Volvos at the Farm 2023

David: Volvos at the Farm was a Volvo enthusiast show held at the Lyman Orchard Farm in Middlefield, Connecticut. While Volvos old and new primarily made up the roster of attendees, Saabs were also welcome as well, making it a true Swedish car meet up! Some Saabs did make it into the show, but only around five or so made it, but they definitely gained a large attraction, as you'll see why below... 

Aside from the Saabs, there was a pretty equal amount of old and new Volvos. Lots of 122 Amazon Estates, Coupes, and Sedans made up the vintage Volvo attendance, with the 240 and P1800 sports cars not too far behind. Modern Volvos included many V70 and S70s of different generations, with some 850 and C30s sprinkled in to the crowd as well. 

Above: 1986 Volvo 240 DL 

This may look like a pretty average 240, but this is a pretty rare spec vehicle. This beige exterior and brown interior a very rare to find on a 240, especially these days. I've only seen one other, which can be found in the early ONEC entries, bike rides 4 and 5. 

Above: 1991 Volvo 780 Bertone Coupe 

What on earth is a 780? It's a pretty rare version of the 700 series, and was only produced from 1987 to 1991. Volvo's idea was introduce another two door coupe after the 262C Bertone was discontinued in 1981. When the 780 production ended, Volvo had only made around 8500 models, making this a pretty hard car to come across in the wild. I was very impressed to see one at the show, as its often overlooked in the classic "Boxy" Volvo era. 

Above: 1971 Volvo 144S 

Arguably, this Volvo 140 series was one of the most unique vintage Volvos at the show, and for good reason. Being the only 140 series vehicle in attendance, this 144 has quite the back story, as I was fortunate enough to meet its owner. 

This 144 was purchased by its owner around two years ago, in rather poor condition. Previously, the car was haunted by rust and a bad repaint. Fortunately, it fell into the right hands, and was brought back to life better than ever. Due to some of the aforementioned issues, like any old Volvo, parts were sourced from other vehicles to bring this back to life. While this is a 1971 144, the grille is from a 1967 model. There is a noticable difference between the two, but the parts are interchangable. The idea behind this change was simple. The original grille had rusted out fairly badly, but the owner thought that the early model grilles were what the designers were really going for, so the decision was made to replace it with the early grille design.

In terms of paint, the color this car is finished in is Safari Yellow. However, the only piece truly finished in this color is the hood. The rest of the car was given a repaint earlier in its life that sort of matched Safari Yellow, but was a bit darked. The owner had replaced the original hood, as it was pretty rusty, and decided if he were to keep one piece of the car in the correct color, it would be the hood. 

Above: 144 Close Ups

This was the first ever 140 series I had ever been in the presence of. Previously, there had been a 145 that I had seen parked in a garage near my house, but I had never seen the car fully in person. There was also the 142 that Sam had photographed earlier this year, which still stands as one of the best finds of the year. 

Above: 1972 Volvo P1800 ES 

Another Volvo finished in Safari Yellow, this time a P1800 ES!

Above: 1993 Volvo 240 Classic Estate

The Volvo 240 "Classic" Edition was produced for one year only in 1993, commemorating the last 1600 240 models produced. Each car was numbered with a special plaque in the interior. They were finished in Maroon or Dark Blue, maybe we'll see another later...

Above: 1970 Volvo P1800 E

A beautiful example of a Volvo P1800 sports car. The "E" stands for Einspritzung, German for "Fuel Injection." So, this P1800 may look really nice, but it also has fuel injection!

Above: 1972 Volvo P1800E

Another gorgeous example of a P1800. I love the paint and rims on this car. We'll get to that Saab 96 later...

Above: Volvo PV-544 Sport 

A very clean example of a PV-544, complete with the indestructible B-18 engine. 

Above: 1959 Volvo PV-445 Duett 

Another Volvo I had never seen before in person until this show. This is the Volvo Duett, a more utilitarian version of the PV-444/544 as seen above. These were named the Duett because it could function as a work vehicle and also as a family vehicle. Essentially, this is another pioneer of the modern SUV. The Duett would be phased out by the 145 Estate in the late '60s, and would largely become an overlooked model in Volvo's early history. This Duett has some serious patina, so one could imagine this was quite the worker back in its day. 

Above: Volvo 122 Amazon

Another Amazon wagon that I'm not sure was part of the show since it was parked in the gravel lot away from everything. This old Volvo was clearly this owner's work vehicle, since its carrying some hefty cargo and shows signs of definite wear. That B-18 engine won't die, so this person knows what they have!

Above: 1993 Volvo 240 Classic Estate

Looks we happened upon the other 240 Classic at the show! To show you the other color available for the 240 Classic, here it is in dark blue.

Above: 1980 Volvo 244 GL 

This is an absolutely clean 240! What makes it even cooler, despite being an early model 240, its a Canadian import! This 240 has an interesting backstory which I'm feeling like has a few details missing. Despite being a 1980 car, the front end appears to be one found on 1981 through '85 240 models. Even the air dam would not be a feature until 1983! However, details like the dashboard layout (see below) and rear tail light design show signs of the car being truly a 1980 vehicle. The Hagerty link from which this vehicle is listed on states it as a 1981 via Canadian documentation, which would be correct in terms of exterior appearance, but again, there's so many contradicting details!

Read more about it here: https://www.hagerty.com/drivers-club/my-garage/pugzfyln/jvdm/fdedb6b0-f70f-4fd3-b151-184cba932375 

Above: 244 Close Ups

Above you can see the early model 240 dashboard layout. This design was used from the original 1974 models until 1980, following the update in 1981. If this dashboard is original, than this car is most likely a 1980. That means this car may have recieved a new front end at some point in its life. A 1980 240 would the large quad headlights, which were used from 1978 to 1980. Being a Canadian import, this car has 303,813 kilometers on the clock, which equates to about 188, 780 miles. Not too bad for a 240 in this condition. 

Above: Volvo 740 w/ Lift Kit

This is a cool Volvo, and something of a recent trend with the 740s and 940s. A lot of people have started making their beater Volvos off roading beasts, such as this 740 sedan. I had never seen one in person before, so I figured it would be a highlight of the show. 

Above: Volvo 440 Hatchback

I was honestly not expecting to see one of these at the show, and I'm very glad it showed up. Honestly, I was never expecting to see one of these in real life at all! This is the Volvo 400 series, and they were never available in the US. The 400 series was produced from 1988 to '96, and was only sold in Europe. Essentially, it's a compact 850 with a hatchback option, which almost gives it a Saab 9000-esque appearance. My father initially thought that's what this car was when it rolled into the field. I can't fault him either, as it looks pretty similar from a far. 

Above: Volvo PV-544 Sport 

Another beautiful example of a classic Volvo PV-544. I absolutely love the finish on this car. 

Above: 1991 Volvo 240 Estate

This was probably one of the more "regular" cars at the show. This is not a restored classic, a mint survivor, but just the simple, hard working 240. I photographed this as I believed it to be the most true to form everyday 240 at the show. 

Above: Saab 96 V4

Now we're moving into Saab territory! Honestly, I wish I could've photographed more of these, but they were so crowded, it was really hard to get a shot in. This, along with an early model 96 (or late model 93), and a Sonett, which you'll see below, were the only classic Saabs in attendance. There were a few 9-3 convertibles, but no one brought a 900 or a 99, which I found to be intriguing. 

Above: 1967 Saab Sonett II 

This was an awesome car. I think this was easily one of the coolest cars at the show, just because of how obscure these are. The Saab Sonett was Saab's first attempt at dipping into the sports car market. The Sonett was a very aerodynamic design, with a low ground clearance and wide wheel base, the car handled very well. However, they made the mistake of entering in with a two stroke engine. Despite its handling, the Sonett's underpowered engine hindered its ability to truly catch on as Saab intended. They did switch to the Ford V4 engine in late 1967, but the Sonett still never caught on as they had hoped. It was updated for one last time in 1970, but production would cease in '74. 

Above: Sonett Close Ups

I had the wonderful opportunity of getting to sit in this car! It was quite an experience getting to sit in this, as it was a very small car, and I never thought I would have this opportunity. Getting inside was fun, as I had to "drop in", and the seats sat very deep, which was a little unexpected. The interior was small too as you could imagine, but the way the dash was set up made it easy to see gauges and the radio easily without having to take your eyes off the road. This would be a standard that Saab would continue to develop for years to come. 

Above: 1966 Volvo P1800 S 

Here is another example of a really nice P1800. This time, instead of the "E" model, we have the "S" model. The S model was introduced in 1963 when the original Jensen factory in the UK started having quality control issues, and the P1800 production was moved to the Gothenburg, Sweden plant. The S designation stood for Sverige, or Sweden in English. Pretty clever Volvo. Production would last until 1970, with the "E" model phasing the S out. 

Above: 1992 Volvo 240 w/ LSX Engine Swap

Here was what I thought to be one of the coolest custom builds at the show. This is a standard 240, but with an LSX V8 engine swap. While I never met the owner to get the complete specs, but I'm sure this car is making well over 400 horsepower. It was a very clean build too, as you can see.