244 GL

STORY

Volvo presented the 240 in 1974 with a new overhead-cam B21 four-cylinder engine and a front end inspired by its 1972 safety car. Together with the 260 the series passed about 2.86 million cars. A six-cylinder diesel developed with Volkswagen arrived with the 1979 model year, and a turbo version followed with the 1981 model year. In 1976 the US NHTSA chose the 240 as its reference for safety work, and in 1985 Thomas Lindström and Gianfranco Brancatelli won the European Touring Car Championship in one. The two-door 242 ended in 1984, the 244 and 245 in 1993.