The Volvo 240 BEST PATROL CAR EVER?

Describing the Volvo 240 as the ‘best patrol car ever’ is a pretty bold statement. … Read any of the aforementioned journalistic reports on a Volvo 240 and you will always, without exception, here it described as ‘tank like’ or has ‘all the style of a tank’ etc etc. … This ‘tank’ label was penned by one journalist in the mid 1970s and has been used by a succession of others ever since who were either too lazy to dream up there own description or whose actual knowledge of cars was somewhere close to zero. …. The last model 144s and the early 244s came with huge bumpers to help reduce damage during slow impact crashes and to assist with sales to America where such bumpers were a legal requirement on new cars. This is where that tank label became stuck to the brand.

During that 15 year period Hampshire Constabulary used every single type of 244/240 model ever produced and purchased an incredible 270 units, making it by far the single biggest model ever used by the force ever. And during that same time other cars came and went, newer, supposedly better products from other manufacturers were all tried and tested but all failed to match up to the Volvo 240. It was only when the car went out of production and Volvo had no natural replacement for the car did the force have to seriously look elsewhere....

So what was it that made the 240 the success it was? It certainly wasn’t’t the fastest thing on the street, nor did it handle as well as some of its contemporaries, but that was about it really. It would depend on which era we were talking about as don’t forget this model stayed with us for 15 years. So let us talk about the cars hey day, the mid 1980s when it was called the 240 and came with a 2.3i engine and 5 speed box. One of its most discerning attributes was its incredible turning circle, just... twice its body length. For a large car measuring just over 15 feet in length that is remarkable and just the thing a Police driver needs to make that quick turn around.

Its interior comfort is legendary, even amongst motoring journalists! But every single Police officer who has had to sit in one for eight hours a day will tell you that the seats are superb and when your car is your office then that is vital. Another Volvo legend is its safety record, which is second to none. Is it justified? Most certainly, yes. …The average mileage for each Volvo 240 was 160,000 miles, which was usually achieved within three years, …… They were on the road 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The cars would mostly always survive on the original engine and gearbox and had very little known weak points. ….Top speed was 112 mph from 131 bhp and a 0-60 time of 9.2 seconds. That’s comparable to a Ford Escort RS2000 that the journalists all rave about! In practical day to day events there was very little that could escape the Volvo 240. As an area car driver at the time I was involved in many successful pursuits and the only time I can recall having difficulty keeping up with anything was following a stolen BMW 2002 Tii saloon which I could match on top end but just couldn’t’t get any closer than the 500 yard or so start he had on me. He eventually ran out of fuel! ……Handling and road holding is another department where the 240 was a bit antiquated. The ride was somewhat harsh and the damping left a bit to be desired on rougher roads but the power steering made easy work of slow speed driving. The brakes were superb, even by today’s ABS assisted standards they were good, which gave the Police driver supreme confidence when required to drive at speed. …

In 1984 Volvo produced the 240 Police Special, a unique car built for the Swedish Polis ….. The interior had half vinyl and half velour front seats and all vinyl door trim and rear seats to help mop up the blood and vomit. There was no carpet just a heavy duty rubber compound on the floor.

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