I would highly recommend the MICHELIN DEFENDER 185/70R14.
It's one of the highest rated by Consumer Reports.
Great traction even on snowy roads...
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-Cool Volvo- 1989 240 5 Spd w/ 310K, 1989 240 5 Spd w/ 231k. Past proud owner of 1966 122, 1968 144, 1970 145, 1972 144, 1980 245, 1982 240 4 Spd OD

I would go to Tirerack.com. Assuming they cover vehicles of this vintage, they have an excellent breakdown of the various options depending upon your needs.

Many 14" 70R 185 / 195 Tires at Amazon / Walmart.

Price is the same between the two.

Search by Year / Make / Model or by Tire Size.

When the tires arrive at the auto store equipped Walmart or at the front stoop, I bring the wheels to the Walmart or other tire store to mount the tires to the wheels and spin balance. I'll take the tire and mount them to Volvo 240 myself. $15 to $25 each tire to wheel mount and spin balance. Call around as some tire store will do it cheap-o.

Tire Brands I used and liked:
Hankook (Winter Pike is a great snow tires)
Michelin
Cooper Cooper also make the StarFire brand

Plenty of other brands.

As for the load and speed rating, up to you yet at least the minimum your 240 owner manual lists. If you do not drive many miles, knowing you should replace tires at least every seven years, maybe get a softer compound tire with hard sidewalls (high load rating, maybe).

Questions?

Hope that halps!!!!
--
Beh.

For what it's worth---I recently purchased 2 new tires for my GMC pick-up from Walmart. Ordered them online & they arrived at my doorstep 2 days later. They're "Sumitomo" brand from Japan, (been making tires since 1909. The overall quality seems to be very good. Time will tell. Tires are like politicians: You don't know if they're any good until a few years later.
I'm probably going to buy a set of 4 for my freshly restored '68 122, before I put it on the market. Might use 165/80/r15

As mentioned, the 185R 14’s are pretty scarce if available at all. You might consider a larger size.

Regarding brands, I have tried a wide variety of brands over the years but always come back to Michelin. They are generally more expensive but their quality warrants the extra cost - IMHO. They last longer, and have fewer problems. Usually their overall performance combining the tire’s feel, ride, handling, noise and bad weather performance is better than other brands. Maybe the Michelin Defender might work well on 240’s??

I do have another specific tire recommendation. The General Altimax RT43. About 1 1/2 years ago I needed new tires for my 2002 Passat wagon with 230k on it. With that many miles I didn’t want to spend the extra money on Michelins so I decided to try the General Altimax RT 43’s. Found them to have a very similar road feel to Michelin’s but at a lower cost. A little noisier than Michelin’s but definitely a good value!
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

FYI I have 15" wheels on a 240 wagon - triwd the 205 width and hated them
Front - rubbed on suspension during hard turns in parking lots
Rear rubbed on inside of wheel well

Both scuffs were noted during a usual oil change - you could see the abrasions

Stick with 195 if 15" , 185 if 14"
IMHO - and I tend to be picky
But the narrow tires just work better on the suspension of those vintage cars

Mike

Canada

If currently running 14"wheels, change to 15" for a much, much better range of choices. A pick 'n pull should find you a set of steels or various alloys from 240/700/900 RWD for sensible money. Alloys more expensive of course. You might get lucky with tyres too, but you take a chance with those.

From an EU perspective and for 15" only I would recommend you look at (independent) tyre tests because what was fantastic yesterday has been surpassed today.

Having said that, I find that any of the big brands is a good choice. Tests may seem to make the differences between them big, but in reality they are tiny.

Those tests also give you an idea which tyres will suit you if you don't want to spend top money but still get a very good one.

For conditions with hardly any snow and hardly temps below 7C/45F you can stick with summer tyres all year round.
The more you move to colder and more snowy climates, the more two sets of wheels make sense, so winter- and summertyres. And the more you move to the Nordic countries, the more extreme the wintertyres get. Some are even illegal where I live (because of the spikes).

All season tyres are a compromise. If you do want to go this route, then I'd say Michelin CrossClimate 2.

I am not going to recommend anything for the 14" rims. Good luck finding any decent 185R14 or 185/80R14 (the wagon size) tyres that are suitable for passenger cars (load index around 90).

My personal choices for 195/65R15:
Summer:
- Continental PremiumContact 5
- Hankook Ventus Prime 3
I will be trying Vredestein Sportrac 5 next.
Winter:
- Continental WinterContact TS860

Quite different answers you will get.

Size--- have 87 wagon. These days 14in XXX 70 (that second number of the 3) are getting scarce, as Skinny rubber has become the big seller?

Size: 195 70 14 the closes to the Stock Look...speedo +/- a couple of MPH (not ticket worthy).
The car sits high enough so, if pressed, you can squirm under it. Unlike a sedan which with Stock 185-70-14 tires....

Brand: Hard to say, as the sizing -- if you go with the above numbers--- is limited.

Running now - Yokahama Touring 195 70 14 -- but then I don't drive it more than 5K a year.

For stock 14" wheels, a 205/70 R14 is closest to the stock 185R14 tires and will not introduce significant speedo error.

Snows I run 185/70 R14 with extra load capacity. Narrow tires bite better and provide very good traction and handling on snowy roads

I have 2 240 Wagons - 1980, 1993
Live in Niagara Falls Canada - hot summers (35 deg. Celcius) - winters 5-10" snow (-10 Celcius average)
The following I have had 2 years - no issues would buy again
For 15" love the Continental PureContact 195- 65 -15
For the 14" wheels Toyo Celcius 185-65-14
May through speedo off a bit but its minimal

Great all round quiet - good in rain and even 300 miles north of Toronto where it can be -25 Degrees Celcius
still great

Good wear as well - have not had to rotate to even out wear even

Did not like Hankooks, Yokohamas - poor in the wet and slush