A Story about the Volvo 240 and its Redblock Engine - Iconic Cars and Engines #18

Today I’d like to tell you a story of an immortal car, the Volvo 240 and it’s indestructible heart, the Volvo redblock engine. Along the way we will take a deep dive into the history of Volvo and Volvo cars of the 70s and 80s, we will analyze their hardware and learn about the incredible legacy of these seemingly simple yet truly amazing machines.
Our story starts way back in 1961. When Volvo introduced this. The B18 inline four cylinder engine. It was a successor to Volvo’s b16 engine, an engine that had already built up a very respectable reputation for reliability. But Volvo said, nay, this is not enough or
det här är inte tillräckligt, so they took an already strong and reliable engine and made it stronger.
The b18 was a big step forward for Volvo because it marked the transition from a crankshaft with three main bearings towards one with 5. But this still wasn’t enough so Volve made the main bearings giant. In fact they were close to those of a truck. Volvo liked to boast how the b18 mean bearings were larger than those on a Ferrari V12, an engine that had to cope with dramatically more stress and much higher loads. The B18 had neither a chain nor belt to drive the camshaft. Those were seen as far too flimsy. Instead the cam-in-block was driven by gears, one of which was made out of fibers to reduce noice. Gears were chosen because unlike chains or belts gears can neither snap nor stretch. The block was made from cast iron. To make sure that the block and head expanded equally the head was cast iron too. And not just any cast iron. This was Swedish cast iron. Regarded since ancient times as the best iron in the world.
Now this approach and dedication to indestructibility that Volvo had set up during their experience with b18 would define the brand in the following decades. Now In 1966 a big step forward was made with the introduction of the 140 series. And then 1975, came the real deal, the 200 series. And for the 200 series Volvo introduced a brand new engine. The redblock engine.
The first engine with a red block to be considered a redblock is the B21 and the B21 marks a giant leap forward in terms of technology. The cam in block was gone and replaced with a single overhead camshaft. The gears were replaced with a belt. The head aluminum instead of iron.
But make no mistake. Progress did not equal weakness back then. The crankshaft and the rods were beefy and forged. The block was still a big thick heavy chunk of swedish iron and everything else was still made with a big fat margin for safety. So this engine was still a real tank. But unlike the engines that preceded it, it had firepower too.
Cmshafts started getting a bit more aggressive. Fuel injection came into play. And then……something beautiful. Turbos.
In 1983 were received what can be considered the pinnacle of the redblocks. The b23 turbo engine which was granted to the 700 series. You see turbos make more power but they also stress the engine more. So to ensure that the engine can cope with the stress Volvo made their turbo engine even beefier, despite the fact that their naturally aspirated versions were already more than capable of coping with a turbocharger. So the b23 turbo got forged pistons in addition to the forged crank and rods. And then they made the rods extra thick and beefy. You know just to make sure it’s strong enough.
But the 240 wasn’t left out either. It received almost the same engine, only downsized to 2.1 liters. Although its 155 horsepower doesn’t sound like much by today’s standards it propelled the 240 to 60mph in 9 seconds. The car driven by your match teacher was now just as fast as the local redneck’s Z28 or the preppy boy’s 944 all while being more practical, more reliable and far more discrete.
But the numbers weren’t enough to convince the masses that a Volve had performance ptenial. The 240 was still perceived as a boring sensible safe car for sensible safe people. So Volvo decided to change their minds. They took their 240 and decided to play things a bit less safe so they cranked up the boost until the engine made 300 horsepower. The redlock engine felt nothing and the flying brick was born. Along the way Volvo also patented a system to spray water into the intake manifold to help prevent engine knock. A car with aerodynamics of a wall came to the track and in 1985 won both the European and the German Car championship. It went on to take many podiums in many events around the world, From Scotland and Portugal to New Zealand.
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