Junkyard Find: 1971 Volvo 144

by Murilee Martin

Updated: February 19th, 2022 Published: February 22nd, 2016

The Volvo 140 was the first of the beloved brick-shaped Swedes. It was built for the 1967 through 1975 model years, and it served as the basis for the legendary 240. I owned one, briefly, and found it was a very competent machine for its era. These cars are not worth big money today, unless they’re in excellent cosmetic shape, so the ones that stay on the street tend to do so because their owners can keep them running for cheap.

In fact, these cars are not uncommon in self-service wrecking yards, even though it has been 42 years since the last one was built. In this series prior to today, we have seen this ’68 142, this ’69 145, this ’71 144, this ’71 142, this ’72 145 wagon (plus this 140-based Volvo 164).

I spotted this one about a week ago in a Northern California wrecking yard surrounded by billboards advertising Bay Area rapper E-40’s new malt liquor. The demand for Volvo 140 parts isn’t so high, so not many parts had been picked from this ’71.

It had the look of a car that had been sitting for a few years before being towed off to this sorry final parking space. Inside, I found part of the cover of the May 2010 issue of SF Weekly, the one with the story of Epic Beard Man.

#1970s #1971 #1971Volvo144 #California #DownOnTheJunkyard #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #Sedan #SwedishCars #Volvo #Volvo140Series #Volvo144 #Volvo140

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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7 of 55 comments

Roberto Esponja on Feb 22, 2016

Four photos? What, are they cutting Murilee's budget? Jeez...

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SCE to AUX on Feb 22, 2016

I just don't get the cult-like appeal of these cars. It must be a Jeep thing.

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- RideHeight on Feb 22, 2016
  
  "It must be a Jeep thing." Very close! It's a chick thing: >>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAgmQzC7rV0
  
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- Ryoku75 on Feb 22, 2016
  
  I get the appeal, but rarely do I get the fans. Try selling one and they expect nothing short of perfection, and a Kelly Bluebook price.
  
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- JimC2 on Feb 22, 2016
  
  You should have worked on one back in the day. Except for the heater fan, everything on them was ridiculously easy to work on. The seats were the best of anything on the market- I always looked down on other brands that would offer leather seats with uncomfortable ergonomics (really basic mistakes like too little thigh support). You can cover up a crappy uncomfortable seat with leather but it'll only ever be a crappy uncomfortable seat covered with leather. Other brand seats were kinda like a trailer park queen putting on expensive clothes and makeup (no thanks, she still has missing teeth and dropped out of school). Well, I guess that is a strange analogy... Um, back on track, the brakes in these cars had better stopping power than anything on the market except for some really high end cars and they were four wheel discs- in 1967!
  
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- MRF 95 T-Bird on Feb 22, 2016
  
  @RideHeight Brilliant ad like many Volvo ads of the era. I always liked the ad where old mostly American and Japanese cars are crushed in the wrecking yard as Volvos chug along to the David Ruffin song "What becomes of the broken hearted"
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Feb 23, 2016
  
  Yes it is like a Jeep thing. Volvo RWDs, like Jeeps, are beloved for being ridiculous in a good way for what they are... these things were reliable, effective, relatively cheap, and overengineered for their time. The 200 series in the 80s was designed to have a lifespan of about 19.3 years, this in an era when a ten year/100K lifespan was "good". The drivetrain while slow, thirsty, and crude, is capable of a million mile lifespan. The auto transmission (an Aisin Warner unit) is quite stout (for an auto) and does not typically fail. The seats and interior are designed for longevity and relative comfort for the time. The cars are easily serviced by the DIY and can be made to keep going for decades to come. If these had been offered in 4x4 I think they'd be considered the Lada Niva of the West.
  
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