1982 Volvo 343GL
Discussion
As if the barge collection wasn't big enough I spied this rare non beauty for sale in an auction. 1 deceased owner, 4k miles from new. I do that sometimes in a month!
Bought the only sensible way, blind. Plan is to get it home, change tyres, brakes, all fluids, distributer cap/rotar arm/points etc and see what happens.
More info to follow when it lands in Belfast!!
ps can any previous owners suggest what the mighty white buttons on the steering wheel may be for?
minus
minus
minus
minus
Bought the only sensible way, blind. Plan is to get it home, change tyres, brakes, all fluids, distributer cap/rotar arm/points etc and see what happens.
More info to follow when it lands in Belfast!!
ps can any previous owners suggest what the mighty white buttons on the steering wheel may be for?
minus
minus
minus
minus
I had a 360 GLS as my main daily car, did about 50,000 miles in it. It was a great car, very well built and had a 'real Volvo' 2 litre 4 cylinder engine.
It was thirsty ( about 28mpg!) but a great motorway car. It was very comfortable, but I suppose could have done with some stiffer springs/shocks etc.
I recall it had a coolant leak which I forgot to top up before my motorway commute up to Newcastle. The engine started pinking really loudly ( my music was on !), and then I realised that the temp was over in the red !
Pulled over, opened the bonnet and discovered that there was absolutely no coolant in the engine... at all !
AA man arrived, and, after it had cooled down,we filled it up again and off I went to work.
Next day I removed the radiator, had it repaired and re-installed, ( it was a nice car to work on as well !) and I never had any more problems.
That was a tribute to the 'old fashioned' robust Volvo 2 litre heavy engine !
Despite having the image of an 'old man's car' in the day, it was one of the best cars I have owned.
No pics sorry !
It was thirsty ( about 28mpg!) but a great motorway car. It was very comfortable, but I suppose could have done with some stiffer springs/shocks etc.
I recall it had a coolant leak which I forgot to top up before my motorway commute up to Newcastle. The engine started pinking really loudly ( my music was on !), and then I realised that the temp was over in the red !
Pulled over, opened the bonnet and discovered that there was absolutely no coolant in the engine... at all !
AA man arrived, and, after it had cooled down,we filled it up again and off I went to work.
Next day I removed the radiator, had it repaired and re-installed, ( it was a nice car to work on as well !) and I never had any more problems.
That was a tribute to the 'old fashioned' robust Volvo 2 litre heavy engine !
Despite having the image of an 'old man's car' in the day, it was one of the best cars I have owned.
No pics sorry !
Years ago I did a bit of European recovery work and was asked to go to Southern Spain and bring back a Volvo + caravan for driver who had a heart attack and had been flown home....Nice big posh Volvo.....lovely little job I thought.
The worst, longest, slowest and scariest trip I have ever done - I had arms like Popeye by the time I reached Calais....no wonder he had a heart attack.....I parked it the Kent compound and refused point blank to drive it up to York.
The worst, longest, slowest and scariest trip I have ever done - I had arms like Popeye by the time I reached Calais....no wonder he had a heart attack.....I parked it the Kent compound and refused point blank to drive it up to York.
finlo said:
Paracetamol said:
my best friends dad swore by these..
they were actually quite good with the later 1.7 engine. I do recall the live rear axle used to skip around a bit and they were made in Holland.
That's because they're basically an evolution of the old Dutch Daf.they were actually quite good with the later 1.7 engine. I do recall the live rear axle used to skip around a bit and they were made in Holland.
I thought the benefit of a de Dion rear end was that another component, it seems a de Dion tube in the case of the 340, acted as the 'axle' allowing the driveshafts to act solely as driveshafts transmitting motive force and not be the 'axle' allowing the vertical orientation of the rear driven wheels not to be corrupted by torque and therefore providing a more 'square on' and consistent interface between the road surface and tyre tread?
The rear end may have hopped about a bit, but I always thought a de Dion was a superior rear end, as that the driveshafts weren't the axles and therefore not 'live'? Or is any RWD vehicle have a 'live axle' because their RWD?
Interesting car by the way.
Such an interesting car and the condition is just remarkable.
It is odd that this kind of vehicle simply does not exist in the new car market any more. Can you buy a comfortable, attractive, safe (purportedly), solid, compact (yet spacious), grown up little thing? I think it is the grown up-ness that you can't get these days. All cars seem to be aimed at 23 year old estate agents.
When I was a bit my best friend's dad had one of these. I think it was either a 343 or 345 DL, but I can't really remember. They were obsessed with it. They would go bananas when they saw a 360 GLT, a real motoring holy grail for them. A bit like a 300 E 4matic for me, ha ha.
I look forward to hearing what it is like. I hope you do cherish it: it deserves it. I wonder whether the manufacturer would be interested in it?
It is odd that this kind of vehicle simply does not exist in the new car market any more. Can you buy a comfortable, attractive, safe (purportedly), solid, compact (yet spacious), grown up little thing? I think it is the grown up-ness that you can't get these days. All cars seem to be aimed at 23 year old estate agents.
When I was a bit my best friend's dad had one of these. I think it was either a 343 or 345 DL, but I can't really remember. They were obsessed with it. They would go bananas when they saw a 360 GLT, a real motoring holy grail for them. A bit like a 300 E 4matic for me, ha ha.
I look forward to hearing what it is like. I hope you do cherish it: it deserves it. I wonder whether the manufacturer would be interested in it?
finlo said:
The worst understeering car i've ever driven and I owned a Marina!
Some 22 years ago a then 17 year old mate (more mate of a mate TBH) had one of these. We took a call from him using early days mobiles, him saying he'd crashed it, on an S band on a local road. We got there, got out the car, nothing, no skid marks, damaged hedges, no evidence of an accident, and certainly no car!We were chatting amongst ourselves - along the lines of WTF, where is he, when we heard 'over here lads' from the field.
He'd only gone and lost it entering the first bed, gone up the bank and flung it through the air, clearing the hedge and rolled in to the field!
It was one of those you couldn't do that again if you tried moments.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff