Car of the Month

Car of the Month November 2005 belongs to Jean Pierre Vanhex from Belgium.

Dear Volvo fanatics,

my name is Jean Pierre (a.k.a. amdforce) and I am a 33 year old Belgian, born in Hasselt, Belgium.

Cars are my passion, especially Volvos. I was about 13 years old when the 480 was launched and at the time my dad drove a Volvo 244 GL. This was replaced by a 480 as soon as the 480 became available on the Belgian market. For this reason I never forgot about 480, the car sure made an impression on me. A few years ago a friend of mine came by driving a white Volvo 480 Turbo. I then knew my next car had to be a 480; the sporty looks, the power, the typical interiour with the two seats in the back, all this was the reason I had to have one.

My first Volvo 480 was a 1991 ES, sadly not the great car I had hoped to buy. The car needed lots of attention and became more and more expensive. Finally the garage-owner contacted me telling me the chassis was bent. It was a real surprise it ever had gotten through any checks. As long as the bent chassis wasn't noticed during checks I could drive / fiddle with it, but knowing all these things I decided I wanted another 480. After a while I came across a 1989 red 480 Turbo with bodykit. This car used to belong to Jimmy and was in excellent condition. Sadly I wasn't able to drive this car for a long time, because someone destroyed the front-end.

Through Jimmy I got the address of the Volvo 480 Club Europe. Some of you might know me from the forum as the guy with the red 480 with the 'go-faster striping', as some people called my Dodge-Viper lookalike striping. I am not someone who will just give up so easily, I had to find another 480, one in which I could put my creativity, my own ideas.

So after a while I found a 1994 480 Turbo, Lavender Blue, on which I am solving all sorts of small 480 problems as I write this. Bit by bit the problems and nags are being solved, so I hope to end up with a perfect 480!

The Volvo 480 are the swift agile sportsvolvos from the past, people today don't really know about this car, making it loved only by those who know them. I hope none of us will encounter serious hardships in their 480 and that we will be able to exchange information and solve problems on the forum for many, many years to come.

I do like cartuning, so I hope to do some 'special things' with my car in the future. I hope my Paris Blue will stand out from the crowd once I am done with her.

Greets,
Jean Pierre, a.k.a. amdforce

Photo's of my 480

Jean Pierre Vanhex, member 2186