New Year’s Day.

That was the last spot of 2024. December 30, a bit after 8 in the morning, a cold (for the Sacramento valley) morning. It took a second for me to notice the old brick, because these things were everywhere when the world was a seemingly quieter place. The 200 series Volvo was the anticar of my era, an Ur-Prius if you will. It’s what all of the folks who hated cars drove, and slowly at that. I’d call it the preferred mode of transport for English teachers, but my high school’s staff put the lie to that. I think only one teacher in the department drove a Volvo- there was a Pinto, but most notably, there was a Sunbeam Tiger, an Alfa 105/115, and Maseratis, of the Bora and Khamsin variety. The Tiger was wheeled by everyone’s favorite English teacher, Mr. S, while Mr. M, the French teacher owned the Italian confections.

Forty years on, the brick is now an icon of the Radwood crowd, its virtues then virtues now.

Here’s a couple of links to entries regarding the stalwart brick:

https://www.hardbarned.com/blog/my-volvo-240-245-wagon-slow-heavy-practical-timeless

https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/06/staring_at_2000_repair_bill_wo.html

And one more, this one dealing with hippie mobiles, by P.J.O’Rourke:

https://www.hagerty.com/media/archived/cars-of-the-counterculture/