One day when I was 15 years old, my Dad came home with a crappy-looking, rusted maroon colored (with some primer, red paint and a streak of yellow paint thanks to a vandal) 1971 Volvo 142. It was for my sister who needed a car. She drove it for a short time and hated it. She hated the funky ribbon speedometer, hated the manual choke, hated the square body, hated the rust. She got another car for herself and the Volvo was left for me.

I didn't like it at first, but slowly appreciated the car's uniqueness and personality. I then learned more about how well Volvos were built and how anal they were about safety. That was the beginning of my brick love affair.

That probably won't happen with your son, but maybe he will appreciate how different the classic Volvos are to today's cars. I've always thought that older cars were cool with high school and college kids.

As for the AC, mine stopped working several years ago...and I'm in Ohio. It gets pretty hot here in August! It's annoying but I live with it. I'm too cheap to pay to have it fixed and I'm not experienced enough to fix it myself.
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Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 237,000 miles - Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15