Volvo 480 Club Europe

The German classic car magazine AutoBild Klassik has printed in their previous issue an article about the coolest cars of the eighties. On of them the Volvo 480! Now they have put an excerpt and some pictures online. Scroll down to read about the 480, albeit in German. The pictures can be seen from here.

And while you're there, enjoy the images of the Porsche 928 Club Sport, imho one of the greatest car designs ever.

This topic brought to mind a story I never posted here so I will now. While driving into Germany for a visit to my parents on a hot day, the air-conditioning became intermittent. Mostly off. While there, I decided to have the problem solved and made an appointment at a Bosch service station. When I arrived, the mechanic was working on a Ferrari 456 GT. I went for a walk and when I returned he was still working on the Ferrari, turning on the engine and pouring cooling fluid into the cooling system. The sound of that V12 engine, it was glorious, harmonic, fantastic! I've heard Ferrari's before and I'm not a Ferrari aficionado but I do love the sound of their engines. Later the owner showed up, instructing the mechanic not to fill the air-conditioning because he had to go and would do without it. Then other people appeared and they showed and exchanged watches, apparently a popular pastime among rich people. After the Ferrari left, my car was serviced and it turned out to be an intermittent switch on the a/c system. The cost for the service and refilling the a/c was very reasonable.

An unpleasant surprise! I had to go out on Monday-night, in the rain. Because the car was dirty I couldn't cover it. There was rain most of the week and I was a bit to easy, so I did have it washed and covered. After more rain, yesterday I didn't like the smell in the interior. I had absorbing stuff in the back that was not yet entirely saturated but could do with replacement. A small task I just did. I noticed, there was more wet on the luggage compartment floor as usual. And that it even had run down to the left rear seat! Ow, that hurts. The left rear foot-well was dry. The right side I felt a wet spot under the seat. And when I lifted the carpet in the right front foot-well it was wet there to. I had been monitoring this since the 2012 event and it had been dry for well over two years, now the problem re-occurred. I could not find wet spots going up. Could this by magic be the water coming from rear? To me it seems impossible. It would have to move from the left to the right. Anyway I packed it all with newspapers to absorb the damp. I'm running low on old newspapers also. I have managed with just absorbent in the spare wheel well for some time now but I will have to cover the left rear corner of the floor also. A couple of times, I have investigated this, pouring water with the hose, checking inside and it never appeared. I can't do this at home. I am depending on friendly family members. We had great warm weather for weeks, and now when I need that to get the car dry it's over. It's still raining all the time but I have to go out and wash the car, to be able to cover it up. It's very unpredictable now when it will rain. I plan to do it in the afternoon. With the dirty roads, when returning home I'll have to clean the back with a bucket of water again. Then use towels to get everything dry. The inside of the cover is made of sort of a soft cloth. It's hard to clean, can't allow to get that dirty.

Driving home from a weekend at relatives I had an encounter with a superb looking grey GT Turbo. It's license was identical with mine minus 2. When I checked it, I saw the car has been owned for 15 years.

During the weekend, with help from a savvy young man we might have finally solved the water leakage in the rear. There were minimal drips from the outside orange reflector. But when my mate sprayed water on a particular spot of the tailgate, water poured in. Under the back window rubber seal was rust and two spots where it could enter the interior. We sealed it all with silicone and hope for the best.

Saved a rabbit's life last night. I already was reducing speed for an upcoming roundabout when the rabbit suddenly ran onto the road. It stopped about halfway of the right lane. Sharp braking and a quick turn of the wheel and the animal was overtaken and unharmed.

Still struggling with the front door leakage. From another forum I found that plastic foil inserts could have to do with it. I will have to investigate with my mate when I meet him, in December.

Inspired by a new member here, I looked on a Dutch 480 site and learned that the 480 I previously owned, must have been a pre-production car. That is weird, I always thought pre-production cars would get scrapped or maybe end in manufacturers collections, but not get sold to customers.
But it fits with the Rob Koch story mentioned earlier. Keywords C.G. Jung - synchronicity.

Not all pre-production cars were scrapped, some of the pre-production bodies were used on the assembly line and some of the electrics (rear handles with lighting, different indicator clicking sound from the CEM) were used, too, though they weren't used in regular production. A genuine pre-production 480 has a blue oil dip stick and a serial number below 350.

I never paid special attention to the dipstick and can't remember what color that must have had. Same for the indicator sound. But it had the red low segments of the fuel level meter and the rear handles with lightning. It was first registered on April 25, 1986. I don't have the VIN.

After a long search in the digital archives I found some pictures of the car, with the welds under the tail lights.

One now very sad 480 owner (not me) had his car crashed in Amsterdam today by a relentless driver ignoring a red light. According to the news article, after the crash, the bad driver stopped to see if nobody got hurt (nobody got hurt in the incident) then got off. His car was found later, not the scumbag himself. Probably a drunk driver.

news article:
http://www.rtvnh.nl/nieuws/175628/ongel ... rijdt-door

The video on this site shows the left hand damage, where apparently the impact was:
http://www.at5.nl/artikelen/150412/rood ... intuurbaan

I am really sorry for the unlucky 480 driver. 'Keep up man!'

I recognize this car and its owner! He attended a workshop meeting last March. Looks like a complete writeoff to me. Very, very sad indeed.
Though the bad driver stopped to see if he didn't actually hurt someone, he wasn't brave enough to wait for the police and face the consequences. Since he abandoned the car and got away on foot, and presuming it wasn't his car, the actual owner can tell the police someone took his car without consent.

brinkie wrote:the actual owner can tell the police someone took his car without consent.

or the drunken 'owner' can 'claim' his car was stolen by a drunk ? ? ? ?

I guess it depends how quickly the 'theft' is reported

Well my friends, it feels really weird to write this down, and I guess I haven't fully realized it, I am dazzling a bit. I sold my 480 today!
So you ask, why?
Well mainly, I couldn't handle the rust issue. If nothing happens the car is doomed, and it is to good for that. Also, for my longer trips to relatives, I want a more spacious and silent car, preferably with cruise control.

So I went looking for an enthusiast who would be able to deal with the issues. I had the car serviced, and had it pass the APK (MOT). So it was road legal for well over a year. I advertised the car on a couple of serious advertisement boards, and had hundreds of people... -just kidding. Anyway, the right people showed up, we negotiated and made a deal. I really think they are the right people with capabilities to solve the car issues and keep it on the road.

Well, I am a bit sad to see it go of course. An ownership of over ten years says enough. I enjoyed the driving, the looks, and the fact that is a special car.
One very special appeal I consider this forum. The help, the contacts. All the views this topic received made me a bit proud and I knew I was not alone.

With a mate were now on the lookout for a good car, alas not a 480.

Well, fair play to you for having made it to 10 years! And you know,........ you will be back

Good luck with the car hunt - I hope you find something that is as memorable (for the right reasons) as your trusty (ish) and now much missed 480

All the best!

Martin

I was surprised to read that you'd sold the 480, Van, I've been following your thread for a while now

But anyway well played for letting someone else have a go!

Hi Van
I was surpriced to read that you'd sold your 480, but I totaly understand your reasons, and You know you will be back once You have been bitten by the 480 bug.

I wish you all the best and a merry Christmas

Chris

Thank you my friends. Well I've been sick for a week seeing the 480 go. I had become very attached to it.
Now I've scored a Citroën C5. An entirely different car but is there something else like a 480?
You may have read earlier in this topic, I have experience driving a C5.
Anyway it's very comfortable and roomy, I had so much troubles squeezing in my luggage in the Volvo for my longer travels.
Did you know by the way the Citroën suspension was good enough to have been licensed by Rolls Royce for use in the Silver Shadow? And by Mercedes-Benz for use in their 70's flagship the 450 SEL 6.9?
So it's not just a car, but one with the magic carpet ride!

I received mail from the new owners of the Volvo. They tackled the rust, did some other jobs and gave the car a good polishing. I am happy it's being cared for.

Haven't seen a single 480 in a years time!

Anyway, was at the diy-shop for a piece of wood, and the owner surprisingly asked if it would fit inside the Volvo. He still remembered the 480, I dunno from what.

Watch out for amazing pictures from the 'Mini-Meet' / Rally this coming weekend in the UK It should be a hoot!