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On rednecks and Volvos 700 1990

The philosophical difference here is that the trucks are all about image, and the Volvo is about ability. Yes, the trucks do in fact have greater capability, but it is not usually required for the tasks they are put to. Unfortunately, at least as regards this situation, you have a sedan. Wagons are a lot more effective at making fools of rednecks, as they can handle at least 90% of the common chores pickup trucks are actually used for in suburbia. You can put an absurd amount of stuff in one if you pack it carefully. Going camping? Canoe? Kayak? No problem at all with a roof rack. I sometimes sell stuff at the flea market, and it is not uncommon for me to unload nearly twice as much as the guy next to me with a 3/4 ton 4 door pickup. You can load up a bunch of 8 foot 2bys, and a dozen bags of cement, and shut the door on it. Even 10 foot PVC pipe will fit inside with the tailgate closed, because you can bend it slightly. I have carried 10 foot boards in mine, but I don't like doing it because the front end has to sit on the dash, practically touching the windshield. A 240 or 740 wagon will carry a thousand pounds (1/2 ton) in the back, (that's over 200 bricks---the old solid kind BTDT) plus the driver. It can tow 2000 lbs with ease and safety, something over 3000 with the right kind of hitch and brakes on the trailer. It has over 7 inches of ground clearance. Much of this is also true of the sedan. I used to amaze the locals at an auction I once was a regular at. They would see me loading up box after box of books (usually @ $1/box) in my 71 142E, trunk full, back seat, sometimes the front seat too, then I would blow past them all on the way home. If you live in an area where it snows, common wisdom nowadays is that 4WD/AWD is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL if you want to be able to get around in the wintertime, but put four real SNOW tires on a Volvo, and it will do just fine, in anything up to close to a foot of new snow, and because the Volvo steers and handles properly, and doesn't weigh close to 3 tons, it will behave much better on packed snow and other such slippery surfaces than a big heavy, clumsy pig of a truck.

However, if you really want to impress rednecks, what you need to do is get another 740, and drop a Ford 5.0 V8 in it. It's a very easy conversion, as such things go, there is a kit with all the necessary mounts and adapters available, an every redneck I've ever known has had an understanding of, and respect for, vehicles with ridiculous amounts of horsepower. If you go mild with the engine, it's plenty fast, and still a perfectly usable 20+ mpg daily driver. Build the motor up, and it's as fast as most Mustangs and Camaros, with much better chassis and brakes.






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©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


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