Home is Where the Volvo is: Teun’s Hippie Life in a Volvo 245

“My connection with Volvo actually started long before I ever owned my Volvo 245,” Teun says with a smile. As a child, he was introduced to DAF trucks through a family friend who owned several of them. One ride in a DAF truck was all it took and he was hooked. Soon after, that fascination extended to the much smaller passenger cars for which DAF became famous, particularly the quirky little DAF 66 with its unusual Variomatic transmission.

So he knew exactly what he wanted as his first car, and eventually he found a green DAF 66 that he could tinker with as a project. It didn’t run and had been sitting around for quite some time, waiting for someone to save it. After about a year, he finally decided it was time to bring the little DAF back to life. Together with his brother, he drove out to pick up another DAF 66 as a parts car. But once they arrived, something else immediately caught their attention: a white little Volvo 66 standing nearby.

“I jokingly said to my brother: ‘We’re taking that one home too.’” And somehow, the joke became reality. Suddenly, his comfortable Mazda 626 daily driver was replaced by a noisy old Volvo 66 making all kinds of strange sounds. But despite its quirks, he completely fell in love with the car. And that Volvo 66 became the start of everything.

For the next three years, the little Volvo became part of daily life. He drove more than 60,000 kilometers with it, sometimes covering over 1,000 kilometers in a single week. The Volvo hauled caravans across the country, moved furniture, carried friends and created countless memories along the way. But daily use began to take its toll. The little car became increasingly unreliable and needed serious work. At that exact moment, another Volvo entered the story.

A friend owned a Volvo 245 and offered it as a temporary daily driver while repairs on the 66 were underway. But what started as a temporary solution quickly turned into something much bigger.

“I absolutely fell in love with the practicality of the 245,” and not long after, he had the chance to buy the car himself. To Teun, the Volvo 245 represents one of the smartest classic car choices in the Netherlands. Affordable, practical and endlessly usable, it perfectly matched the lifestyle he had already built around vintage living. “I’ve always loved classic cars because they have character and atmosphere. Driving them is about enjoying the journey itself instead of simply getting from A to B.”

The Volvo ticked every box. Thanks to its age, it’s tax-free in the Netherlands. Running on LPG keeps fuel costs manageable, while the huge estate body offers more than enough room for vintage treasures, furniture and travel gear.

And that’s where Teun’s ‘hippie lifestyle’ and aesthetic come into play. Almost everything in his life is vintage, from the objects he surrounds himself with to the way he travels. Driving a modern car simply wouldn’t fit that picture, and “it just wouldn’t feel right.”

Over the past two years, the 245 has already become deeply connected to some of his biggest adventures. Not every moment has been easy, though.

Just before leaving for the south of France last year, while simultaneously moving out of his apartment, the Volvo suddenly broke down. “At that moment, it definitely wasn’t funny.” The entire trip depended on that car. But looking back, those stressful moments were also part of the experience. “That’s the beauty of driving classic cars. Every breakdown, every strange noise eventually becomes another story.”

And the stories kept coming.

In 2025, he was invited to help at a bed-and-breakfast château in the south of France. Originally, the plan was simple: stay for six weeks, then return home. But somewhere during the summer, things changed. He started asking himself a simple question: Why go home at all? So he stopped renting his apartment, put his belongings into storage, bought a rooftop tent and continued traveling with the Volvo. “I was already in France. I was free again. So why not?”

And then the Volvo actually appeared on Dutch television. The château owner participated in one of the Netherlands’ most popular dating shows and eventually found love there. His new partner later organized a photoshoot featuring the Volvo and camping setup to help grow the car’s Instagram presence. One image caught the attention of Dutch media and suddenly the old Volvo appeared multiple times on national television.

What was originally planned as a six-week stay eventually turned into twelve weeks. By the time he finally hit the road again, autumn had arrived. The temperatures dropped, the days became shorter and solo travel through France suddenly felt very different. Still, those weeks became some of the most memorable moments of the trip. Later, he met two fellow vanlifers and instantly connected with them. Together, they spent another week traveling and creating unforgettable memories on the road.

This year, in 2026, Teun is set to set off on another journey, and preparations for the next adventure are already underway. The rooftop tent is gone. Instead, the Volvo itself has slowly transformed into a compact camper designed for longer journeys and colder nights. Inside, the atmosphere matters just as much as the destination itself. “I always try to create a real hippie vibe inside the car.”, he says.

Plants hang around the windows. Handmade decorations fill the interior. Photographs from previous road trips are pinned throughout the cabin. During Christmas, decorations hang between the sun visors above the windshield. Over time, the Volvo stopped feeling like transportation. “It feels more like a home.”

And maybe that perfectly explains the connection. Because for Teun, the Volvo 245 isn’t simply a classic car. It’s freedom, adventure and a reflection of the life he wants to live. He still doesn’t know exactly where the road will take him next.

“Every single week, I fall more in love with the Volvo 245,” he says. “And I’m incredibly curious about the adventures still waiting ahead.”

Photography on this page © Joep Verbeeten, Teun Gijsel