Since the article and just about everything mentioned in it is no longer in production... I doubt no one will mind (however I have been known to be wrong)

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hope you guys find it interesting, it took me a while to hunt down. Note the interesting paint scheme on the volvo competition services preped car.

Is a good article indeed. I was just browsing though it last week and noticed the spiffy steering wheel shown on page 3. Just like the one in my new 145...

For those interested, keep an eye out for "Road & Track On Volvo 1957-1974" My copy is from 1985. Its a book of article and road tests on all the vintage Volvos. Including the article posted above. Don't think its still in print, but surely it comes up on ebay from time to time. Its a great resource...

-matt

I remember reading that article when it came out in the magazine. No need for carbon dating - I'm at least that old.
IPD used to sell reprints of the article, and of course I bought one. Then I bought the Road and Track Test Report compilation on Volvo which had that same article, and many more. Really fascinating stuff.
It is still a great article today, and shows how installing too much cam doesn't help a whole bunch.
That Volvo paint scheme was probably one of the designs that lead to the 78-80 240GT scheme - and I bought a 79 brand new that year. Still miss it.

Hey man how's it goin? Haven't heard from you in a while.

"hope you guys find it interesting"? YOU BET! That is awesome! Great find! Now, they mentioned something about Volvo performance in 1971... Hmm, where might that one be? (i'm not asking you to look =D)

Hmmm, why doesn't IPD offer LSDs anymore? Or an adjustable rear bar? I want some of those wheels! ... That is awesome, just awesome. How come IPD doesn't sell nice parts like some of the ones on that car anymore? Its good to see the spoiler is back, too bad i don't have excess money to get one... They seem to have gone a more high end/less racy way... Oh well. They're still here for us. GARAGE SALE HERE I COME!
--
Kyle - attending Ore. State, while my lil 68 142 (74 b20, broken m40) AWAITS ME OUTSIDE!!! (check out my cardomain site, kneedsacar)

They don't carry what they can't sell, would be my guess.

Figure that when a 140 was new, it wasn't a cheap car to buy. Owners were people who had money to spend, who could afford go-fast stuff. Also, Volvos were competitive against other new cars of the time on the track. Richard Gordon won various SCCA championships (I think it was SCCA?) and that no doubt helped sales.

Now a typical 140 isn't worth anything much, its competitive only in ITB where few mods are allowed and budgets are supposed to be low (in theory), and there are just a handful of hard-core loonies wanting real high-performance parts for B20s.

They're not going to offer an expensive item if they can only find someone able to pay the premium price once every two years. It's not worth their investment, or the warehouse and catalog space.

My take on it, anyway...

John Parker seems to do ok though selling to this market. He is more niche though, and working with a smaller customer base. Maybe they should slow down on sending those newsletters, must cost a fortune...they also have pricey suppliers, I can buy some things cheaper from the dealer than from them. And of course, most online locations are far cheaper. I still buy from them when I can, I believe in supporting them because of the support they provide. I do hope they survive though, they are the definite epicenter of much of the Volvo community, at least here in the northwest. Plus, their guys are great to talk to, and are always helpful. They know my friends and I by name, and we're always joking around.

Many of those online stores couldn't care less if I was driving a BMW or a bicycle.

Hey Kyle, Phil S.

Yeah I haven't been very active lately.. im still looking around for various parts and stuff. And as I dug deeper into my car what looked like a few patches and a nice respray job has turned into a whole lot of patches, etc... Wanting to build this chassis right means gathering up all the bits and having enough money to get the more critical ones done professionally.. instead of hacking it together (like my last one).

And Kyle, I have the 1971 article as well... will follow shortly.. My friend just showed up with his brand new Yamaha R6 (I call it my other liver:)