240 General: Road Trip

[mr dbini]

I just got back from a 600 mile road trip (Cardiff - Aberystwyth - Caernarfon - Midlands - Cardiff) and not a problem for Big Red (apart from needing a good wash on return)
But on all those miles, I saw no other 240s. In previous years I'd be sure to see a couple, but they must be dropping like flies.
Anyway - its all good practice for the Summer Homeland Road Trip (Wales - England - Denmark - Norway - Sweden - Finland - Sweden - Denmark - England - Wales in 3 and a half weeks in July)
Anybody got any advice for the big trip??



1989 240 GLT estate

[volvo always]

Originally Posted by mr dbini

I just got back from a 600 mile road trip (Cardiff - Aberystwyth - Caernarfon - Midlands - Cardiff) and not a problem for Big Red (apart from needing a good wash on return)
But on all those miles, I saw no other 240s. In previous years I'd be sure to see a couple, but they must be dropping like flies.
Anyway - its all good practice for the Summer Homeland Road Trip (Wales - England - Denmark - Norway - Sweden - Finland - Sweden - Denmark - England - Wales in 3 and a half weeks in July)
Anybody got any advice for the big trip??



1989 240 GLT estate

Have a big enough bank balance for the fuel!!

I have the same car and year and have just been running around with my sister while she is on holiday with us and done nearly 500 miles in 5 days and used 120 euros worth of fuel. It's on 182,500 miles now.

I love my 240 glt auto estate and when I return to the UK may convert to LPG They use more fuel but give easy maintenance and excellent reliability

James

[Rich 264]

Originally Posted by mr dbini

But on all those miles, I saw no other 240s. In previous years I'd be sure to see a couple, but they must be dropping like flies.

Sorry to chip in; but within minutes of each other you posted this about your trip and I posted about the banger racers 'All Volvo' meeting. I've been banging on for years about how banger racing has anihalated so many makes/types of car including Oxford/Cambridge, Granadas, Bluebirds etc, and now Volvos but I don't think many people realise the scale of things.

Anyway I wasn't looking to open any can of worms about banger racing just make people more aware of the scale of whats going on especially when they have a car for sale.

Great trip, you must be looking forward to getting into Scandinavia, all those quiet miles of beautiful forests, rivers & lakes.

Just watch your speed, in the '90s I drove many miles in Finland & Sweden and they are VERY strict on speed limits, all the patrol cars have radar/laser and they are switched on!

If it says 80kph you do 80kph. I got a ticket after crossing from a 100kph into a 80kph, having diligently done 100kph from one sign to the next.

Rather than brake I took my foot off to coast from 100 down to 80 when I saw the 80 sign approaching but must have still been doing over 80 as I passed the sign, around the bend I saw a Poliisi Saab 900 approaching with blue then red light flashing, as we passed I saw him u-turn in my mirror and attach himself to my rear bumper. One fixed penalty and a lesson learned!

[Angie]

There seem to be hardly any about now - though there were two in the church car park this evening, ours and the one we nearly bought!

We did around 800 miles when we went to Staffordshire in November and saw not one 240. We saw just one or two when we were coming home from Brighton via the New Forest last May. It's sad to think that such lovely cars should have gone for scrappage or banger racing.

[tannachyallen]

I've just got back from a round trip to the far north (Sutherland) 1200 miles give or take. The bus performed impeccabley as ever. Didn't see another 240 the whole trip. Only RWD volvo was a 740 estate near Gretna. Looked a bit startled when I flashed and waved................

Dave A.

[yragyrag90]

I'll often see 740's, but hardly any 240's. And that's driving from Ashington to Middlesbrough a few times each week. And doing a load of miles between.

Me and a friend were looking at stuff to do this summer, and one of the things we came up with was a: Road Trip.
We'd envisaged this crazy European capitals tour.
Going from Newcastle - Dover - Calais - Paris - Madrid - Alicante - Barcelona - Genoa - Rome - Across to Albania - Budapest - Zurich - Berlin - Amsterdam - Newcastle.
In total 5000 miles.
But at, say 20mpg. It would cost about £1500 for fuel.
And that's at the (hopeful, but not checked) continental price of £1 a litre.

So, knocked that one on the head.

[PTJS]

Yes, very few to be seen these days. I usually flash my lights if I see one as its such a special occasion! A while ago someone on the forum ran a check on the number of 240's in the UK and I think at that time it was around 5000. What with the effects of the scrappage scheme, natural wastage etc it would be interesting to know how this figure now stands.

I bought my 1988 240GL in 1989 and it has done everything I asked of it and much more in those years from caravan towing to daily business use. Its pretty clean and mollycoddled these days and I now show it in the summer. They must be getting scarce as it turns a few heads now - hard to believe its 20 years since production stopped. Its now coming up to 200k and I have an idea to do the Greek islands in it (ferries permitting) some time. I think with a one off road trip holiday/adventure you've just got to accept that fuel is going to be a major cost and factor it into the overall budget. However, a 1000 miles trip into Europe will take you to a lot of places so a memorable journey may not need to be that expensive!

Cheers

Phil

[Volvon]

Originally Posted by mr dbini

I just got back from a 600 mile road trip (Cardiff - Aberystwyth - Caernarfon - Midlands - Cardiff) and not a problem for Big Red (apart from needing a good wash on return)
But on all those miles, I saw no other 240s. In previous years I'd be sure to see a couple, but they must be dropping like flies.
Anyway - its all good practice for the Summer Homeland Road Trip (Wales - England - Denmark - Norway - Sweden - Finland - Sweden - Denmark - England - Wales in 3 and a half weeks in July)
Anybody got any advice for the big trip??

1989 240 GLT estate

Don't over do it, drive about 10 hours maximum per day. Ie set off about 7am and then pull into hotel about 6pm and relax. This way you don't ache, your never tired and when you reach Finland you will be fresh and can enjoy yourself.

I used to do:

Day 1; Liverpool - Belgium
Day 2; Belgium - Denmark (barely the border)
Day 3; Denmark - Stockholm harbour
Day 4; Finland roll off ferry at 6am

That is keeping the needle on 60mph the whole way pretty much. So it also helps save a lot of fuel.

But most of all, ENJOY. As soon as you reach the Oresund bridge it is the best drive ever. And you will see plenty of 240's in Sweden


PS I did it once on the way back in 2 stops,

Day 1; Stockholm harbour - Hamburg
Day 2; Hamburg - Liverpool

Worst drive of my life.

[mr dbini]

...and then a week or 2 later, i'm driving around Cardiff and a G-reg red GLT estate pops up behind me. when we stop at lights the driver runs up to my window and says: nice car! do you know anything about the injectors? - mine are a bit sticky. i apologised for a lack of knowledge and he chipped off back into his car before the lights turned green. nice.

also - i know the road trip is going to cost a fortune in petrol, but my grandad died last year and i inherited a small sum, so its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. he would have appreciated the adventure...

[JMallows]

Originally Posted by mr dbini

I just got back from a 600 mile road trip (Cardiff - Aberystwyth - Caernarfon - Midlands - Cardiff) and not a problem for Big Red (apart from needing a good wash on return)
But on all those miles, I saw no other 240s. In previous years I'd be sure to see a couple, but they must be dropping like flies.
Anyway - its all good practice for the Summer Homeland Road Trip (Wales - England - Denmark - Norway - Sweden - Finland - Sweden - Denmark - England - Wales in 3 and a half weeks in July)
Anybody got any advice for the big trip??



1989 240 GLT estate

I live in Aber, dont see any 240s here. Down in the new forest the other day, saw two - a black Y Reg, very nice, owner looked startled to see me pointing! And an F or something around then. Have seen loads recently, and also seen quite a few MK2 golfs, dont see many of either of these any more