Customer Feature - Shane Savell

I was born on a US army base in Augsburg West Germany 1973. I don't remember much as we moved back to the states when I was 4 or 5, but I do remember my dog and my dad's Volvo 145. It was mustard yellow with a manual trans. I spent my early years touring Europe in the cargo area with my dog in a crib my dad made. Mom and dad loved it so much that they brought it home with us to Tennessee. I learned to drive in that car and we kept it until I was 16. I had hoped it would be mine, but much to my shagrin, dad traded it in for a 760 turbo. Mom also drove a 760 turbo of her own. In fact both of my parents have driven nothing but Volvos my whole life. Today dad drives an S80 and mom the hard top C70. I was able to buy my first 245 at age 17 and then several more thereafter; some I traded up and some I totaled. At least twice I was in t-bone accidents at an excess of 50 mph wearing no seat belt... walked away uninjured both times. I have been working 911 emergency services for 20 years now and have yet to see a fatality in a volvo 240... actually not even a severe injury. My professional opinion? I wouldn't want to wreck in anything else. Over the years I've probably owned 8 or 9 240's and they are by far my favorite Volvo ever built. I drove them all over the south through mountains, to beaches, and to Colorado multiple times. I've camped and slept in them all over the place. Once the seat was folded down, it slept 2 with ease. Nothing needed but a sleeping bag and an egg crate foam roll. My sister also drove a 240 sedan so my parents driveway looked like a Volvo dealership. We could have been a Volvo commercial at any point. As I got older I went through 740's an 850 and an s60R. Now I'm 42 years old and I suppose as many men do in their forties, I longed for that hot rod of my youth. So today I have attained my mid life crisis car and am currently a very proud and happy owner of a Black 1988 Volvo 245 with 296,000 original miles. It was like going back to my youth almost immediately. Who needs a TV or on board navigation or airbags anyway?! It all came back to me. After owning soooo many 240's in my younger days, I was surprised how much I remembered and how easily I am able to work on this one... especially as I am not a mechanic and have had no formal training.  Of course these days we have better resources like the internet, youtube, and good old IPD.

Her name is Patience the murder wagon. I named her Patience because it took a long time to get her road worthy but worth the wait. Murder wagon because she's all "murdered out" black on black on black and mean looking. I basically saved her from the crusher and revived her like Frankenstein's monster from multiple doner cars, junk yards, minor fabrication and of course IPD. I bought the poor dear from from the family "Volvo Guy" Joe, and with his help we cleaned and re-gasketed the motor, replaced the blower motor, made new a/c hoses, cut the springs, painted it, scavenged for seats and trim, hoses, belts, plugs, wires, distributor etc etc etc and she was on the road!

Now she is my daily driver and it gets a lot of attention. Teenagers have told me it is "on point" and since all original Volvo badging is removed, many kids have asked me what kind of car it is! hahaha. Blows my mind actually. When I was a teen, people made fun of my grocery getting soccer mom brick of a car. Now? It's a bloody classic. Its slightly modified with fresh black paint, IPD euro side markers, lowered 3 inches, 1970's Volvo steel wheels painted black and capped with the classic "dog dish", an 850 front bumper, custom stereo, home made custom arm rest, IPD dash mat cover, fog lights, limo dark window tint, a gnarly road warrior-esq Thule basket rack with full size spare tire mounted inside, the IPD aluminum, "panzer plate" brush plate, Dave Barton's prancing moose side and grill badges, Volvos high mileage club badges, some really cool snow caps from the wagonmeister and topped off with the "Death Proof" logo from the Terantino film of the same name. Because if I have ever seen a factory civilian car I would call death proof, the 245 is it. It's not without its problems but it's certainly easier to work on and much more affordable than that godd@%&ed s60R money pit. Don't get me wrong, I loved my S60R, but once it came to maintenance, the R clearly stood for Really expensive and or Really difficult.

I am grateful I found IPDUSA.com and even more grateful that IPD has so much stuff and videos for the 240 series. IPD has been a god send. I have nothing but good to say from the speed of shipping to customer service. And, IPD, if you feel like making a donation to my project/daily driver, an under paid firefighter paramedic such as myself would be very appreciative ;).

I often wonder why I ever deviated from the 245 but I'm glad I've gone back to it. I drive it with pride. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my Volvo story.

Long live Patience the murder wagon.

Long live the 245 tank.

Shane "Chops" Savell