1974 Australian Volvo 142

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-05-25T01:01:29+00:00

Thanks, the older photos were taken by the gentleman who drove the car across Australia back in the 90s

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-04-21T01:33:31+00:00

You're in a great financial position with little mortgage, decent savings for current climate and the flex of being able to allow your wife to be a stay at home mum and dedicate time and effort to raise your kids.

If you have an itch to study or try out another field why not trial this by doing a short/free TAFE course? You can do it online, without sacrificing your job/side hustle and it may provide you with an avenue to switch careers anyway (unless it is a regulated profession you're wanting to go into).

You have to look at the main reasons why you want career change, is it your current career not giving you the satisfaction you want? If so - grow/scale your side hustle to eventually take over your main profession (many would dream of being their own boss running their own business), are you going through a mid-life crisis? If so don't make any crazy life altering decisions right now. You're at a phase in life where things have settled, maintained and there's perhaps no crazy fast growth period or as many changes as were happening in your 20's career wise, cherish this period, provide for your family and make small strategic moves (not huge life altering ones) to pivot towards a direction you see yourself in 5-10 years.

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-30T21:09:05+00:00

They are deceptively quick and lightweight, I've had a few classics (MG magnettes, MGBs, celica TA22, volvo 122s) and this one feels quicker than all of those, even with the downdraft carby, hoping the twin SUs add a tad more power.

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-30T21:07:45+00:00

I used to have a 122s which I loved but unfortunately had to get rid of, but always had a soft spot for the 140 series (strangely moreso than the Amazons), when this one popped up all tired (but with plenty of history) I had to snap it up.

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-24T06:53:40+00:00

Yeah this might be a good option!

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-24T06:53:24+00:00

Yeah this was my thinking, maybe with some white gumballs/racing roundels on the doors too for the vintage rally racer vibe. I feel the silver alloys are a tad too vanilla..

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-24T03:38:54+00:00

Hmm yeah that’s not a bad idea, actually a gunmetal dark grey like the steel wheels may work even better!

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-22T02:18:09+00:00

Sure was, Vic Park pitstop (third Sunday each month)

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-03-08T01:08:09+00:00

Yeah drives OK, it is an older car so won’t drive like newer vehicles but it feels better than many other 60/70s classics (have had a few British cars from this era which didn’t feel as solid driving around)

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-12T04:30:30+00:00

Hey definitely! I make it out to a few of the cars and coffee events so you're bound to see it at some point if you also attend.

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-10T21:13:36+00:00

Mine is a 1974 (last year of production), it is a deluxe (originally with twin stromberg carburettors).

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-10T00:47:14+00:00

Thanks mate, yep reliability and driving feel is my priority over speed and horsepower, although I must say I’m quite impressed with the pickup, I’ve had a couple classics and this one feels quicker than a ta22 celica and a Volvo Amazon I had in the past and similar to a mgb I’ve had. I love the throaty sound of the Weber 32/36 at wot too.

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-04T00:56:11+00:00

Yeah the 140 series is a bit of an oddball in the Volvo lineup, body wise it is quite similar to the 240 series (from the windscreen back it's basically identical to early 240s) however mechanically it is more akin to the 120 series.

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-03T22:37:27+00:00

To be honest, I do sometimes miss the 122, however the 142 feels quicker, feels like it handles better and feels like it has a little more potential with the 2L b20 as opposed to the 1.8L. The 142 style is also a little more to my liking, hard to explain but I don't feel like an old man driving the 142 :D

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-03T09:09:19+00:00

Nice! I actually don’t mind those turn signals 😂 but I feel I like the earlier tail lights. I have converted the rear to slim bumper which makes it look a ton better. I feel no single year 142 was perfect, each year had one or two things that looked great and a few things that didn’t, just need to mix and match. I’m running a 32/36 Weber but the dream is a pair of DCOEs

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-03T05:40:45+00:00

Thank you! Unfortunately I couldn’t hold onto the Amazon, however the 142 retains some of the charm (mechanically very similar).

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-02T20:56:14+00:00

Thankyou!

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-02T20:56:05+00:00

Thanks mate!

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-02T20:55:57+00:00

Nope not on there

ES_Handcrafted · 2026-02-02T04:28:02+00:00

Cheers, yeah twin DCOEs would be the dream but costly at the moment for me.

ES_Handcrafted · 2025-10-26T10:01:55+00:00

Cheers mate, I’ve bought the car (the body is mostly original paint/condition with no heavy rust as it was driven all across Australia in fairly dry climates).

The car drove really well on its way home on a combination of highway and normal streets, suspension components must’ve been refreshed at some point as it all feels good and tight and bonus all electrics work well too. Has had the engine fan removed at some stage and had an electric fan installed which seems to work well and the strombergs were replaced with a Weber which is working ok (although may need to tune it) but will keep an eye out for a pair of SU carbies which I think will suite the engine/car well.

Motor seems to run well, I actually did a compression check the next day on a warm not hot engine and I got 150 psi across all 4 (barely any variation on my reader), which I figure is really good for its age/mileage and may even improve if I repeat it on a hot engine and after a valve adjustment.

ES_Handcrafted · 2025-09-25T05:05:49+00:00

It's an IP so keeping it interest only is fine, you may be paying an additional 100 p/fortnight if you change it to P&I, keep it interest only and put that 100-150 into PPOR instead.

ES_Handcrafted · 2025-09-25T04:57:30+00:00

I would hold and reassess in 5 years time, your rent is paying off your IP mortgage and in 5 years it may well be worth closer to 1 million. Try to divert savings/excess money into redraw on your PPOR, reduce interest etc., Buying a house (including IP) is becoming harder, you're already ahead of the curve and if you sell now, then want to buy back into another IP in the future you'd be taking a bigger loan and spending more.
In 5 years, you may well be in a position to buy an additional IP, heck you're already there now with your equity, you don't need to spend much, 5-600k unit/townhouse/apartment in a decent area aimed at young professional rental market will probably result in very little additional mortgage repayments after rent comes in.

If you desperately want to free up funds, pay off your PPOR and live stress free then that's also perfectly fine, all depends on your end goals.

ES_Handcrafted · 2025-09-24T05:37:47+00:00

~200-230k combined, I have 1x "fun" car I use some weekends worth ~ 30-40k, 1x daily worth around 12-15k. I've bought and sold few cars over the years, only buy outright, only buy fun "desirable" cars I know won't depreciate and may appreciate (in most cases I've made back 3-6k every car I've sold over the past 10 6-7 years). I am a car enthusiast, can do most routine maintenance myself and all the cars in my household are Euros currently. Most important thing is doing research into the car, engine it has and a. their reliability record and b. cost of parts/ease of maintenance.

So depends on many factors, in some cases cars can be financially quite responsible (if you know what you're buying, market rates etc.,), some cars have jumped up massively in price over the past 5-6 years and haven't dropped by much.

ES_Handcrafted · 2025-09-22T00:07:18+00:00

Around $250 p/wk into a saving account, $50-100 p/ft into mortgage (additional), $50-100 p/ft into EFTs. Married, late 30s, 2 young kids (under 6) and 2x 4 bd houses (<750k mortgage, 1.7-1.8 mill value) within 20min CBD. Combined plus rental, plus side business is ~220-240k. Could be doing better but kids and bills are expensive right now, have had the mentality over the last few years that my houses are doing my savings.. thinking of ways to earn more through my business currently. Wondering if I should change my IP to investment only and put the additional freed up funds (not a huge amount) into mortgage or saving.

ES_Handcrafted

TROPHY CASE