I’ve heard it’s basically Sweden’s version of the Foxbody Mustang, but I want to see and learn about what it’s really worth as a platform for performance. I forgot to mention I’m considering to purchase as my first car .

 

240 and performance don't belong in the same paragraph.

A well maintained 240 is a reliable and robust but quite stodgy car. they had maybe 115 HP new, and most had a 4-speed automatic transmission (really, 3 speed + overdrive).

A poorly maintained 25+ year old car is a money pit, no matter what the brand.

 

It seems you’ve never heard of the term “Sleeper” where you upgrade a seemly boring slow vehicle in all areas for performance, excluding aerodynamics. That also means doing an engine swap too since the engine that the 240 comes with is absolutely puny.

 

ah, hopes and dreams. your first car? yeah, i’m sure you’ve got the funds to turn a 240 sedan into a sleeper. and the requisite experience. might be better served looking for a car that already has the performance drivetrain.

 

engine swaps are not nearly as easy as people seem to think.

yes, people have put american V8's such as small block fords and chevys in Volvos .... they spend many $1000s on parts and many 100s of hours working on it, often a year or more before they have a driveable vehicle.

question, do you want a car to DRIVE, or a shop project ?

 

A car to drive of course, and upgrading it along the way
I have goals to make it a street legal track car, I love the track and that’s where I’ll be ripping it besides some abandoned road or parking lot (some good hooning)

 

it doesn't work that way. when you swap an engine, the car is completely disabled until you have the whole project finished, that usually involves brake and suspension upgrades, a new transmission, new fuel pumps, probably a new differential if you're going anywheres close to 250+ HP, new drive shaft. integrating that new engine and its management computer to your old school dashboard (tach, speedometer). custom wiring harness to make it all play together. custom exhaust system since the stock headers on most any V8 won't fit in the 4 cylinder engine compartment. relocating the battery since it probably won't fit under the hood with a V8. adapting the new engines power steering pump to the volvo power steering rack (custom high prressure hoses). adapting an electric fan to your radiator since the v8 probably won't have a mechanical fan the right size and place.

you want air conditioning and a heater? more work. all of this is custom work, fabricating engine mounts, etc etc etc.

 

Listen to the wise man. Pierce has pretty much covered it in this part of his last sentence, "all of this is custom work, fabricating engine mounts, etc etc etc." Especially the etc, etc, etc. Been there, done it twice. So many things pop up during the process that it becomes a labor and no longer a labor of passion.

I'd like to suggest a fox body Ford with the fuelly v8. Sure, not the best looking vehicles, but a capable performer in its own right. Put some zoomies on it and sound cool, plus people will think they are hearing a real fast car. Seriously, this platform is a good one to learn basic bolt on "upgrades", which teach you what works and doesn't work, and sometimes the why behind it.

Now, if you are seriously naturally inclined towards mechanical things, have the patience of Job, as well as the correct and necessary tools, an engine swap can be done. The first one I did took 6 months. Took another 2 weeks to figure out why it would not start. Was a junior in high school and was working with 3 of my buddies on the car. One was a body man, and that is what he did after school was finished. The other is currently an engineer, the other a carpenter. As you can see, we all had (have) mechanical aptitude, and relied upon each other to do the project.

 

btw, its a terrible idea to use a daily driver as a track day car. when you're driving under racing conditions, there's a very good chance of breaking stuff, crashing, etc. 99% of track folks use trailers and a truck to get their car to/from the track, the main exception being the stock BMW/Porsche/Miata etc sports car crowd.

 

Yep, a friend of mine auto crossed a turbo 240 2 door when they were the hot thing from Sweden. Daily driver, too. Good thing auto cross in this area is a summer thing due to snow in the winter and he had his motorcycle to get him around when the Volvo was down. In the winter the Volvo went into storage and his trusty Mazda was the driver.

 

kind of like wheeling the snot out of my cj-5 and then driving it to work the next day, which meant that i often didn’t go to work the next day, which made it hard to pay for parts to repair the cj, ...which ultimately helped lead me to the decision to buy another vehicle as a daily, and use the cj for wheeling. that was 25 years ago. still have the cj, but not the car that i bought to replace it with as a daily.

 

the OP might want to build one up for this!

https://24hoursoflemons.com/

 

24 Hours of LeMons is an awesome race series, but I don't think anyone drives their racer to the track, as they aren't street legal, since they have to have headlights and window glass removed, full roll cages, yada yada. also, LeMons cars have to be under $500 except safety mods.

 

yeah but it also looks like a TON of FUN !!

 

yeah, I know a few guys on a mercedes forum who run a 1994ish 400E rat-benz and get consistently good lap times. you have to keep the car going 12 hours on saturday and 12 hours on sunday to complete a 24 hour event AND maintain the best average laptimes.

its a lot more than just having the most horses, your car has to handle well, have great brakes, and be RELIABLE under stress.

 

how bout this??!

https://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/c...045124232.html

 

For that purpose I'd buy and old Ford Crown Vic police car--it fits the bill perfectly...

 

oh yeah, great daily driver... 'welded diff'... should be fun to park!

 

somehow i don't think they care about 'parking' lol

 

Thats what I did, and I can confirm it fits the bill fine without any mods, but I didnt buy it to "hoon around in" nor can I suggest that one hoon their car about, especially for their first car let alone one thats hard to get some parts for, I'm personally not into modding myself, I'd rather spend money keeping my car in good shape. Spoilers and rims dont help me get to the grocery store any quicker.

As for LeMons, you can daily drive a racer if you're good at removing/reinstalling lights and glass and such, some drivers do that. The fastest 240s are often highly modded rally cars that arent suited for road use, they do better in the dirt than on a track since they're pretty easy to control in a slide.

Bleh, no thanks! I like descriptions that list the mods and assume that I know what they are vs....telling me about the car itself.