CeDriC the numberless Celebration

[dcwalker]

As mentioned a few months back, I rescued a 480 Celebration from the perils of eBay; or, to put it more accurately, Hutton Brothers (my local excellent Volvo independent) knew they only had to let me see it when I took Lily my GT in for her MOT



Nora, as she is known, is a bit of a mystery in that she is definitely a Celebration - the spec is exactly right and I have the original sale invoice, which, like the V5, states she is a Celebration. But there is no plaque on the dashboard and no trace of one ever having been there. I know they were fitted by the dealers on purchase so I imagine her original owner didn't want it put on the car...I need to try and track him down (perhaps he still has it?) and/or see if Mill Garage in Stockton still have any records (long shot but can't hurt to try!).

I thought it was time now to start a thread for her since today she secured her MOT. Slight problems getting it due to an oil leak (camshaft seal at distributor still leaking despite my changing it, seems a genuine Volvo one (yes, Huttons still had one!) has done the trick) and an inability to get the car warmed up for the emissions check (I know the thermostat needs replacing as its opening too early but not done it yet; they took the car for a spin to get her up to temperature, no problems then). Otherwise, no problems, no advisories, just a nice clean ticket for a year now.

I have been busy meanwhile - Nora has been benefitting from some of my precious spares, such as a pretty decent pair of front light (DRL/indicator) units (hers were looking pretty ugly), a dashboard surround with minimal cracking (hers had a big lump missing), glove box lid (hers had a hinge strap missing, and auxiliary gauges (of which, at the moment, of course only the voltmeter works). I found her a roller blind cover (hers was missing) and some rigid mats (she had none) and she may be the beneficiary of a cupholder armrest and a genuine tow-bar (if that doesn't end up on Lily...). I have also found a Phillips radio/cd for her - not exactly the right model but of the same era and very similar.

Otherwise, lots of cleaning, as well as a full service (oil, filters, plus, HT leads, distributor cap and rotor arm) has been going on.



She seems to be in pretty good nick. I will give some attention to the rear arches and door bottoms - I think both will be ok for now with some cosmetic attention; the wheel arches on Lily are my priority and I can't afford to get 2 cars done at the same time!

The future plans? When I have finished doing what I can to her and got her into a decent shape, I will probably be selling her on. I doubt I'll be allowed to keep her! But I might get her to a couple of our mini-meets before then, who knows?

I will post further updates in due course; meanwhile, I have tried to get some photos up with this thread - hmmm...how do I get them bigger?

David

[jifflemon]

Damn all you multiple 480 households! You're putting ideas into my head!

From the hard squinting at the tiny pictures, Nora looks in good shape! will be a good buy for someone when the time comes.

[dcwalker]

Thanks Jeff

I have used Postimage - any idea how to make the photos bigger? Or a suggestion for a different route for getting photos back onto the forum?

David

[arthuy]

I have been using photobox it seems to be ok.

I wonder, have you seen any other celebrations with the same registration range? might be able to work out what number you are from that.

Or date of manufacture/registration, not an exact science depending how Volvo applied the numbers.

Were the celebrations assigned a special vin number range to differentiate them from the standard cars? could be another way to work it out.

[jamescarruthers]

I have used Postimage - any idea how to make the photos bigger? Or a suggestion for a different route for getting photos back onto the forum?

David

On Postimages try copying the "Hotlink for forums" straight in to this board's post

[jamescarruthers]

Hmmm, for some reason your image is actually tiny. Maybe they got shrunk along the line. I know my phone gives the option to shrink emailed pictures. Are these the originals?

[Alan 480]

The future plans? When I have finished doing what I can to her and got her into a decent shape, I will probably be selling her on. I doubt I'll be allowed to keep her! But I might get her to a couple of our mini-meets before then, who knows?

sounds like a plan, you have my number ?

[dcwalker]

Thanks all

Alan, I promised you first refusal and will stick to my word, fear not !

Done a bit more today: installed cupholder armrest, replaced shattered passenger door pocket (I was convinced the spare I had was a driver's door one but it was actually the passenger side - makes a change to get Sod's Law in reverse!) and started some serious engine compartment cleaning...

It was a good day for 480'ing as Nigel popped in with his storm grey Celebration (love that colour) and we sorted out the main-beam problem he had. Always good to meet another 480 owner, even if I completely forgot to seize the opportunity to photograph 3 480s together on the drive

Having another bash with the photos following everyone's advice:







David

[dragonflyjewels]

aha, can now see in the bigger pics it is a late one. The thought occurred to me that maybe Volvo built a few extra Celebrations after they reached 480 hence the lack of a plaque. As previously discussed on here, there seem to have been rather more than 250 GTs. Very naughty, but if they had the orders perhaps they couldn't resist.
I did have a look back on howmanyleft, but cant see that there were extra Celebs, unless some early ones got written off.
It wouldn't surprise me if the original owner declined to have the plaque fitted, I've never been a fan of them myself. Pity it wasn't tucked away in the glove box, or stuck on somewhere where not readily visible.

[dcwalker]

Thanks Sylvia

Yes, the stories about extra GTs and Celebrations have always persisted, and Volvo were always good at continuing to produce cars that were in demand - look at how the 240 carried on for years alongside the 740/760 that were intended to replace it. As you say, naughty but good business sense! Plus there must have been some spares - I can't imagine there were, literally, only 250 sets of that GT interior made...

I hoped the plaque would be somewhere and eagerly checked all cubby holes and glove box when I got her. I have had the back seats out, front seats right forward and back etc but no, no plaque anywhere

Good suggestions above about the range of chassis numbers. Hmmm...Nora is 593456, first registered 14th September 1995. My previous Celebration, Morwenna, was number 73 and her chassis number was 592758, first registered 1st August 1995. That puts Nora 698 cars later - but (i) limited production of other models was still ongoing even at this late stage and (ii) my understanding, from enquiring way back in 1995, was that the numbers were not allocated from the factory, but given to the dealer when the car was ordered. So, for example, the fact that 758 was no 73 does not necessarily mean that 759 was no 74.

That said, Nora seems well out of range - can any other Celeb owners on here shed any light on what the range of chassis numbers was?

Best

David

[dragonflyjewels]

Shame no 480 isn't still about, I wonder what the highest number one in the club is ?

[dragonflyjewels]

I've just received the latest magazine from the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, lo and behold there is a photo of the back of an N reg 480 at a meet. It's Flame Red and the boot badge just reads 480, so I guessed it was a Celebration. I've just checked online and it was registered as a Celeb in September 95. I've emailed Kevin to ask if he can either put me in touch with the owner, or find out if it has a dash plaque and also get the chassis number.

[dcwalker]

I've just received the latest magazine from the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, lo and behold there is a photo of the back of an N reg 480 at a meet. It's Flame Red and the boot badge just reads 480, so I guessed it was a Celebration. I've just checked online and it was registered as a Celeb in September 95. I've emailed Kevin to ask if he can either put me in touch with the owner, or find out if it has a dash plaque and also get the chassis number.

Fantastic! Thanks Sylvia - we'll work this out yet!

David

[dcwalker]

More progress today - thermostat changed and now Nora warms up properly

Also finished off cleaning the engine compartment - I don't go overboard but I do like to be able to see what I am working on, and it's a good opportunity to check for any existing leaks or damage and also to spot any that occur in the future...







Onwards and upwards!

David

[dragonflyjewels]

Just heard back from Kevin - the Celebration is his own daily driver (naturally the Saint car is only for very best). It is 274, registered the day before yours, chassis no 593434, so yours must be very close to 275. He tells me that the plaques often went missing so weren't fitted. He knows from making enquiries when he also once bought a Celebration without a plaque.

[dcwalker]

Thanks Sylvia - valuable information It's very useful that Kevin's car's chassis number is so close to Nora's...as you say, very likely she was a number very close to his, so perhaps 275 or 276.

I will still pursue that elusive dashboard plaque, although I'll be amazed if I manage to locate it!

Thanks again,

David

[dragonflyjewels]

Having got my teeth into this, I've collected some more info from other Celebration owners.
163 and 170 were both registered in Aug 95, chassis nos are 592941 and 592965. So, 7 Celebrations in 24 chassis if they were numbered in sequence.
Assuming that demand didn't change much in a month, that implies it would probably be 6 or 7 Celebrations in the 22 chassis between 274's and yours. So you might be looking at 280-281 ish.
I have a few more owners still to supply details and will of course post anything of interest for this car. I will continue to pursue Celebration information so if anyone else has one without a plaque, I might be able to help.

[dcwalker]

Having got my teeth into this, I've collected some more info from other Celebration owners.
163 and 170 were both registered in Aug 95, chassis nos are 592941 and 592965. So, 7 Celebrations in 24 chassis if they were numbered in sequence.
Assuming that demand didn't change much in a month, that implies it would probably be 6 or 7 Celebrations in the 22 chassis between 274's and yours. So you might be looking at 280-281 ish.
I have a few more owners still to supply details and will of course post anything of interest for this car. I will continue to pursue Celebration information so if anyone else has one without a plaque, I might be able to help.

Sylvia

This is fantastic - you have certainly got your teeth into this question and are doing what I thought I would do when - and if - I ever got around to it!

Picking up on your reasoning my previous one, Morwenna, was number 73 and 183 chassis numbers before 163. So, if in order, 90 Celebrations across 183 cars - approx. 1 in 2, which is not a million miles off of 7 across 24 (approx. 1 in 3), especially if one assumes demand to be at its peak when the Celebration came out and then steadying off. So I think it all fits...

I should have checked with Nigel Poustie when I saw him on Saturday (assuming you haven't already) - Nigel, if you see this what number is yours and what chassis number please?

Thanks again Sylvia, appreciate your efforts

David

[nigel poustie]

Hi David.

It was great to meet you the other day thanks so much for your help, it's great fully have fully functioning lights!

Nora is looking great! I can't believe we didn't get a photo of all 3 of them together!

My Celebration is 108 chassis no 592653, I hope you get to the bottom of your number.

Cheers
Nigel

[dragonflyjewels]

My Celebration is 108 chassis no 592653, I hope you get to the bottom of your number.

Cheers
Nigel

Thanks for the info Nigel - your chassis number throws a spanner in the works - is your car manual or auto ?