RE: Shed Of The Week: Volvo 480 ES
Discussion
Half-heartedly attempted to track down a good 480 Turbo about 10 years ago. I think the looks have stood up fantastically to the passage of time. Interesting to see a few other people on here have got a soft spot for them - Volvo enthusiasts aside (assuming such people exist), I thought I'd be in a minority of one!
hornetrider said:
Owned for a few months and previously owned by someone on retro rides eh... I reckon this is a nail.
Yeah I'm sure it is Previous sale add on RRYep you are totally correct - proper nail
my first car! Certainly a different choice, but it served me well at university with the motor club and through 12 car rallies and the like. I thought it handled well, but in retrospect was a bit wallowy, maybe a suspension refresh would have fixed that. I didn't have any electrical problems. Can't go wrong with pop up headlights.
Got a real soft spot for these, I think that black is one of the best colours too - good find shed.
Had a mate who's parents ran a white NA version when we were growing up and it always felt pretty special, at least compared to the Cavaliers / Sierras etc that were the norm.
I personally thought they drove pretty well too, so much so that I very nearly bought one in about 2000. However I changed my mind at the last minute after finding a mint, late model mk2 GTI golf for similar money.
If I was in the market for a shed at the moment, a good example of one of these would certainly warrant consideration.
Had a mate who's parents ran a white NA version when we were growing up and it always felt pretty special, at least compared to the Cavaliers / Sierras etc that were the norm.
I personally thought they drove pretty well too, so much so that I very nearly bought one in about 2000. However I changed my mind at the last minute after finding a mint, late model mk2 GTI golf for similar money.
If I was in the market for a shed at the moment, a good example of one of these would certainly warrant consideration.
I remember having quite a soft spot for these when they were new. I had a 340 at the time, inherited from my mother, which had replaced my P6 3500S (which I'd taken off the road for a restoration it never received). The 340 was a decent little thing in many respects, handled surprisingly well, and the Renault engine was very economical, but it was so damn slow, I drove it flat out the entire time I had it - which wasn't long, as it broke a driveshaft and I got rid of it there and then. Looked at the 480, bought an E30 318i Touring instead. I've been in BMWs ever since, 20 years now. The 480 was quite cool-looking in its time (there's a bit of Ferrari Daytona via Rover SD1 via Rover 800 about the nose, I think), but it was so flimsy, whereas the 340 was quite well-built. I also never liked pop-up headlamps - always thought them a thoroughly bad idea and I certainly wouldn't have a car with them now - or, if I was tempted enough by the rest of the car (I think it'd have to be a Ferrari 456) I'd look to convert it to fixed flush lights. I've never understood the appeal of them, less still why everyone thinks they're cool now. Getting back to the 480, this (from the look of the RetroRides ad from March) looks like a good honest little car, a perfectly decent example, but by God does it look dated... very gawky and poorly-proportioned.
Come on, Shed, can't you find some interesting old Jag/Merc/Audi/BMW/Lexus/Rover at this sort of money?
It's a shame my 535i wasn't on PH Classifieds, that could have been SOTW back in October - near-mint 99,000-mile R-reg, bought unseen on eBay for £595.
Come on, Shed, can't you find some interesting old Jag/Merc/Audi/BMW/Lexus/Rover at this sort of money?
It's a shame my 535i wasn't on PH Classifieds, that could have been SOTW back in October - near-mint 99,000-mile R-reg, bought unseen on eBay for £595.
The 340 handled suprisingly well, you must have driven a different model variation to the ones I drove, the word lollop was invented to describe 340 handling, lollop, lollop, lollop, plough straight on, armful of oversteer, we had a GLT 2 litre one at work it was hillarious, to be fair we were a bit hard on it but it wasnt really very good.
Great shed, got me all misty-eyed. I had a turbo one in exactly the same spec when I was 19. I moved up from an MkI Astra GTE and I remember thinking how cool it was to have a car with an 'onboard computer' Mine was utterly reliable, only issue was slightly damp rear seats that was cured by removing the grommets for the rear drains.
Sadly a combination of wet roads, tired rear shocks & a pensioner pulling out in front of me led to an untimely end in someone's front wall. I broke my ankle & wrist in the accident. I remember the police coming round to see me & saying that had I been driving my old Astra I probably wouldn't have walked (or hobbled) away. They had a system like the Audi 'proton-ten' system that pulled the engine, wheel & pedals away from the driver in the event of a frontal impact. Clever chaps, those Swedes.
Sadly a combination of wet roads, tired rear shocks & a pensioner pulling out in front of me led to an untimely end in someone's front wall. I broke my ankle & wrist in the accident. I remember the police coming round to see me & saying that had I been driving my old Astra I probably wouldn't have walked (or hobbled) away. They had a system like the Audi 'proton-ten' system that pulled the engine, wheel & pedals away from the driver in the event of a frontal impact. Clever chaps, those Swedes.
mmm,
my favorite wedge of cheese
shame it is RH drive.
Would I buy another one?
No I don't think so. Can only turn out to be a disappointment.
I cherish the memories of my turb'ed wedge of blue cheese.
http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showcar.asp?car...
my favorite wedge of cheese
shame it is RH drive.
Would I buy another one?
No I don't think so. Can only turn out to be a disappointment.
I cherish the memories of my turb'ed wedge of blue cheese.
http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showcar.asp?car...
RoverP6B said:
... and could be provoked into nicely progressive oversteer fairly easily in the wet.
I got snap oversteer on a wet and greasy road in mine, once. Ended up facing the way I'd come 
I was glad there wasn't anything else around at the time!Edit - just remembered it was shod with P6000s - say no more..
Owner's opinions of the P6000 seems to vary quite a bit from car to car.
They're not generally regarded as ditch finders on the Jaguar XJ either - though most owners would say better tyres are available. On some types of car, P6000s seem to be regarded almost as a dangerous liability! I wonder whether they behave better on some cars through suspension geometry or weight?
They're not generally regarded as ditch finders on the Jaguar XJ either - though most owners would say better tyres are available. On some types of car, P6000s seem to be regarded almost as a dangerous liability! I wonder whether they behave better on some cars through suspension geometry or weight?
They were sLittleEnus said:
P6000's are one of those PH things where somebody read about somebody else not liking them and it spreads... Nobody probably really knows.
No, P6000s are really, really s
t on anything other than really heavy cars in dry conditions..... and it catches people out because they are a 'brand' tyre. I would sooner have (and have had) £55 budgets than P6000s again. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff