Junkyard Find: 1968 Volvo 142

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

After seeing this 1969 Volvo 145 wagon a couple of weeks back, I figured I wouldn’t be seeing any more 140s for quite a while. Not so!

It’s a not-completely-rusty 44-year-old Swede with four-on-the-floor and a clean-looking engine. You’d think that 140 coupes would be worth something, but this one couldn’t find anyone to save it from The Crusher.

Once again, the “thermometer” speedo reminds me of my ’68 Volvo 144.

Those SU carbs look to be in good shape. In fact, the entire B18 engine looks good.

Perhaps it will yield some of its parts for surviving 140s before being shredded and shipped to a Chinese steel plant.







Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Jul 11, 2012

    One little correction, Murilee: most of that shredded steel is going to U.S. recyclers who produce more steel than the primary producers, not China. Bertel will correct me, but I believe MOST steel made in China is primary steel, made from ore, not scrap. Japan used to be the primary destination for scrap steel, but China never took over that business - unlike Japan, China has large iron ore deposits, and prefers to augment it by buying high grade ore from places like Brazil. That Volvo is more likely to be turned into a Kenmore washer or dryer.

  • Hootbot Hootbot on Jul 14, 2012

    I need those fenders for my car... So badly.

  • Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh [h3]Wake me up when it is a 1989 635Csi with a M88/3[/h3]
  • BrandX "I can charge using the 240V outlets, sure, but it’s slow."No it's not. That's what all home chargers use - 240V.
  • Jalop1991 does the odometer represent itself in an analog fashion? Will the numbers roll slowly and stop wherever, or do they just blink to the next number like any old boring modern car?
  • MaintenanceCosts E34 535i may be, for my money, the most desirable BMW ever built. (It's either it or the E34 M5.) Skeptical of these mods but they might be worth undoing.
  • Arthur Dailey What a load of cow patties from fat cat politicians, swilling at the trough of their rich backers. Business is all for `free markets` when it benefits them. But are very quick to hold their hands out for government tax credits, tax breaks or government contracts. And business executives are unwilling to limit their power over their workers. Business executives are trained to `divide and conquer` by pitting workers against each other for raises or promotions. As for the fat cat politicians what about legislating a living wage, so workers don't have to worry about holding down multiple jobs or begging for raises? And what about actually criminally charging those who hire people who are not legally illegible to work? Remember that it is business interests who regularly lobby for greater immigration. If you are a good and fair employer, your workers will never feel the need to speak to a union. And if you are not a good employer, then hopefully 'you get the union that you deserve'.
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