The star icon of all gearhead cars, Volvo 240, 30 and 50 years!

Several Norwegian Volvo 240 cop cars snapped in the early '80s during a delivery to the Norwegian police.

Howdy again to all you car enthusiasts on my car blog. This post is dedicated to stories about any kind of car, even those foreign ones. Now, we all know that the Volvo 240 is the absolute icon of car enthusiasts, especially in Norway. I reckon most of us have a bunch of 240 stories lying around somewhere, especially the one about the teacher's 240. But did y'all know that the Volvo 240 turns 50 in 2024? And it's been 30 years since it went out of production this past year. I reckon there are still some folks who know that, right? Now, right before the 240 stopped rolling off the assembly line in May '93, Volvo made its own batch for the Lillehammer Olympics in Norway a year later. Not many folks know that bit. The Lillehammer models of the 240 were a bit simpler in design compared to the Volvo 850s and the other Olympic cars they had during the Lillehammer '94 games. The Volvo 240 Lillehammer model was basically a special edition, called the Volvo 240 Olympic. The Olympic had a small logo or emblem that said "Olympic" on it, outside somewhere, on the side and back, and inside on the dashboard. The Norwegian police even managed to get a whole bunch of 240 police cars right before they went out of production. In the last model year of '93, you could get the 240 as a commercial vehicle with green plates and no rear seats—something the janitor at my school had.

The Volvo 240 was heavily used by the Norwegian police, and just before it went out of production, the Norwegian police got themselves a bunch more Volvo 240 police cars. Some of them, I believe, were still in use until maybe just 10 years ago. The Norwegian police have been using the 240 since the 1960s, starting from the 140 series, all the way up until maybe just 10 years ago, longer than even the Swedes who make Volvos. The Finnish police bought some 240s in the late '70s and early '90s. The Danish and Icelandic police also had some 240s. Now, talking about our connection to the Brits, their affinity for coastlines, fishing, shipping, sheep, and oil industries, plus Norwegian language's connection to English—both the Brits and the Americans bought a small number of Volvo 240 police cars. Not to mention, with Volvo 240s appearing in Norwegian, Swedish, and American movies, that's pretty cool too. And speaking of the Germanic and non-Norse and British "old Norse," the Germans once bought some Volvo 240s. I think I've even seen some Swiss, Austrian, and Russian 240s online, and maybe even some Italian ones.

So, the Volvo 240 turns 50 in 2024, but did you know it actually hit 50 back in 2016 when it started with the 140 series in 1966? Well, to be fair, it wasn't until 1974 that it got the name 240, and in the '60s and '70s, you had both the 240 and 140 as separate American versions called the 260 series and the 160 series. I reckon the 240 must've been real popular in Norway in the '70s, especially among families, 'cause it was solid, had plenty of space, and, most importantly, was safe in collisions. Remember, in 1970, Norway had a record number of traffic fatalities with a whopping 1000 killed throughout the year. Even though things improved in the '70s, there were still a lot of deaths. So, the 240 was mighty popular in Norway in the '70s. Norway was on the up and up economically and population-wise, with many new kiddos after the war. Of course, in the '70s, there was even more economic progress due to us striking oil. But did you know that back in those days, Norway offered to share its oil with the Swedes in exchange for parts of Volvo? Yep, that collaboration didn't quite work out, but considering how much oil we've found since then, it's probably for the best. So, the Volvo 240 is turning 50 in 2024, more like a classic car than a car for enthusiasts, but still an enthusiast's car, I reckon. Did you know Volvo made some real cool special editions of the 240? Check 'em out in my Classic Car Blog.