It's Been seven years now, actually a little shy but it feels like ten so we can round up. My 1979 245 has gotten me through four years of college and two years since of mucking about in the world. It was almost my first car at sixteen as I had saved up and planned to buy it from my grandmother but unbeknownst to me, my step father had been restoring a 1971 164 which he presented to me on mybirthday. Provided I pay him half of the $$$ he had spent, the car would be mine.

A few years and much tinkering later, the 164 is still chugging along. Some timeafter buying the 164 I took it to New Hampshire to go backpacking the Presidential Range with a friend of mine. This was maybe its third or fourth long trip, (I live in Virginia) but as fate would have it, some of the oil passages in the crank were clogged and I burned up a bearing or two. Drat. A short hitchhike and a few months later I foundmyself in Virginia sans car. With college on the horizon and my car over the horizon (still in New Hampshire with no engine) I was going to have to make a decision. Was it worth putting the money into the 164 for something a lot more than routine maintenance, or should I find a reliable replacement?

It turns out I did both as I eventually had the motor replaced with one from a '73 164E purchased from The Yankee Trading Co. in Pa. (Any experiences good/bad/indifferent? The engine wasnt a match, (fuel injection/dual carbs) but the injector ports were plugged up and the two Strombergs were bolted onto the intake. It's been 20,000 miles since the operation and the patient is still happily up and about so no trouble yet, though I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Volvo buffs please excuse the un-original repair. Money is tight. If you prefer original spec stuff (as I would if I had my druthers), I am accepting donations. Thanks.

Anyway I am digressing. The point is, at the time I was trying to figure out how to get myself a working car on a limited budget my grandmother had put her car up for sale in the paper. 205,000 miles $1,200. Sold. The car was in wonderful shape *(sheepskin covers hiding tatty front seats anda recent parkinglot sideswipe to the rear driverside door and quater panel excepted).

My grandmother had bought the car seven years before with 175,000mi. It had been done over by a guy here in Richmond who fixed up old Volvos in his spare time and sold them to good homes. Lexington Green Paint, Brown factory carpet, Black dash & trim pieces and light tan vinyl seats (almost cream coloured from years of sun) The car was very cool, beautiful even!

I fell in love with that car It carried all of my stuff up and back to school many times. (You wouldn't believe how much stuff fits int/on top of those wagons! Look out Jed Clampett!) It's been in 46 out of 50 states, Alaska included, Hawaii is a tricky one though. And, also a good many Canadian provinces, 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle! I've boasted of this before on this site so if you've heard this, sorry, I am proud of my car though so I'll brag som more.

Anyhow, I took a canoeing trip this weekend and use the wagon as a drop off car (the 164 for a pick up car! Keep those Volvos workin' for ya!) Driving the wagon hom last night after bumming a ride up to get it, it occured to me how much she's showing her age. I've been aware of this condition for some time but I don't know, I think it's the onset of winter. It's depressing me I guess. It's also the first time I've been out on the highway with the windows up in a while, it's finally getting cold down here.

All of a sudden there are squeeks, rattles and noises from everywhere. I'm sure they've been there all along but only seem worse in the "quiet" of a closed up car. It is only a matter of time before I have to haul out the heater fan as it's screaming away nicely. The transmission seems to whine more than before. The shifter has gotten looser (though my mechanic sez it's only the bearing in the shifter, and if I can find the gears, no big deal). Also there is rust. Also there are dents. Also my voltage stabilizer went on the fritz and I always think I'm overheating and end up almost running out of gas after every tank. None of these things are "thatbig of a deal" as my mechanic said of the shifter, but... My seats are shot, my headliner is sagging where the sound dampening stuff on the ceiling has fallen away, the roof rack is loose, the windshield leaks, my wipers chatter...Maaannn.

Squirrels stash nuts for a reason. I've been out playing. Going camping. Going to the beach. Spending my money on gas and beer and not working enough. Now the winter is here and my car is a mess and it sucks. I know I should sell it according to the general principles governing the automotive world, but those same principals would have you buy a PT Cruiser or an Aztec with worse gas milage than a 22 year old Volvo just so you can get 0% financing so we know we're well past that.

The principles governing my own automotive realm would have me keep the car forever. I've kept the 164 for this long. How many people you know still have their first car, even if I am only 24? Those principles though are the same ones that had me buy a '77 VW camper, a '73 scout II, an '83 VW Rabbit, a '78 VW bus, a '72 Vespa 150cc scooter, a '73 Suzuki 125 and a '48 Willys pickup. Keep in mind I'm 24.

Some of those turnes a profit (the Rabbit and the '78 bus) some were a lot of fun and caused no finacial strife (the Scout and the Willys) and some sit mothballed in my dad's barn (the camper, the Vespa, and the Suzuki). All I need is... you know the story.

Anyway all I REALLY need is some equilibrium. Neither of the extremes are to be trusted. Lord knows I probably won't throw anything away so don't sweat the junkyard, I'm working on my own. What I want to know is AM I CRAZY FOR PUTTING MONEY INTO A CAR I LOVE for things like interior pieces and bodywork when there are 315,000 miles on the clock and the motor could start to go any old time now. (I've recently notices a little puff of blue smoke on startup sometimes.)In the days of two year marriages, reduced APR's on houses built of steel studs, 1/4 inch sheetrock and Masonite siding, and what with new cars being the key to keeping America strong in the face of the terrorists, dare I hold on to what I have and make it workeven though I'll never see a cent of that money from resale? Or do I get out while I can and save my life before i ruin it forever with bad investments? Maybe I need to pull the lifsupport before it only gets worse fot the one I love. Maybe I've made way too much of this thing. Yeah, that's definitely it.

Signed - Cold Feet in Virginia