Import Relics

This 145e is an odd duck to be sure. It’s located in the cradle of all things Volvo… the Pacific Northwest. Specifically it’s just outside of Seattle. The 145, which is a 1 series 4 cylinder 5 door in Volvo speak is possibly the most unloved of all Volvo’s. To the unitiated it looks just like early 2 series wagons or 245′s but older. Usually these are ridden hard and put away wet, which usually leads to sad unfortunate endings. Regrettably this one is on its way to just that kind of ending. Being in the Northwest it appears this one has avoided the body rot that reduces many 140′s to dust long before the nearly bullet-proof mechanicals give in to the ravages of time and abuse. A previous owner has remedied the one Achille’s Heel the 140′s had; D-Jet electronic fuel injection. This first generation electronic fuel injection was complicated, fickle and expensive to fix. A previous owner has converted this one from the pushrod 4cylinder to the later overhead cam engine. They also upgraded the frightening D-Jet to the nearly bullet proof K-Jet fuel injection. This conversion wouldn’t have been easy, but would make quite a durable runner. This one has been for sale at a dealership for a while w/ the asking price of $695 and could probably be aquired for a bit less. Pictures that have since been removed show this is a manual car and has the super retro scrolling speedo. This one here should be saved. In addition to being cheap, with the conversion and the manual transmission it would be a fun brick to tool around in for the next 40 years.

Find it here on Craigslist in Everett, WA.