What's Your Favorite Volvo?

Last week I saw Zach Cregger's "Resident Evil" at my local AMC, and I had an absolute blast. I thought it really was a fantastic movie, despite what the fans of the video game franchise would have you believe. But there was one big problem with the movie: the cars. I mean, the cars weren't actually a problem, but because the movie was filmed in Prague, some of the vehicles in the background were European models that were never sold in the U.S., despite the movie being set in Colorado. That's something I always notice, and I'm sure all of you nerds do as well.

One of the most prominently Euro-spec cars seen in the film was a Volvo 480, the two-door hatchback sold from 1986 to 1995. I've always loved the 480's design, and it's a shame the car's U.S. debut was canceled at the last minute. Seeing the 480 in "Resident Evil" got me thinking of today's question I'm posing to you: What's your favorite Volvo?

Now I've been a huge Volvo guy since I was a young child, when my dad bought a lightly used 850 wagon from a Land Rover dealership. My early love for the brand was amplified by the IPD catalogs we'd get in the mail (sadly my dad never ordered any performance parts for the 850), and it's only grown over time. I love the old 240s, of course, and even older models like the Duett and P1800. Volvo's performance cars have always ruled, like the V70R and recent V60 Polestar Engineered. And it's impossible not to have a fondness for seemingly mundane SUVs such as the XC60 and XC90.

But my real favorite Volvo is one that I used to own, my old rear-wheel-drive 1994 940 Turbo wagon that I daily drove in Michigan for a few years. I had always wanted a rear-drive turbobrick, so I jumped at this one when I found it for sale on Craigslist in Nashville in 2017, flying down and driving it back to Detroit that same day. It had over 200,000 miles, the paint was messed up and the interior wasn't in amazing shape, but it was mechanically sound and drove great. I proceeded to make it extremely awesome by installing a stiffer and lower suspension, fitting it with sticky summer tires (and Blizzaks for the winter) and I have a local shop straight-pipe the exhaust. It sounded unbelievably good, the proper amount of antisocial, and it was fast as hell both in a straight line and on a good backroad.

When I was moving to LA a few years later, I sold the 940 to an 18-year-old Volvo fan who was about to start college. In the years since it's been through a junkyard auction, after which it was subsequently fixed and acquired by new owners who I think still have it. I miss that car all the time, and every time I see a 740 or a 940 I think, "damn, maybe I should get another one."

What about you, dear reader? What's your favorite Volvo? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll round up the best answers later this week.