Hi guys

I'm wondering what the differences are between a mk3 saloon and hatchback.

I'm interested in knowing whether the propshaft is the same length and whether the front bumper, lights and bonnet are the same?

Alex

All those the same, as is the rear bumper. Just the brackets that are different.

I think its about an inch longer too, but this might just be the bumper.

Fakes rear bumper came of a saloon They are the same.

Some accessories are different: tow bar, rear bodykit bits, louvre, rear aerial ...

Cheers

Tom

Chris_C wrote:Fakes rear bumper came of a saloon They are the same.

No I meant the body - I'm sure it pokes out an inch more than the hatchback? By this I mean the bootlip on a saloon would poke out more.

The Saloon body is a few inches longer (4.5cm to be exact), thats why the rear bumper brackets are longer (the rear leaf spring mounts + mounting holes for the brackets are in the same place as the hatch).

Even the rear doors are the same, differences are in the visible body parts behind the rear doors.

What I never understood was why Volvo gave the saloon a slightly smaller boot than the hatch. What's the point of making a saloon if it has a smaller boot than the 3/5dr variant? Beside the classic good looks of course

Tom

trabitom99 wrote:What I never understood was why Volvo gave the saloon a slightly smaller boot than the hatch. What's the point of making a saloon if it has a smaller boot than the 3/5dr variant? Beside the classic good looks of course

Tom

What do you mean smaller? Of course its smaller it doesn't have the height the hatchback has, hatchbacks are so much more practical. To equal the hatch back you'd have to have another 2ft of boot out the back of the car or make it into a van/estate.

1980s saloons tended to have more boot space than the hatchback versions. Booted Novas, Belmonts, the VW Jetta (huuuuge boot), at a guess the Ford Orion too ... Seemed strange to me that Volvo would make one which was less practical than the hatch and smaller too ...

Tom

When they introduced the saloon I remember wondering why they had done it, I suppose they were wanting to make sales to the people who were used to other saloons and didn't like the hatchback style. It would have made sense to make an estate too, but I suppose the costs of putting into production the new rear design we not going to be made up for in sales?

Your're right, in the 80s a hatch was still a novel, unusual thing for some buyers. It was considered "brave" at the time for Ford to launch the 85 on Granada / Scorpio in hatch-only guise, the Saab 9000 springs to mind too ...

The 300 estate didn't make it past the prototype stage unfortunately:


Tom

The main problem I'd imagine with an estate is it would compete with every other car Volvo were selling at the time. The small hatch was an area that they didn't have prior to the 300 (nor ever since really... the 400 just doesn't count )

Saloons also appeal to those that like a fully secure area to keep things in that are not accessible from anywhere other than the bootlid. They also have the benefit of being quieter than hatchbacks with less road and wind noise.

Thanks for the replies.

I now have a rather rusty saloon and a 1.7 engine sitting on my garage floor... need to start a thread