Some episodes from the life of my 480

Here you can start a thread about your 480 days. Only the starter of the thread is allowed to fill his thread, and only one thread per person. Threads are simply a personal diary.

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Van
480 Connoisseur
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Sun Sep 17, 2017 1:58 am

In a store I peeked into the current issue of the Dutch Autoweek classic car magazine. It features a story about the 480 convertible and interviews with designers Rob Koch and John de Vries.
Being Dutch I didn't buy it and from memory a few interesting facts that may for that reason be less accurate.

Apparently the 480 is build on the Renault 9 floorpan. The high bulkhead was a problem they had to workaround designing the car. The groove under the bonnet was to visually lower the waist of the car.

The convertible was to be build by a UK company. They -the designers- had doubts about them but a deal was forced onto them. However the company went into receivership before production could start. One prototype and the moulds were stored for many years, then offered on Ebay. A Dutchman bought them, and was able to have a Dutch license for the car. He also converted it from right hand drive to lhd. This car is featured in the story. Two other prototypes also still should exist.

When the UK production failed it was tried to have Karmann build the cars. However Karmann demanded the car be totally re-engineered to meet their quality standards. Well ahead in the life cycle of the 480, this would mean the convertible would be delayed too many years and made no sense at the end of the model's life, so it was cancelled. (Leave alone the extra costs...)



-
While for many people the convertible seem to be the holy grail personally I think it's just plain ugly. Chopping it takes away the design clues that make the 480 to what it is. Plus the extra rolloverbar and roof cover spoil it even more but that's just my two cents.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

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brinkie
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by brinkie » Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:00 am

But they asked John de Vries to re-draw the 480 convertible (he called it the 480 ES C) and that was much more true to the original 480. I took a picture out of the magazine, it is not in the best quality but it will give you a good impression.

Image

John de Vries is a very nice man. He knows a lot of stories about the design stage of the 480, despite he left Volvo in 1985 for DAF, to design the DAF 95 truck. Not a bad move, the DAF 95 became Truck of the Year 1988.
Robert.

Present cars: 1994 Volvo 480 GT 2.0i, 1999 Volvo S70 2.5 Europa, 2010 Volvo V70 2.0F Momentum

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Van
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:49 pm

Just an image saved from the compromised Photobucket account and stored elsewhere:

Image
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

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Van
480 Connoisseur
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:53 pm

480 in the wet:

Image


Image


Image
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

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Van
480 Connoisseur
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:58 pm

Posted before but compromised by the Photobucket 25mb/month download limit:

Image

Aftermarket airbags for the 480
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
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Location: Norfolk

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by dragonflyjewels » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:40 pm

Brilliant !! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

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Van
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:24 pm

Thanks!
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

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Van
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Jun 08, 2020 5:49 am

A friend sent me some images of drawings, models and prototypes of the nose-job that never made it into production.

Image

I suppose these are well known and no need to up them all?
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

jifflemon
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by jifflemon » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:52 am

Ends up looking a little like a renault 19 in my eyes....

Thank heavens it never happened!

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
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Location: Norfolk

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by dragonflyjewels » Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:04 am

I am currently editing the English edition of a very interesting Dutch book about the 480 written by Eric Vanaubel and his friend which details all the design period with lots of photos. Hopefully it will be available later this year. Eric has a real gift for drawing so the book also contains some wonderful artwork.
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

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dcwalker
480 Is my middle name
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Location: York

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by dcwalker » Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:12 am

jifflemon wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:52 am
Ends up looking a little like a renault 19 in my eyes....

Thank heavens it never happened!
With a liberal dose of Rover SD1...

David
Current: 1994 480 GT, 1996 460 CD & 1997 440 LE with lots of optional extras & 2007 V50 SE Sport
Previous: Celebration 331 (re-homed with Richard S), Celebration 467 (returned to Martin Mc); Celebration 346 (re-homed with Alan480); Celebration 269 (scrapped abandoned project), Celebration 73 (sold on after 6 years), 1992 ES, 1988 ES - and numerous other non-480 Volvos!

Alan 480
480 Is my middle name
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Location: Aberdeen

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Alan 480 » Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:11 pm

saves wiring and alignment issues with the headlights ? ? ? ?

and most importantly MONEY on the motors . . . . (maybe a regulation as fewer pop-ups now) although I can attach a link showing just how many DID have pop-ups , drop downs etc
Alan

480 ES 2litre 'Celebration' ? , C30 1.8ES, SS1

jifflemon
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by jifflemon » Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:25 pm

Safety regulations killed off the Pop-up headlight.
This was mainly down to pedestrian safety regulations being tightened up and having a ‘sharp’ surface area was deemed too dangerous for most manufacturers to bother continuing with pop-ups. They require the front-end of cars to be more squishy in case of hitting a pedestrian
The problem lies where it’s just too difficult to develop modern pop-up headlights to be in line with the new standards set by the European design laws.

Alan 480
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1489
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:03 am
Location: Aberdeen

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Alan 480 » Wed Jun 10, 2020 4:56 pm

Ah so memeory was not too far off ;-)

see this link for a 'definative list'

http://www.scimitarweb.co.uk/sgwrs/view ... 17&t=13005
Alan

480 ES 2litre 'Celebration' ? , C30 1.8ES, SS1

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