Where will your 300 be in ten years time?

[Fuse]

Pete couldn't have said it better. Most people who drive modern cars have become more like passengers than drivers.. Passive zombies relying too much on the electric devices, most people don't know the basics anymore and it shows during the winter time, fancy gadgets won't defy the laws of physics.

Which leads me to other point, I don't like the way the car manufacturers are choosing more and more nowadays, creating handling with electronics rather than by basic mechanical engineering. Electrical drive control devices and such should be the 'extra', not the base of the car.

[Johnny A]

I HATE modern cars, not the styling or anything like that. It's the useless technology that adds problems and the weight of modern cars.

My carlton can outhandle, outbreak, out-accelerate and get the same fuel economy than an Astra VXR (for example) and it's 18 years old!!

Think about how much there is to go wrong with an Astra VXR, I keep it simple and effective.

So in answer to your question, I will keep old cars for as long as I can (pre-1995)

[fume]

My project redline should be just about finished and ready to hit the road at the rate i'm going!!!!!!!

[trabitom99]

...one thing that really gets me is the gadgets that try to save time or effort, the thinking for you type of things, such as, rain sensing windscreen wipers. They would annoy the hell out of me, I control when the wipers work, no one or anything else!

Up until recently I would have been inclined to agree, but after doing a bad-weather 600 km journey in a car fitted with them a couple of months back I was pretty taken with them. It replaces the "intermittent" setting and is nice to have if you're doing a journey where one second you've got your wipers on full in a downpour, the next the sun comes out, and the next you overtake a lorry covering you in spray. After a while you totally forget about your wipers, leaving you to concentrate on the road (theoretically).

It's a bit like doing a long journey with an RDS radio - not having to retune every couple of miles (not that I have an RDS radio in my car, let alone rain / light / distance sensors etc )

Modern cars are getting heavier, more complicated (and IMO a lot more boring!), but a lot of all that weight is coming from safety equipment. Of course, some people take it all for granted and drive depending on some electronic lasso to help them out of a muddle but I reckon the vast majority of modern-car motorists have no idea about what ESP, ESR, ABS etc. does and don't start taking bends at double the speed just because they think some bit of circuitry is going to save them. You can drive as safely as you like yourself, but if some idiot smashes into you, then I guess you're happy for every curtain airbag & seat belt pre-tensioner you have fitted.

The old car vs. new car debate all depends on your personal situation. If you're a sales rep doing 100,000 kms a year, spending half your life on the road, you probably want to have all the safety and comfort features you can lay your hands on. But it doesn't make much sense for me - chances are, while my new car is parked, losing thousands in value every year, I go and get knocked off my bike on my way to work, or get cancer, or fall down a flight of stairs and break my neck, or spontaneously combust, or ...

An old Volvo isn't such a bad compromise between money spent & safety, that's the way I see things ... They're more fun too.

Tom

[pistonpen paultje]

In 10 years I'll probably still have my mk1, hopefully fitted with a nice big engine, and some other stuff restored. Probably wont be my daily driver then...

[Frits]

About ten years pistolen Paul will still drive his b14


Komde vanaaf naar de vergadering in Anrhem?

[hatch360]

Ill be cruising along in my 2017 c70 as for the 360....................................

[foggyjames]

Bump!

Having pretty much daily driven my 360 for 6 years, I finally got to the point this year where I wanted to buy a 'proper' car....I guess I'd "had enough" of the 360s shortcomings, and how long it was taking to rectify some of the problems - for example it has taken over 2 years to finally track down A/C parts.

...So I bought the S70. The theory was it was interesting enough to be a pleasure to drive (it's fairly brisk, and that 5-pot howl is ungodly...), does everything I ask of a runaround without any work or modification required (it has almost every toy you could ask for, everything works, and it even has a cracking stereo as standard), whilst also being totally boring and uninvolving to drive.

It really couldn't have worked out better. The S70 is smart, very comfortable, and I get a kick out of driving a "nice" car which I don't have to make excuses for when I travel on business, etc. However...despite being a better car in almost every way...it doesn't speak to my soul like a 300 does. I now look forward to every journey in a 300. When I put the S70 back on the road (more on that later) a couple of weeks back, I was genuinely sad that I wouldn't be driving Nessy as much.

So....to actually answer the question....here's what I see happening in 10 years time. I'll have a "sensible" car for everyday use - probably between 3 and 10 years old, an executive class saloon or estate, and something sufficiently 'fun' to appeal to the petrolhead in me without replacing my project cars - I'm currently thinking I'll replace the S70 with an S60R....a future performance bargain, methinks.

I'll also have as many project cars as I can justify. Most will be stored, with one or two on the road and any one time. I'm not adversed to effectively starting my own private museum! Unless it gets written off, I'll almost certainly have my 360. That is my number one priority, and if I had to go back to one car, that would be the one I'd keep. I'd like to think I'll have my 343 as a piece of retro hotness. I'd also like something which is a genuine classic car - I'm currently hankering after a P1800. I'm still chasing the 164 I fell in love with as a 7 year old when my dad brought it home as a loaner....I know the whereabouts of the actual car. I'm also tempted by a couple of 'big power' projects - namely a 300 with a built T5 lump, and/or a 960 (or even a 780 with a 960 front/rear end swap) with a built T6 motor.

However...a final thought...
As much as I love the S70 and how well it does its very boring job...it has already failed at the first hurdle, when the clutch went within a couple of months of me buying it. What with one thing and another (not least various holidays), it was off the road for 2 months while I got around to doing the clutch change. In the meantime, Nessy didn't miss a beat. I can't help but feel like I've replaced the simple, dependable workhorse which I could fix at the roadside with something far more complex, high-maintainance...and somehow less 'honest'. I felt a great deal of pride driving Nessy, which I don't get from the S70.

I can't help feeling that I'd have been better off finding a reeeeally reeeeally nice 300 (or even something else retro....maybe that 164?), rather than selling out. Still....I guess the S70 is better than a diesel Mondeo, mentioning no names

cheers

James

[SteveP]

Hmm.. I have a few more pointers to add.. as I've just bought a 940 to get the 360 sorted. After a month or so of driving the 940, I am bored and can't wait to get back into the 360 again! So the downpipe is going to be sorted asap (no longer available from Volvo FFS!!!) and I'll be using that for a couple of months til winter. Then I'll most likely be looking for a 340 1.4 or 360 GLS to use as cheap transport whilst I get some bodywork and other mechanicals sorted on the 360...

It really comes down to character and enjoyment. The 360 has bundles of it, and I still love driving the thing 2 years later, despite its short comings. The 940 does nearly everything better, but it's just a 'car' - it doesn't press any buttons!

[classicswede]

Steve is now the time to have a full stainlesss sports system made?

When the 340 had got to the point where it stopped doing its job (well just before) it had to be a 240 estate to become teh main transport. I actualy purchased the 240 for shit shifting but the 340 has not been used for a few months while I try and sort it out - body work etc. I would rather have had a good 145 but finding a good one at the right money is hard work.

The 340 will stay forever more for sentimental resons than anything.

[SteveP]

Steve is now the time to have a full stainlesss sports system made?

I was thinking that... especially as finding a downpipe is proving difficult! ECP and GSF don't stock them...

[trabitom99]

especially as finding a downpipe is proving difficult! ECP and GSF don't stock them...

I believe Walker & Bosal still do them. I had a new one fitted about 2 months ago ...

<edit>Sorry, just remembered you've got a saloon. Only rear silencers available (over here) for the 4 - door </edit>

Tom

[SteveP]

The system is identical apart from the rear tailpiece on the saloon... Bosal systems are rubbish - got one on my car already, I'd guess its about 3 years old.. and it's falling to bits

However.. walker might be worth a try

[foggyjames]

They're also rubbish, in my experience...

cheers

James

[pettaw]

Hmph, no more downpipes available from Volvo? That's not good at all. Trouble is that Bosal and Walker are the best of the aftermarket...doesn't say much for the others At least you only have to replace the downpipe.