It’s the mid-70s and Volvo is heavily in debt. The new 200 series is unreliable, they have 43,000 gas guzzling large family cars waiting to be sold at a time when the world is swarming to small fuel economical cars. Volvo’s trying every trick in the book to stay afloat, and at the same time must spend money to develop a new car to sell in the 1980s, if it makes it to the 1980s. But the investment paid off. The 700 series would be the car that saved Volvo and would go on to sell almost 2M cars.
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#volvo740 #volvo760 #volvo940
I mention the 240 was unreliable - in the first 1-2 years of manufacture. After that they solved the reliability problems.
I loved my 1985 240. It was the best car $2,500US could buy and it lasted. The wiring and AC were poor, but otherwise a very robust car.
I was going to say. The 240 I had was very reliable. The thing that wound up getting mine in the end was chassis electrical... 34 years after it left the factory in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
@swededude1992 That's true for the older Volvos. At that time you drove Volvo, Saab, VW, Ford or Opel. if you was working class, the Boss drove BMW, Mercedes or Audi. Today most working class drive older Volvo, BMW or Merc. If you bye a new car today it's a Kia, Hyundai, Peugeot, Ford, VW because a new Volvo is to expensive for the working class. I drive Volvo but i buy them three year old at half the price.
I've had Volvos all my life in the family from 1983 to present, 245 DL, 240 DL, 740GL and 940CD Classic in 2.3LPT guide.
The 200 series still runs all over the world. Its one of the most reliable cars every made.- infacet all of them from start of production. My dad had one of the first made and he sold it when it had run lver 500.000 km, with almost no repairs.
"Around 1991 the Volvo lineup was confusing"... Dont forget the 440. And the 340 that it had replaced 4 years earlier but was still being made.
I have a hard time believing that they used a wind tunnel in the design... 740GL 1987 car my first car :)
Volvo 740 is best car ever!
Volvo for life
My top pick for the 90s was the 97 965. With the premium sound system of course! As a kid, the stuff I pulled off in that car, there aren't words! As for the 05 V70R 6speed........ Almost got locked up, almost lost my license and now the 2018 V90, guess I'm all grown up now, but I hate the computer in the dashboard, I wish it was like the 960S
i own a 95 960 estate manual she has an lpg conversion i think the only one left standing in the uk still never needed any welding what a fantastic car people walk up to me to ask is it for sale would never part with it the last of the line will leave it to my son in my will
To me the Volvo 740 Series is the perfect car! -Especially the Wagons, for sure. I have a 91 940 Turbo Wagon, a 90 740 Turbo Wagon (drive-able spare if the 91 gets killed in an accident) and a '89 Non-Turbo Wagon for my wife. None of them have any rust. And I mean seriously, No Rust ! - There was also another '90 Wagon that was first driven by my Dad and then by my wife's dad. That one only suffered from the disgusting laws in Germany. And then there is yet another Wagon; A '88 that I gave to a friend. Never had any trouble with any of them. Lots of miles on them all. - Great winter cars too. - I always laugh at the idiots freezing their asses off in their hybrids or electric cars! - I will never buy another car, maybe only yet another 940 Turbo Wagon... - Best Regards from Alaska!
When people generally talk about Volvo, the 7 series pops into mind, it was a car I admired even from a young age from its American looks
Cars in general were boxy in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but this thing looked as if it had been modeled using origami. It made GM's "flying brick" styling of that era look slick by comparison. I remember having to ride in the back of a 740 wagon and with the standard suspension (the Nivomat version might have been smoother) the ride was like a Chinese water torture and the space was surprisingly confined for the size of the car. I'm sure these cars had their virtues and were probably a blast to drive with the right engines, but there was something cold and dismal about them.
I like how Volvo even knew m47s were trash that's why thares no 2.3 16v turbos
The volvo concept car is cool I like the front end
Volvo 7/900 series, true freedom. Uncomplicated reliable and overbuilt. Unlike any other car on the road today. I fear the day i will be forced to shop for a replacement.
14:40 and you just mention the big car series, let's not forget the 400 series comprising the 440 small family car and 480 hatchback
As a kid growing up in the 1980s, we had a few Volvos. A 1982 240DL and a 1986 Volvo 240GL. First car I ever drove was my moms 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo. At the time I wasnt a fan but looking back it was a great car and very solid. Eventually it was replaced with a 1996 850R. It was faster and more advanced but the old 240/740s were tanks in comparison. Got rid of the Volvo in 2000. They were never the same after Ford and my mom switched to other brands. Now China owns Volvo and they are just a name. Sad.
That 780 2 door, what a looker.
I want a boxy car, I fucking hate smooth looking cars, they don't look intimidating and then look booring. I want my rugged old evil cars that tells you to get the fuck out of my way. I love boxy cars, the old Dodge charger, 740, everything.
VOLVO BRO
I loved my 740, I owned a 760, it got terrible gas mileage, the 740 was awesome, but too light in the rear, I live in Columbus Ohio, driving up hills was nearly impossible....the classic B25-30 4 cyl engines were easy to work on. Also a problem of the older Volvo's was that the wires vinyl coating would succumb to weather and crumble causing shorts, keeping up with wiring and connections was something you eventually HAD to tackle....I never understood it, something as simple as wiring was a constant problem for them. I've been driving Volvo's for decades now, the highest mileage i got was over 400K on a 79 240. I'm driving a 960 right now...i refuse to buy a Ford made Volvo
The last real Volvo cars were made in 1998. Not the front wheel drive crap made today.
PANZER ! Solid CAR
THERE IS A GUY THAT SELLS OLD VOLVOS AT LAKE OF THE OZARKS MO, JUST OUTSIDE THE TOWN OF LAURIE, I THINK ITS CALLED VOLVOS AND MORE ALWAYS SEE OLD VOLVOS AND MERCEDES DIESELS THERE
the Volvo S40/V40/V50/C30(/Mitsubishi Carisma) story?
I have great memories driving my 740 turbo sedan in the early '90s and yes my next car was an 850 t5 wagon
They're so good, even Johnny Rotten has one !
Thanks for the very interesting video. I have driven 745 and 945 for 15 years, they were indeed very robust, simple cars, a dream to maintain. There were only few flaws, one being the overdrive gear in the early 740 models. The rear wheel drive was a lot of fun on snowy roads, however it was a pain in winter when you had to go uphills. But the space, oh the space. There were very, very few station wagons with this amount of space. Maybe the most outstanding factor was the ridiculously small turning radius for a car almost 5 meters in length. It was so much fun to maneuver in cities, especially in parking garages and on ferries.
I don't need a Volvo, I have a bomb proof TATA Sierra
Luckily enough Morris marinas all came with a complimentary bus timetable,,
can you please keep the same level on all the audio? the intro is very loud thanks
Newer videos have lower volume after someone else mentioned this.
Excellent video. I hope soon comes the S80 model.
My 1990 740 GL has 226,900 ( probably more since the odometer works on and off ) and runs like the day it came off the assembly line. Thank you Volvo.
surprisingly great videos, subscribing
A car you can believe in. Made in Götenborg, Sweden!
I am 20 and i drive a 740 gl altough we bought it used like 10 years ago for my grandfather qnd we had to change some parta but it still drives like a beast sadly in my country i believe there is not much volvo mechanics (from my experience) so i cant make it new again bur it is amazing
I have learnt many things please🤗
Drop small block Chevy and good to GO.
Ahh how things have changed! The newer Volvos, not as a reliable and a PITA to work on yourself. It is now making cars for the affluent, tis a shame.
So funny. Back then, Volvo issued a drawingcontest to the public to come up with ideas of how the next volvo should look like. A friend of mine send in a sketch that was granted and.... the 740/760 was born.
When I grew up, my parents had a 1967 Volvo 144S in "King Blue" with matching vinyl interior. We LOVED it. I worked for Hertz Rent-a-Car in Copenhagen Airport with the Volvo 760 GLE was launched. It was (and still is) an impressive car, stylish and aristocratic in its looks inside and out as well as riding. Nothing beats the 1st generation 760 GLE. Wish my parents could have afford it back then, when their 144S "died" in 1985. The 740 series came across as a cheaper version in any way.
In all honesty - seeing a boxy Volvo on the road in 2020 raises a smile from myself and everyone I know. It's iconic styling and, if you ask me, has aged really well. At least in the sense that they look entirely different to anything on the road today, and stand out a mile when they're seen. I miss boxy cars. Last box I owned was a Citroen AX. Never had much of an eye for new Volvos, but as a lover of retro cars I adore an old Volvo. I've unfortunately never owned one, though that will change some day.
Volvo 200 series unreliable? Where'd you get that info?
That blue 740 with 2 aerials..wow i loved having 2 aerials on my 740 untill a drunk friend broke it off
While I have never been a big fan of Volvo's styling, there is no doubt the company made a famously durable and altogether sensible car.
My 1992 740 wagon is approaching 500K miles on all original drivetrain. These are the greatest cars ever made!!
Having driven Volvo since 1986: 240 1982 van 240 1988 estate 940 1988 estate 850 1994 estate 850 1997 estate and now V70II 2007 S60I 2005 I have never been baffled by the Volvo models. But then, I'm a Volvo man :-) My
1:12 Remember when car manufacturers actually cared for reliability? I owned in the past a 244 n/a, a 764t (for a short while), a 944t, and I am now still owning a 745t (it has the engine of my defunct 944t) and a 944 n/a (winterbeater). Would have loved to get my hands on a 780 with the bf230t. The best of both worlds : reliability and style.
On my 6th Volvo now but my favourite was second one I had, a dark red 740 sedan. 15 years old with 330.000km at the time. Nothing wrong with the car, ran great, little maintenance cost, but the missus made me trade it in for something newer (a V70). She's since been traded in herself ;-) That thing you mentioned about maintenance. Had to replace the reflectors in the headlight units for the annual test which cost €35 per side at the time for just the reflectors. Few years later same problem with the V70. This time it cost €175 per side for the entire headlight unit. On my current V70 just replacing a headlight bulb means removing the air filter box... Would love another 740 but they're hard to find in Ireland (thank you government scrappage schemes) and motor tax + insurance would be prohibitive.
@Big Car I like the model cars on the shelf. It offers a nice backdrop!
Thanks!
I owned 4 different 740"s...2 na and 2 turbo. All over 200k miles, over 20 years old...all were tanks that were cheap to buy and keep going. The Redbook was tough...though not very fuel efficient or powerful. But it didn't rust and handled great in the snow.
I still have my 1998 LPT Classic 940 estate that i bought in 2003, its the best car that ive ever had and probably ever will. Crazy reliable, never had any serious problems. Easy to work on, easy to find parts and cheap and the trunk has a lot of space.
I had a 760 GLE in college. Great car... except for the crap motor that eat camshafts. You had to either pull the motor or drill holes in the fire wall pulling out through the drivers compartment.
13:47 “The old 1974 [SOHC] V6 engine, which was becoming uncompetitive.” *Laughs in GM 60 degree OHV V6* (produced until 2011).
GM's 60 degree "X engine" went out of production in the USA in 2005, though it was produced in China until 2010. If you're referring to the Buick 3.8, it was actually 90 degrees. GM was very lucky with that engine. Through it was carved out of the 1953 Buick "Nailhead" V8, sold to Jeep in 1964, bought back in 1974, and given an even-firing crankshaft in 1977, GM squeezed 240 HP out of it without turbo or supercharging, and up to about 280 with it. It's a pity they couldn't manage their other projects as well. The Buick all-aluminum 215 V8 was from the same family and Rover kept it going into the 2000s.
I needed a second car and with a young family I couldn’t afford more than $1500. A coworker told me to go spend $1000 on an old Volvo. So I picked up a 1985 744 one up at a dealership for $900. It had 346,000 km on it. The AC didn’t work, the heated seats didn’t work, the left rear window didn’t work, but everything else was great. It came with a Pioneer CD/MP3/Sirius radio in the dash, a manual crank power roof, and some of the most comfortable leather seats I’ve ever sat in. I loved it so much that I decided to spend $2500 on a 1991 745T with 200,000 km to be our main family vehicle and stay out of payments. We drove it a lot but after 60,000 more km it had a ton of bottom end blowby and wasn’t worth fixing. The 744 wound up catching fire at about 410,000 km. Electrical short. So I picked up a 1982 244. This was probably my favourite one. It was not as comfortable or well equipped as the 744 or 745, but it was four speed manual. Unfortunately just about every convenience option failed on it like windshield washer and blower and ignition (I bypassed it with a switch) so it was no longer suitable for Canadian winters. I wasn’t interested in newer Volvos. Subaru seems to have replaced Volvo for quirky and reliable cars but with their head gasket problems and CVTs they don’t seem so reliable to me.. so wife drives a Honda and I drive GM junk that is cheap but predictably unreliable.
One of the big reasons for the 9xx series change was poor rollover performance on the 7xx series sedans. What looked like a style update was actually a significant structural improvement to the rear roof.
The 740 is a beast..
Own a 1983 760 one of the nicest cars ive ever owned
Nice volvo vid
It was a luxurious car. It had heated seats in 88. It blew my mind. I could of LS swapped it by now lol
I owned 1988 model 740. It was a 400 dollar car I got 2 months in it before I traded it in
This is unfair, cutting both ways: I think the presentation itself, was excellent and very informative. But I can not "Like" any presentation interrupted by commercials. To do so would only invite more of this obnoxious practice. I don't like jumping through advertiser's hoops. I encourage my fellow viewers to follow this lead and reject this practice: "Dislike" this presentation.
@Big Car As I said, it's unfair. But by your logic, you're on a slowly sinking ship. Have you noticed how that both broadcast t.v., and cable t.v. are losing viewers, and have been for a long time? The reason is very clear: too much advertising. I believe you should be rewarded for your excellent presentation, but place all the ads before the start. That way I can put it on mute, and do something useful, but I will not allow a large corporation to use my view time as their plaything to do whatever they damn well choose.
By that logic, you'd never get any new videos on NLworld as the work to make these videos is paid for by commercials. I have to be paid somehow.
We kids in sweden we build tractors of them called (Epa traktor) or (A traktor) and you can drive them when you are 15 and they only go in 30kmh or most of them a illagle
# im still driving my 940 turbo 1997 model , monthly i travel 1200 km to thailand , every 6 months i replaced the engine oil , im using semi syntetic oil , big car travel long distance at the highway fuel concumption much better , rather than intown used ! Volvo the sound proof , confortable and reliable , top speed 240 kmph , easy and smooth driving when yoy running at 150 - 170 kmph SOO RELAXING ! regards from dannok city and kuala lumpur .
740 has the most comfiest seats ever
My 89 240 has 540k miles original engine still running.
I have a volvo 940 with 85000 was my grandads from new 2.3 5 speed and it drives so good
A 740 hatchback, god if only, would be so fucking sick
The 245 was by far the best car I ever owned great vids very well researched thank you for posting
Thanks Paul!
I want a new 740.
My 1990 760 GLE was a lovely car, the dashboard layout was perfect and quality was great...
Bought my 1990 740 turbo wagon for 400 bucks, was initially a parts car cause I wanted the turbo motor for my 240 but ended up falling in love with it and now she's my daily driver over 250 thousand and still going. I pray ole black Betty never dies.
Proud to be swedish...:).......By the way could you do a story about Volvo PV and Volvo Duett?......would be very nice...:)
please, a history of 900 series.
I was thinking of continuing the Volvo story the other day!
At 12:11 you are telling about the facelift of the 740, however you are showing a 940, and at 12:40 again. The one at 12:29, that's the updated 740.
To paraphrase Hillary Clinton, they all look the same.
too American? I loved seeing these on the street just because of that, the closest you could get to an old Caprice round here :)
My mom's sister 2 Gen Volvo V70 saved her life she lost control off it on the highway she went right into the guardrail and flipped over like 3 times barley had any injuries now she has the newest gen off the V70.
So cool. Thank you
3:35 The Cybertruck minivan 😂
Interestingly the 850 development started about the same time, around 1978.
Great vlog as always! In Norway Volvo have always had a strong foot hold. In any other country they have had a 1% of the market. In Norway it has been in the 7-12% range. Can you make a program about the history of unsold cars? I know before 1988 they made lots of cars before they were sold. Today the sell a car, then they make it. My mother bought her first brand new car in 1986, a FIAT Uno 70SL. Top of the line. My dad had then a 1978 Dodge Aspen wagon 2,8l strait six. That was the family car. To my dads surprise the Uno was so roomy that it became the new family car! I got to drive drive that car as much as I wanted when I turned 18. The first year I drove almost 50k! I loved that car!
You can see why the government don't want us driving around in older cars , they don't break down and when they do it's easy to fix and are inexpensive any one can afford one unlike the newer cars you need a scanner to reset the engine modules service lights ect BMW you to cost you around 180 just to turn light out ,!!
Hi great video could you make a video about Volvo 262c 2 door special vid would be fab if poss thanks ps you should be on TV or sky channels x
We had a '91 740 that was built like a tank...Extremely reliable,,,My ex-wife became a huge fan, and drives nothing but Volvos since.
As we swedes say Volvo 740 madderfakker
I like how everybody says something different about what car saved Volvo. Some say the 7 series was, some say the 960 was, and some say the P80 was. Personally i prefer the 9 series all day long.
It wasn’t a car. It was Ford.
My dad owned a marine blue 740 GLE from 1988 until the summer of 2018, when we finally scrapped it, it had driven 500.000 km and had barely any rust besides the usally at the front drivers door. The real problem was the engine giving up.
Awesome and humourous editing at 11:30! Keep up the good work! Go Volvo, the best cars in the world!
i like att de kommer biltema reklam
Volvo today is neater cheap to service or to buy and the quality is in the toilet... not very reliable....get a KIA or honda...toyotas are overrated....
2:38 chevy lumina apv
There’s a cult following for basically every single volvo ever
As a JDM freak wanting to find a budget drift car with a long wheelbase, this video has helped me loads! Easy More than Google has thus far
Glad it helped!
sooo....... which one was the one that was faster than porsche cuz in lost xd
i miss my 940, it may not have had an important role in volvo's future but it's always better than the mercedes c200 from 2003 that i have now, it has an error in the computer, it's SUPER small you can't even get in and out properly, it's just the worst
Interesting video, but way too many advertisements.
200series unreliable? Lel
Had one of these as my first car. A 1988 white 740GL sedan with a blue interior it had some issues mechanically which made it unreliable so I sold it and I regret that decision sometimes mostly because it was a rare RHD manual.
1155 is a great processor socket :)
A very good and interesting vid. The @)”&$% ads made me want to quit out of it.
The 780 was my favorite 700's Volvo
My 744 has 545000 km on it, and like most old Volvos left in Scandinavia, it only gets faster as it gets older :p
fyfan va görgött