats, but it would be more complete – a nicer place to be. But I didn’t, so that’s enough of that.
English Volvo 245 owner and Speed Hunter Bryn Musselwhite talks about the “organic” process of making his 240 wagon into a fast, fast Volvo.
Long term projects invariably don’t start out that way, and in my case what was meant to be a reliable daily driver has turned in to a noisy, uncomfortable, unreliable and often frustrating exercise. And those are just its good points.
What’s even worse, I should have seen this coming all along… I mean come on, I spend my days speaking to owner/builders/professionals all over the world, who quite often echo the same sentiment.
Looking back to how it all started I can only put it down to p*ss-poor planning, or a complete lack of planning if I’m totally honest. Although that’s changed over the years and I’ve since learnt, literally on the job, it’s now time to finish things off and do it right for once.
So why now? I recently got married and I’m fast approaching that stage in a feature car article when the owner turns around and says, ‘that’s when life got in the way’, whilst explaining why no car stuff happened for a number of years. That’s not to say my wife is trying to stop me from doing anything, no, I just really want to build a house! And I know that’s going to take all my time and money. Spare or otherwise.
But to just sideline the Volvo is not an option, so I’ve decided to face up to some home truths and right some wrongs. To be realistic for once and make good. To accelerate the process of getting stuff done.
If I’m honest, if I had the last 13 years with the Volvo again, I would have stripped the shell a decade ago when it stopped being my daily, and fitted an LS V8, T56 gearbox and a BMW M3 back end. The interior would still only have two seats, but it would be more complete – a nicer place to be. But I didn’t, so that’s enough of that.
That’s not to say I don’t get a kick out of the turbocharged Volvo B230 motor, because I genuinely love it. The Volvo engine always makes me come back to the reason the car looks the way it does today. It’s all a result of the journey we’ve been on together. It wasn’t laid out on a desk, planned and precise, it’s organically evolved over the years and is the combination of all the different decisions I’ve made as I’ve grown and changed.
So here we are, an experienced motoring journalist and a butchered Volvo wagon. Is this a mechanical representation of myself? My skill set and attention span mixed in to one mismatched, eclectic, hotch potch of parts and inspiration? I think it might just be.
Bearing in mind that I have two other fully-fledged projects in the workshop, I’m not going to dwell on the philosophical side of things for too long. The fact is, I’ve been away from home a lot since I last showed you the Volvo, which was just after I’d fitted the RAYS Volk Racing TE37Vs, but I’ve been busy making sure that the list of problems are being solved one way or another.
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