Volvo 240 GL Saloon

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Exuding tank-like solidity, the Volvo 240 was launched in 1974 and soldiered on virtually unaltered until 1993, completely immune to the whims of fashion, and capable of racking up Star Ship mileages without a murmur of complaint.

Designed by Jan “simple is beautiful” Wilsgaard, it may have looked like a brick, but it also lasted like a brick as well and was famously one of the safest cars on the road with a massively strong shell, large crumple zones front and rear, and bumpers that could have come straight from an oil tanker. Powered by an indestructible 2,127cc four-cylinder engine that produced 123bhp and 125lb/ft, it could lumber to 60mph in 11 seconds on its way to a top speed of 106mph.

According to The Urban Dictionary, “Volvo drivers are people who value quality and safety over ostentation. They are often liberal, well educated and middle class. Although the cars are expensive to buy, owners tend to hang on to them for decades, appreciating the solid Scandinavian engineering that protects their passengers, other drivers and even pedestrians from the hazards of the road”.

As if to prove the point, this 1984 example was bought new from John Wallwork of Farrier Street, Worcester, by a well-to-do local lady who was to keep it until her death in 2003. Not one for fripperies, she ordered it with no radio, no electric windows, no sunroof and steel wheels rather than alloys. On her first visit to her local golf club, the new Volvo was struck on the roof by an errant golf ball, leaving a small dimple on the roof which remains there to this day.

While she may not have been concerned by a dent, she spared no effort to keep the car in good shape mechanically and the service book records no fewer than 23 stamps up to 38,548 miles in 1999 – an average service interval of less than 1,700 miles! The vendor, a professional mechanic who had known the car from new and had often worked on it over the years, bought it from her son-in-law a few months after she passed away and has continued to cherish it ever since.

During his 12-year ownership the mileage has risen from 45,000 to 137,300 with many of these clocked up on regular trips to a holiday home in Cornwall during which the car would average 43mpg at a steady 70mph in fifth. Although he has not stamped the book, the vendor has continued to service it religiously, the last time only 5,000 miles ago when new cam, fan and power steering belts were also fitted. Said to be totally original apart from the bonnet, which was repainted a dozen years ago, it remains in remarkably sound condition and the back seats still look like they have virtually never been sat in.

In a fit of ostentation that would no doubt irk the original lady owner, the vendor has also fitted a set of Volvo alloy wheels, a stainless steel exhaust and a Panasonic CD radio to help while away those long motorway trips to the coast. Supplied with a large quantity of useful spares including headlamps, tail lamps, hoses, belts, service items and a radiator, this impeccably maintained brick comes with an MOT until December 2015 (plus 23 old MOTs) and will doubtless outlive us all.