View Full Version : Why are 242 GTs so good?
mr brick driver
06-12-2009, 01:17 AM
Saw one today, I thought it was interesting. What kind of sway bar set up do they have? Is it better then a 242ti set up. Specifically are the sway bars bigger?
thebornotaku
06-12-2009, 01:20 AM
Saw one today, I thought it was interesting. What kind of sway bar set up do they have? Is it better then a 242ti set up. Specifically are the sway bars bigger?
242GTs run 21mm bars, Turbo cars run 23mm bars.
I don't know how, performance-wise, it stacks up agasint a turbo car, but honestly, I'd rather have the harder-to-find GT than a turbo car.
Then I'd turbo the GT. :lol:
personally i've never understood why someone would want one aside from mayyybe the collectible value...but if any of us was really about collectible value we wouldn't be here.
badvlvo
06-12-2009, 01:40 AM
It's something different when stock. Otherwise it's a 242 with a neat interior.
2fast242gt
06-12-2009, 01:49 AM
It's something different when stock. Otherwise it's a 242 with a neat interior.
my gt sat lower all around then my 245 did stock, rode stiffer and handled alot better out of the box. i did end up MSing it, lowering more and turboing it though lol.
badvlvo
06-12-2009, 01:55 AM
my gt sat lower all around then my 245 did stock, rode stiffer and handled alot better out of the box. i did end up MSing it, lowering more and turboing it though lol.
yeah, everyone changes all of the stuff that makes it unique or adds the GT stuff to the non GT's.
Get any 242 you want, perform the usual mods and then paint it silver. Then you have a GT.
2fast242gt
06-12-2009, 01:57 AM
yeah, everyone changes all of the stuff that makes it unique or adds the GT stuff to the non GT's.
Get any 242 you want, perform the usual mods and then paint it silver. Then you have a GT.
you still need the stripes and such, i got pick those up someday.
ovlover
06-12-2009, 03:58 AM
Because there arnt many here in AUS. We didnt get anything other than N/A Sliver "GT"s no turbos, no special paints. Just a plain old 242GT which really isnt a GT. Just a 2 door 240:roll:
tjanson
06-12-2009, 07:39 AM
The problem with GTs is that you feel bad/ get chastised if you start hacking away at it. :-P
One note about GTs is that they look pretty pretty good in stock form. Blacked out, sweet interior, dual rounds with GT grill, flathood, no buttcheeks. The stripes, meh, I don't have them- they got removed before I got my car. The stripes have a certain period goofiness that is neat, but GTs look cleaner without them, IMO of course.
The silver paint on GTs musta sucked.... it is very rare I see one with nice original paint.
For me it's fun to have such a rare car. The first performance 240. Of course you can mod a '78 DL to be faster, better handling, GT look alike. But its still not a GT :-P.
Vee_Que
06-12-2009, 07:40 AM
Because there arnt many here in AUS. We didnt get anything other than N/A Sliver "GT"s no turbos, no special paints. Just a plain old 242GT which really isnt a GT. Just a 2 door 240:roll:
Bzzt wrong mate.
We did get 242 DL's up till 78', just very uncommon.
The GT in aus was the same as the yank one except ours has a H cam on the 80 iirc and then the 81' sold ones had the american quad front. The suspension is the same as an american GT, stiffer then a 244 GLE too.
2fast242gt
06-12-2009, 12:03 PM
The problem with GTs is that you feel bad/ get chastised if you start hacking away at it. :-P
One note about GTs is that they look pretty pretty good in stock form. Blacked out, sweet interior, dual rounds with GT grill, flathood, no buttcheeks. The stripes, meh, I don't have them- they got removed before I got my car. The stripes have a certain period goofiness that is neat, but GTs look cleaner without them, IMO of course.
The silver paint on GTs musta sucked.... it is very rare I see one with nice original paint.
For me it's fun to have such a rare car. The first performance 240. Of course you can mod a '78 DL to be faster, better handling, GT look alike. But its still not a GT :-P.
79-80 both had buttcheeks 78 had the uglyer early style rear end and diffrent trunklid.
McLovin
06-12-2009, 01:03 PM
Didn't they have extra chassis bracing as well as a lower ride?
2fast242gt
06-12-2009, 01:20 PM
Didn't they have extra chassis bracing as well as a lower ride?
some did.
2manyturbos
06-12-2009, 01:35 PM
They aren't lower than a Turbo model. If anything, they sit a bit higher in the front. They run the opposite on the sway bars, 21mm front, 23mm rear. They have stiffer front springs than a turbo and the upper chassis braces. The end result is that they handle much more neutral. Not as much understeer as a turbo version. The power plant was pathetic. B21 NA CIS. What were they, 105 HP? I hated the interior in my 79. Red/orange just isn't my cup o' tea. I'll take a turbo version over a GT any day.
Mueller
06-12-2009, 04:26 PM
GT's are over rated when you can buy newer, better stuff from ipd and our classifieds...fine I guess if you need to stick with 100% bone stock stuff, but that is a rarity unless in a specific race class...
hmmm frank!e has a gt.
Besides it being butt ugly and slow. It handles extremely well.
mr brick driver
06-12-2009, 08:51 PM
They aren't lower than a Turbo model. If anything, they sit a bit higher in the front. They run the opposite on the sway bars, 21mm front, 23mm rear. They have stiffer front springs than a turbo and the upper chassis braces. The end result is that they handle much more neutral. Not as much understeer as a turbo version. The power plant was pathetic. B21 NA CIS. What were they, 105 HP? I hated the interior in my 79. Red/orange just isn't my cup o' tea. I'll take a turbo version over a GT any day.
Yeah, they are kind of strange looking, but for some reason I like the front end.
towerymt
06-12-2009, 09:03 PM
'78 had skinny bars and relatively soft springs. '79 had the stiff front springs and 21/23 bars. '80 had "Turbo" suspension with the 23/21 bars. Some had upper braces, some had lower braces.
Slobodan
06-13-2009, 12:54 AM
being in the show room I think we need more pictures.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/10/27/324287/Dec10_11.JPG
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/10/27/324287/Feb12.JPG
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/10/27/324287/IM003097.JPG
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/10/27/324287/IMG_0560.JPG
turbo2door
06-13-2009, 01:04 AM
Were they all silver? I have seen a real nice black GT but was unsure if it was repainted. The paint was real well done if not orig.
The GT in aus was the same as the yank one except ours has a H cam on the 80 iirc and then the 81' sold ones had the american quad front.
No, US ones only had a 2.1L engine. The B23E with the H cam has 140hp, and the B21FT has something around 150hp; with the weight difference, a standard proper 242GT has pretty similar performance to a turbo 242GLT.
Just a plain old 242GT which really isnt a GT. Just a 2 door 240
They're quicker than other 240's, they handle better than other 240's.
They fit the Grand Tourer mould pretty well, IMHO.
Mueller
06-13-2009, 01:56 AM
No, US ones only had a 2.1L engine. The B23E with the H cam has 140hp, and the B21FT has something around 150hp; with the weight difference, a standard proper 242GT has pretty similar performance to a turbo 242GLT.
They're quicker than other 240's, they handle better than other 240's.
They fit the Grand Tourer mould pretty well, IMHO.
yea, maybe 30 years ago when compared to other bone stock Volvo's....take a stock 240, add less than $500 in suspension and the GT will be spanked....in todays market, nothing special about them besides being silver in color and the interior....
yea, maybe 30 years ago when compared to other bone stock Volvo's....take a stock 240, add less than $500 in suspension and the GT will be spanked....in todays market, nothing special about them besides being silver in color and the interior....
and the suspension. and the occasional stripes. and the gt steering wheel.... and the wheels.
In today's market. None of our volvos are special anymore.
robsvolvos
06-13-2009, 07:16 AM
Were they all silver? I have seen a real nice black GT but was unsure if it was repainted. The paint was real well done if not orig.
In 1980, in Canada, you could buy them in black as well.
GTJordan
06-13-2009, 10:42 AM
78 and 79 had NO butt cheeks.
Towery is right with the suspension setup.
I don't think they were any lower. Infact my 79 sat higher than any other 240 I have owned.
Black GT"s did exist, in Canada for sure, and I think Australia. The white 242 in my sig began life as a Black GT.
78's got that ugly rear end.
I had a 78, still have a 79 and two 80's.
Jordan
Frank!ie's gt sits higher than any of the 8 volvos i've owned.
tjanson
06-13-2009, 12:46 PM
78 had the uglyer early style rear end and diffrent trunklid.
Hey! Uglier rear end? I beg to differ! Paint the taillight surrounds black and it looks about 100% better. I actually prefer the old style rear ends. They have a nice taper to them.
79-80 both had buttcheeks
No, '79 did not have buttcheeks.....
http://www.swedespeed.com/gallery/albums//RWD/200%20Series/242%20GT/001.jpg
edit: whoops, sorry for the "buttcheck correction redundancy"
2manyturbos
06-13-2009, 02:20 PM
I have seen 2, possibly 3 black GTs in the US. I have no idea whether they sold in the US originally or imported from Canada.
mr brick driver
06-14-2009, 01:17 AM
yeah, everyone changes all of the stuff that makes it unique or adds the GT stuff to the non GT's.
Get any 242 you want, perform the usual mods and then paint it silver. Then you have a GT.
Already have a 1983 242, just want another LOL.
JoiOK
06-14-2009, 09:48 AM
I would V8-it 8)
Mr Yuck
06-14-2009, 01:49 PM
and the suspension. and the occasional stripes. and the gt steering wheel.... and the wheels.
In today's market. All of our volvos are special anymore.
fixed.
Two245Turbos
06-14-2009, 02:42 PM
Just ran across this ad this morning...SAD! WHY?
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/pts/1214274984.html
2fast242gt
06-14-2009, 05:10 PM
Just ran across this ad this morning...SAD! WHY?
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/pts/1214274984.html
he says light blue 242 turbo. so its not a gt.
crazy240
06-14-2009, 11:35 PM
gt was just a "sportier" 242 with the stripes and all. the differance on the swedish ones was they had stiffer and just a little bit lower springs. braces from firewall to strut tower. they also had a thick metal plate thingi ontop of the strut and spring. ipd sells this part.
they had a different spoiler in the front, wheels were different and the grill setup.
interior was also sportier.
T-RAN
06-15-2009, 02:52 AM
Yeah, the '79 had the R-Sport front springs. It seems like it was the only year/model that came equiped with anything from the Beloved R-Sport catolog. Believe it or not, I've seen an old add for the GT and it actually had a picture of a 245 with the GT stripes.:omg: I wish I would have kept that add, I should have ganked it while I worked at the dealership.:ninja:
77volvo245
06-18-2009, 03:20 AM
242GTs run 21mm bars, Turbo cars run 23mm bars.
My 79 GT has 23mm in the back and 21mm in the front.
I've only seem R Sport clusters in 1978 GTs I've never seen 79 or 80 GTs equipped with one.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z229/77volvo245/GTParts083.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z229/77volvo245/GTParts069.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z229/77volvo245/volvo691233230.jpg
I don't think they were any lower. Infact my 79 sat higher than any other 240 I have owned.
Black GT"s did exist, in Canada for sure, and I think Australia.
No black ones in Oz, although the silver paint was incredibly bad so a large number of cars got the top half painted metallic black to match a special-edition 264GLE paint-job of around the same era - the real goal being to fix the faded & crazing silver paint. I bought my first GT off someone who'd owned one when new, his paint was crazing when the car was about 2 years old.
Oz spec GT's are lower than 244's or 245's, in fact the standard mudflaps were shorter so that the bottom end was the same distance from the ground. I bought what was allegedly the last set of OEM ones in Oz a few years ago. :)
I've only seem R Sport clusters in 1978 GTs I've never seen 79 or 80 GTs equipped with one.
Mine was a 1979, although it was what you guys would call a "1980" 'cos it had the mid-1979 facelift (Virgo 15" wheels, angled spoiler, buttcheeks to allow full-sized spare). It had the R-Sport dash. The dash wasn't standard on any Volvo here though, it was optional on everything, although people buying a GT would've been more likely to pay the money for the dash than people buying a 244DL.
In answer to the original question; I think "nothing" is probably the answer, not in countries that got the turbo 242 at least. In Oz, the GT is the last of the 2dr Volvos until the C70 Celica-wannabe hairdresser's car, so it's probably a bit more special here than elsewhere. The 262C is probably the only thing that's more special, but that's more "short bus" special. :)
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