New emissions and safety regulations had manufacturers backed into a corner in the '70s and no one showed it more than Volvo. With cars so square, only Pythagoras could love them. What's worse, they'd become boring. The 144 of the '50s looked like a shrunken 1940s Ford. The 122 from the 1960s had a funky spirit that seemed to encourage acts of Viking independence.
On the other hand, the painfully rectangular 140 and 240-series sedans and wagons were practical to a fault and as exciting as a United Nations agriculture subcommittee meeting. When the 1800ES expired after 1973, there seemed little hope in Volvo for enthusiasts except as something to recommend for someone else to drive. They were, as one motoring sage notes, "for people who didn't like cars very much."
A glimmer, no, a bright ray of light appeared in 1978 with the appearance of the Volvo 242GT. Purists cringed at the thought of pegging the "GT"-or grand touring-label on a boxy four-door sedan when it should be reserved for something slinky and Italian, but by then it was a losing cause. Tape stripes were enough for some makers to claim the GT label, and the 242GT had more than that.
Stripes it had-bright orange and black ones over silver paint, the only livery in which the model was offered. It also had a pinstriped chin spoiler, but was devoid of the ducktail trunklid spoiler just coming into fashion. While the Mom-'n-Pop Volvo sedans were given quad headlamps, the 242GT reverted to the dual 7-inch illuminators plugged into the front end of the 1975-'77 240-Series Volvos in the United States. The older grille was revived as well, but painted silver with a pair of driving lights inserted.
Pirelli CN36 185/70HR-14 radials on 14 x 5 1/2-inch alloy rims with a five-spoke pattern completed the outside look. The inside got special treatment as well, with black corduroy seats an orange vinyl stripe, a tachometer, smaller diameter steering wheel and a shorter shifter. Three-point belts in the back seat were already standard.
Volvo continued the "GT" modifications underneath, not something all manufacturers did in the Sufferin' '70s. The standard 19mm rear anti-roll bar was joined by a 21mm bar, replacing the otherwise stock 17mm front bar. Volvo also stiffened the springs and revalved the shocks. Ironically, all 242GTs got the California-emissions version of the 2127cc B21F four-cylinder engine. "California"-to make distribution easier-meant all states west of the Mississippi. It was rated at 101 bhp at 5200 rpm and 111 lb-ft of torque at 2500 rpm, compared with the "49-state" engine, which made a whopping 104 horses and 117 lb-ft of torque. No one noticed the difference.
The 1979 model was improved with better shocks and a larger 23mm rear anti-roll bar, which didn't increase overall roadholding but sharpened responsiveness. The rear drive Volvo had an optional limited slip differential; the stiffer rear bar tended to lift the inside rear wheel off the pavement.
The flashy 242GT was gone after 1979, replaced by the GT in 1980, a change in name only. In 1981 came the GLT Turbo that, with its 127 "stout Swedish horses"-per factory literature-was shown in magazine ads dusting a BMW 528. Although offered only in three colors and fitted with a chin spoiler, the stripes were gone. With power, evidently, you don't need stripes. The boxy corners, well, ja, we'll keep them.