FAREWELL FAITHFUL VOLVO BY JOHN BERRY

[Kevin]

FAREWELL FAITHFUL VOLVO

BY JOHN BERRY

As many of you know, I have been a loyal Volvo driver since 1983. My first one was a brand new 1983 240 DL four door sedan. I moved up from a Volkswagen convertible and found the Volvo to be comfortable and secure. When my daughter needed an automobile a few years later, we added a used 1984 model of the same car to the family fleet. There was a brief period of time where I thought that I needed a four wheel drive Bronco with four in the floor to access remote fishing locations. I quickly realized that all of the spots, where I fished, were accessible by paved roads. What I needed was a solid road car instead of an off road vehicle.

 

 I was very pleased with the Volvo sedans but really needed a bit more room inside for guiding. I gravitated towards a station wagon. I asked my mechanic to keep a look out for a good one. I got the call that a young couple had the perfect car for sale. It was a 1989 240 wagon with 77,000 miles, the best, most reliable Volvo ever manufactured. It had a good stereo, a third seat and a roof rack. My mechanic had performed all of the maintenance on it. He assured me that it was well maintained with plenty of life left in it. I paid $8,000.00 and then sold the third seat for $250.00. I put a trailer hitch on it and had it wired for trailer lights.

 

It was the perfect fishing car. I could comfortably carry three clients and their gear. The roof rack easily carried my Old Town canoe. I could pull my river boat. The rear hatch provided an escape from the rain and provided a protected spot to don my waders or eat lunch. The Volvo got great gas mileage. Since it was a no frills model without electric windows, electric seats or any other accessories, it was easy and inexpensive to maintain.

 

When I bought it, I was the assistant controller at Ducks Unlimited and guided part time on weekends, holidays and vacation days. I commuted across town to my job and drove the two hundred miles from Memphis to the Twin Lakes area often. My daughter was then a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I drove up to see her as often as possible and always took time to take her fly fishing in the nearby Smoky Mountains.

 

When Katherine got married, moved to Decatur, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and had children. I frequently drove there in the Volvo. I often scheduled the trips so that I could be a fly tier and seminar presenter at the Federation of Fly Fishers South East Council Conclave, which was held annually nearby. The Volvo was a great road car and performed flawlessly. My best time for the trip to her home was nine hours and fifty seven minutes.

 

Before I married Lori I did a lot of Camping (Lori’s idea of roughing it is a hotel with no swimming pool). I found that I really didn’t need a tent. I would fold down the rear seat and push all of my gear to one side. It was six feet two inches from the front seat to the rear hatch. That was plenty of space for me to roll out a sleeping pad and a sleeping bag. It was very secure and comfortable in inclement weather. I woke up one morning to find that my neoprene waders (this is before Gore-Tex waders) were frozen solid because I had left them outside on a very cold winter night. I turned on the Volvo and ran the heater at full throttle for a few minutes with the waders in the front seat. Not only did they thaw out but they were toasty warm when I put them on.

 

The Volvo really didn’t have a down side. However, the years and miles took their toll. Pulling my river boat was hard on the small four cylinder engine and going up steep hills required that I shift down to lower gears. You didn’t want to be behind me on a steep incline. Finally it refused to pull the boat any further on a long hill one brutally hot summer day. This happened on three separate occasions. It still functioned flawlessly without a heavy load.

 

The problem was that I needed a reliable vehicle that could pull the boat without balking. I began using Lori’s SUV for my guide trips that required a boat. That did not go over well. It was time to replace the Volvo. I began my search. As luck would have it, my brother, Dan, had a used Suburban that he was interested in selling. It had plenty of miles on it but it had been flawlessly maintained. It had all of the features that I was looking for, a towing package, a large V8 engine, a roof rack, a good stereo, comfortable seating for clients and plenty of cargo room. It had features that I never had experienced, leather bucket seats, electric windows and seats and separate heating and air conditioning controls for the rear. I jumped at the opportunity.

 

With great reluctance, I sold my Volvo. It had been a loyal companion on many fishing adventures and was easily identified as my car. All good things must come to an end and I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as I did. Good bye old friend!