There comes a time in your life when you really just need a cheap, reliable, car. Something that doesn't need to look nice or garner the attention of your friends, but just serve as a mode of transport so that you can go about the business of life and nothing more.
For many, these cars are a way of life, they’re an appliance that is used and abused and dropped off at the crusher a few years down the line only to be replaced by another slightly more shiny specimen. For others, it’s a means to an end. They’re in college or nursing a sandwich delivery job, a cheap rusty car and the fuel that feeds it are all they can afford.
This is what lead me to Helga
There’s another group of us that are different, case in point: myself. I was the owner of a beautiful 1998 Audi A4. Quattro with a 5-speed manual transmission and a 2.8 6 cylinder engine. Perfectly stock, with only light imperfections. It didn't satisfy me though, and the hunt began for its replacement. After debating on the direction I wanted to go, I came across a 1999 Volvo V70R in Laser Blue. I know what you’re thinking, that doesn't sound like a $900 car, and you’d be right. Neither of these were that cheap. You see the V70R had some issues, a lot of them actually, to the point where it could not be driven, this is what lead me to Helga.
Helga Von-Diversity is what she would eventually be called, it was a 1987 Volvo 240DL that was posted for sale locally. “Diversity” because she groaned like an old old wooden ship when the suspension was upset. It was not pretty, but the legend that is the Red Block 240 brought my attention, the RWD platform just sealed it in. Could I have afforded more of a car? Yes. But that wasn't the point. There is something profoundly care-free when you’re driving a cheap car.
Even the headlights worked
As I was driving it from St.Paul to my home, I explained some things to my friend Dan who was along for the ride. When you buy a $900 car that runs, drives and stops, anything else that you find that works on the car is purely a bonus.
When I discovered that the sun visor, clock, and hood latch all worked it was a reason for excitement. The headlights too, oh and that neat pocket in the door…
You need to be humble to drive something like this, which is hard for a lot of people in this day and age. If humility is not a trait you possess, prepare for a lesson. You are the envy of no one and any attention cast in your direction is of general displeasure, but these are things that build your character as a human, in my humble opinion.
I drove Helga for a few months, and repairs to keep her on the road had started the day after I brought it home, but it was a few months of enjoyment. In the end I sold it off for someone else to enjoy, slightly better than when I picked it up and at a lower price to boot.
About the Author: Glen Cordle
Glen is a mechanical designer from Minneapolis Minnesota. An old-school motorhead at heart, he respects anything that's had passion poured into it. A jack of all trades, master of some.
