Volvo 144

The Volvo 140 sedan (produced in 1971, known as 144) I bought in Geleen, in the most southern part of The Netherlands (just next to Nedcar: the old factory where the Volvo 66, 300-, 400 and S40/V40-series were build) was a bit rusty but the floor of the car was as good as new: no rust and in perfect condition. Also the wheel arches were in pretty good condition and the car had a brand new MOT. The 144 (with B20 engine and M40 manual gearbox) drove pretty well and the interior was as brand new (with special original beach-style covers over the seats so the original upholstery was protected).

Good old 70’s-style Volvo seat covers

Seems to be a good deal, but it wasn’t: after a bigger inspection and looking at the rusty dew-points the rust at the bodywork was bigger than expected. It appeared that 140-series will rust from the inside of the bodywork (and not the outside like the Amazon). When starting to remove the rust the little holes were getting bigger and bigger, resulting in a 30cm big hole at the sill and upper part of the front fender. What a disappointment! But the car wasn’t good enough for a big welding job (and a total respray) so I repaired it low-cost and painted the car myself in a steel gray color. For the “sleeper”-effect the front bumper and chrome trims were removed and the wheels were painted black. But the car wasn’t really a sleeper: it needed to be lower and that was not where I was looking for. The result was not what I liked but most people loved the paintwork and color and the new looks of the car. I sold the car to someone who I knows from a forum (his father is a trader in classic Volvos) and after a while the car was stripped for parts.

’71 Volvo 144 image gallery

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The Volvo 144 sedan as I bought it. It seems a bit rusty but the floor of the car was in excellent condition	The white paint of the Volvo 144 wasn’t very pretty anymore: it doesn’t shine very well
The floor of the Volvo 144, and the rear axle (in this case the Spicer type).The bottom of the car is in pretty good condition!	The M40 manual gearbox and its support frame. As you can see the Volvo 144 had a oil leakage in the past. But the M40 and M41 gearboxes always sweats some oil
Another view of the Volvo 144’s bottom section. No rust at all!	And another view of the floor section
A great example how the Volvo 140-series can rust. The Volvo 140- and 164-series will rust from the inside out. The spot of rust seems not really big, but when you start to strip it…..	… it turns out the rust comes from inside. The rust in the front fender of this Volvo 144 is a lot worse than it seems at first sight!
Another weak spot of the Volvo 140-, 164, 240 and 260-series: the area around the windscreen. In this case the rust is much worse when the bumpy paint is removed. The rust is caused by the small iron clips which holds the chrome moulding (the trim around the front window) of the car. Fortunately the rust wasn’t as bad as it looks but only on top of the bodywork	It’s the original mileage of this Volvo! The outside might be pretty bad, but the interior tells it all: it was in excellent condition!

As you can see the body of the Volvo 144 was in pretty bad condition. But since a complete restoration would be way to expensive (at that moment it was my thirth car and not exactly which I was looking for) I decided to give it a cheap-ass paintjob (with a paint roller) and sell the car when it’s finished. I also needed a lot of rust converter (Brunox) and removed a lot of rust on the doors, front wings, sills and front window area. Here are some pics of the paintjob.

After stripping the car, grinding and putting the first coat of paint	The used color on my Volvo 144 is steel gray (I didn’t want a matt black paintjob), and it’s a satin paint
The front bumper and grille were removed, it looks a bit funny!	The paintjob with a roller was pretty neat
I decided to keep the front bumper away to create a “sleeper-look” on my Volvo 144	But the license plate should be fitted anyway. Installing it on the side isn’t pretty so this was the only option. Without it, it should be much prettier. The Volvo-emblem on the grille was also removed (also on the back and the 144-logos on the side of the car)
Job done! The Volvo 144 and it’s new color!	It’s not a real sleeper of course (it has a B20A) and it should be lowered but it’s too much work on a 140 since I wanted to sell it
The wheels should also get a paintjob because they aren’t very pretty	The used satin paint is mostly used for boats. It doesn’t look really bad, does it? 🙂

The interior of the Volvo 144 was pretty nice. It has a blue upholstery and the original “beach chair”-style seat covers. On the pictures the covers weren’t installed correctly, and the covers were in excellent condition. I sold the car and forgot to remove the seat covers. Under the covers the cloth of the seats was in showroom-condition.

The Volvo 144 with its new look and I sprayed the wheels in a glossy black color	Another view of the car. The 144 definitely needed some lowering springs
All Volvo badges were removed
The bottom of the Volvo 144 was in better condition than the rest of the car	The exhaust of the Volvo wasn’t as good as new, but at least the mufflers weren’t bad
This gray color could have been used by Volvo in the late 60’s and early 70’s 🙂	The interior was in very good condition. The clock in the middle wasn’t working very well. The beach-style seat covers were the original version of Volvo. Underneath it the seats have blue fabric upholstery
Interior of the Volvo 144	The dashboard of the Volvo 144 was also in good condition, without any cracks or any signs of dehydration