That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
#1
Volvo 243
Quote » The Volvo 243 was a limited run of 30 cars in 1982 due to a malfunction of machinery in the Belgium Volvo factory, causing car bodies to be made incorrectly. The cars had one left hand door, as per the Volvo 242, and two right hand doors, as per the Volvo 244. All 30 cars were completed, and were exported to Estonia for sale. All cars came with warranty and are highly sought after today. So far, this is the only car known in the whole world that has four door car right side and coupe left side. Above is what Wiki says, but this is what the owner says:
The owner of this car says that 27 of these were made for the Swedish Police. The right right side of the car is a 244 and the left side of the car is a 242. The left side was hand welded. He says the car was put together in a special Volvo shop away from the normal production line.
He says it is a 1987 model, but came to Estonia in 1996. Since 1990, there were very small numbers of Western cars in Estonia. Thanks to the Soviet occupation, it was forbidden to buy cars unless they were Soviet. So essentially, he thinks these cars could not have come to Estonia in early 80's.
He is still trying to find out the true story of these rare cars.
He has tried to contact Volvo several times about these cars, but they have not responded.
Modified by DrewSXR at 11:44 AM 2-5-2009
#2
That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
Originally Posted by The New York Times
#4
Why do I want this?
#5
Man, I would love that blue one.
#6
That is crazy! It's weird enough seeing a 242 with the 86-up front end. I didn't know they made them after the facelift (or maybe that was part of the screw-up.If that really was a goof at the factory, I'm not surprised Volvo doesn't want to talk about it! Embarrassing, but cool at the same time!
I just noticed that must be the same car re-painted, because the number plate is the same.
Modified by giantrobot9000 at 9:44 AM 2-5-2009
#7
Quote, originally posted by Big Morgan » That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. x2 - never heard of this before!
Ron a.k.a. Arsigi
Spokane's Most Posted
#8
I guess if one were to believe the wiki article, then it was probably sold in Estonia since they were living under Soviet Russia rules and under those circumstances, a 3 door car would seem almost normal.
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#10
Yeah, I'm guessing that was an aftermaket job. I can't see Volvo actually doing that.
#11
Quote, originally posted by giantrobot9000 » That is crazy! It's weird enough seeing a 242 with the 86-up front end. I didn't know they made them after the facelift (or maybe that was part of the screw-up. IIRC, Volvo launched the "facelift" in the early 80's for the European market. We just didn't get it until 86.
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#12
Quote, originally posted by mynameisphunk » Man, I would love that blue one. Same car, pre- and post-paint... Look at the plate
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#14
Quote, originally posted by FastGTi » Weird but neat.
#16
Quote, originally posted by JrodVW » Why do I want this? You know that if you found this on craigslist you would buy it in a heartbeat.
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#17
Now there is a car with a good side and a bad side. For some reason I think this is really cool.
-Jon
#18
Quote, originally posted by JrodVW » Why do I want this? X2
#19
Quote, originally posted by WhiteRat » IIRC, Volvo launched the "facelift" in the early 80's for the European market. We just didn't get it until 86.
Non-sealed beam headlights were illegal in the USA until 1987. Hense why VWs, Saabs and Volvos got better front ends that year.
So one source says these cars were a mistake? The other source says they were custom made outside of Volvo? hmmm
#20
Saturn thought they'd have a go at it too
#22
i need one of those, i wonder how hard it'd be to splice two cars together and make one.
#23
Quote, originally posted by JrodVW » Why do I want this?
#24
I've heard of this happening before.My dad told me a story when I was a kid of a guy from Spain he worked with. This guy used to work at an auto plant is Spain and a car came off the line like this. I thought it would be cool to have but apparently it was destroyed to avoid embarassment. This was probably in the late 60s or early 70s before the guy moved to Canada.
#25
Quote, originally posted by Preppy » Saturn thought they'd have a go at it too
#26
Quote, originally posted by giantrobot9000 » Yeah, I'm guessing that was an aftermaket job. I can't see Volvo actually doing that. Considering I've seen old Volvo 240s with different kinds of brakes on the different sides of the car, I can.
#27
Quote, originally posted by .:FrankRizzo:. » So one source says these cars were a mistake? The other source says they were custom made outside of Volvo? hmmm I highly doubt the 'production line mistake' story - that is just beyond credible.
But even if there were in fact ~30 of these made (assuming this one pictured isn't one-of-a-kind, done just for the hell of it by an owner) , I can't for the life of me come up with a reason WHY anyone would need cars configured like that.
Very, very curious.
Ron a.k.a. Arsigi
Spokane's Most Posted
#28
I don't think its a police vehicle just because of the sunroof. Where would they put the lights?
#29
Quote, originally posted by IntrstlarOvrdrve » I don't think its a police vehicle just because of the sunroof. Where would they put the lights? .. behind the sunroof?
#30
(waiting patiently for vwlarry...)
#31
Quote, originally posted by .:FrankRizzo:. »
Non-sealed beam headlights were illegal in the USA until 1987....
Actually it was earlier than that. (but not a lot earlier-- 84, maybe?)
VW went to the two-acre "euro-look" lights with the '85s, and the '86 Volvo I took driver's ed in had these lights.
Yeah, I like cars. Definitely like cars.
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#32
That's hilarious!-G
#33
I have hard time believing the Belgian brainfart explanation. But why would someone order 30 cars in such an odd configuration?Volvo made heavy duty bricks on special order. FYI, the police version ordered by Saudi Arabia had A/C that didn´t work when the car was stationary. This was to make sure that officers weren´t taking naps while on duty.
Swedish police 244:
#34
Quote, originally posted by VadGTI » Same car, pre- and post-paint... Look at the plate
Quoted because everyone seems to be ignoring it. Until I see another one (and not just this one in yet another color) I'm going to say it's a weird one-off.
The blue is a great color on that car though.
#35
Quote, originally posted by JrodVW » Why do I want this? You're the guy that wanted to buy a Pirate ship.
Why wouldn't you want it ?
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