West Coast Follies: 1987 Volvo 740 vs 1998 Land Rover Discovery

Southern California may be considered a Mecca for car lovers, but the folks who live there sure do make some strange choices with their cars. This morning, I present to you two European near-classics with questionable aesthetics.

Friday’s adventure rigs both went over like lead balloons, it looks like, with the Tercel wagon taking a slight edge in an uncharacteristically low vote count. But once again, I remind you: If you’re looking for actual good advice on finding a practical, reliable used car, you’re in the wrong place. We don’t do that here.

To be fair, I don’t actually want either of those cars myself, but if I had to choose, I’d take the Dodge van. I’ve loved the front-end design of the A100/A108 ever since I was a kid and had a toy version of Bill “Maverick” Golden’s Little Red Wagon. I imagine this one won’t do a wheelie, with the slant six and all, but it still looks unbelievably cool.

Now: Just so you’re forewarned, I have horribly buried the lede on one of these cars, by choosing the top image that I did. One of these cars just has a bad paint job. The other has a cool paint job, but – well, just scroll down to see.

1987 Volvo 740 – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.3-liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Santa Monica, CA

Odometer reading: 147,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives “perfectly”

Yep. A Volvo ute. The seller says this once was a wagon, but it looks more to me like a sedan that has had the rear window moved forward. You have to admit, though, that it looks pretty good as a ute, and the Swedish flag paint job is a nice touch. Whoever built this car missed an opportunity, though: they should have put a badge on the back that says “Vägen,” which would be the Swedish equivalent of El Camino.

Mechanically, it’s a stock non-turbo Volvo 740, which is by no means a bad thing. It’s powered by Volvo’s sturdy “Red Block” inline four and an Aisin-Warner four-speed automatic, a combination which should just about last forever if you take care of it. Currently it has 147,000 miles on it, and it runs and drives very well.

And this isn’t some backyard Sawzall job, either; it appears to have been pretty well thought-out. The blue and yellow theme continues into the interior, with custom bucket seats, door panels, and a rear shelf that contains speakers for what the seller assures us is a “bumping” stereo.

There is one area of concern outside, however: the seam where the rear door used to be on the driver’s side appears to be trying to re-open. I would assume it was welded shut, but whatever filler was used to bridge the gap is cracking, which may mean not enough care was taken with structural reinforcements as there maybe should have been. But then, they’re not asking much for it, so you could just live with it and see if it gets any worse.

1998 Land Rover Discovery – $3,000

Engine/drivetrain: 4.0-liter overhead valve V8, four-speed automatic, 4WD

Location: Del Mar Heights, CA

Odometer reading: 158,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives “like a champ”

The Land Rover Discovery has a terrible reputation for unreliability here in the US, which is strange, because it has accomplished some amazing feats elsewhere. That seems to be the case with a lot of European cars, and I’ve never quite understood why. Maybe it’s because Americans are used to Toyotas that run flawlessly until they rust away, and Chevrolets that run like crap forever no matter what you do.

This Discovery is from the final year of the first series, with a 4.0-liter version of the aluminum Rover V8 that dates back to Buick in the early 1960s. It powers all four wheels all the time through a ZF four-speed automatic. It has a two-speed transfer case and a lockable center differential for when things get gnarly. It runs and drives very well, the seller says, but they don’t give us any information about its history. My guess is there are no service records, so assume it needs everything, maintenance-wise.

Inside, it’s got seat covers, and I assume there’s at least one popped seam in the leather seats underneath, because I’ve never seen a Discovery in this price range with perfect seats. The only problem the seller notes is that the driver’s window is off-track; they can hear the motor run, but it does nothing. They say they’re scared to open up the door panel to fix it, and if that’s really the only thing that needs fixing on this thing, it’s a hell of a deal for someone more handy.

Outside, it has been painted flat black. Everywhere. Even the wheels. How much more black could it be? None. I’ve never been a fan of this faux-tactical look, but some people must like it, because you do see it a lot. It looks undamaged, just badly painted. You could repaint it again, I guess, if you wanted it to be shiny. I know I would be tempted to do so.

Anyone who has had to resort to cheap cars has made compromises on appearance. I guess the good news is that they both run and drive fine. You’ll get a lot of funny looks, especially with the Volvo, but at least you’ll be able to make a getaway. So I guess the question is, which one would you rather be seen in?