Me and my Volvo 480, Celebration No. 244

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volcar16
480 Newbie
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:07 pm

Me and my Volvo 480, Celebration No. 244

Post by volcar16 » Sun May 30, 2021 4:49 pm

Volvo 480 Celebration No. 244 came into my life in mid-October 2001 when a chance call to the Volvo dealer in Doncaster revealed ‘a 480 had just come in’ to their branch in Hull, previously called Walfred. The car was brought over for me to view and test drive in Doncaster and an hour and a half later I had bought it and I still own it to this day. I collected the car on the 27th October 2001.

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I was amused by the number my car happened to be, 244 – When I was around 13 years old and beginning to work out that if I could drive in 4 years time, my first car would probably already exist and be 4 or 5 years old by now and I pictured a beige Volvo 244 in my mind… Actually it wasn’t but it tickled me that the number 244 really had appeared on a Volvo I owned!

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The cars original registration looked as weird as hell on the then new (for 51 plate) thin number plate characters when virtually no other cars had them at the time. They suited the private registration much better. I have since tracked down the original dealer number plate logo on an old number plate with a view to recreating the original number plate for show purposes.

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Storm Grey was not a colour I’d previously been aware of, I’d assumed my 480 would be maroon or blue, but as a complete package, this low mileage, one previous owner, dealer supplied car, did look a very tasty proposition. It is the only 480 I’ve ever owned and I think part of the reason I still have it is that it in Celebration form and Storm Grey ‘it exceeds the sum of its parts’. The photos were taken today.

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I visited this forum back in November 2001 but as I recall it seemed to be more for customizing 480s. Old 480s made the perfect basis for spraying saffron, adding Lamborghini style scissor doors and cutting the wheel arches open to get the largest wheels available in. As my 480 still looked pretty new and smart at 6 years old then, it wasn’t my thing.

The Volvo 480 first came into my consciousness on 30th October 1985 when I was 11 years old. Dad’s weekly Autocar magazine appeared through the letterbox as usual and it kind of ‘rocked my world’ that day. I can remember thinking about the red car in the photo at the harvest festival that afternoon and trying to get my head around what I had seen!

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My 480 was a daily driver and went from 46,000 to 100,000 within 2 years and after 4 years the car was beginning to look a bit tatty around the edges with stone chips, a fog lamp broken by a high speed stone, and a vandalised spoiler courtesy of someone who didn’t like me parking outside their house. The sunroof my car came with I eventually worked out wasn’t original and was fitted by the first owner, and it was beginning to rust like the Titanic around the edges and I head would get wet occasionally.

So in 2007, 480 Celebration No. 289 was being broken up, a maroon car, N963 SWN, and I bought or seemed to come away with great chunks of it bundled into a Vauxhall Vivaro I’d hired. A bodyshop performed a roof transplant and sprayed the roof the right colour along with fixing the now rusting rear wheel arches.

I still have the dashboard plaque (and maroon nose cose, and tailgate glass…) from No. 289 which intriguingly had been fitted the wrong way round, the plaque was on the right nearest the centre console. Even the casting of the plaque isn’t as nice as mine as just below the 289 is a casting sink mark from the pin on the back!

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Since then the car has been used less and less as much to preserve it and newer cars have come along but I still love it to bits. It’s mileage is currently 176,000. It a fantastic piece of car design even if the leaks, rattles, and plastics that disintegrate would test the patience of a saint!

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The original Philips CD Radio packed up or went a bit weird in 2004 so it was replaced with a Sony CDX2000 which looked about as tasteful as you could find in Halfords at short notice and in 2017 I finally replaced that just because I could by putting a modern Philips unit back in. I liked the idea of upgrading it by adding MP3 and phone connectivity in the 480 and bought a CEM5100. Boasting a display choice of 33,000 colours I did manage to recreate the 480 green from the ‘80s as near as dammit... until I changed the battery. Until I reset the colour I can do the full tasteless on the in car entertainment. I still have the original CD radio stored away.

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The jobs done to the car and expense required for it still to be here in 2021 with 176,000 miles are too numerous and traumatic to mention. It’s fantastic someone is recreating new rear light lenses and I read someone bemoan the lack of a Hella logo on them, I think whoever is making them should proudly put his own logo on them, it’s all part of the 480s story. I’d be proud to show off my new non-original but identical-looking rear lights! 480 forum member ‘Brinkie’ kindly fixed the milometer when that went bang and it’s amazing modern technology, 3D printing for example, is there to pick up the pieces of Volvo’s own disinterest in 480s.

Go on Volvo, do a '480 restomod' for the 480's 40th anniversary, I dare you!
1995 Volvo 480 Celebration 244/480 (owned 20 years)
2002 Volvo C70 T5 Coupe (owned 16 years, featured in "Classic & Sportscar" magazine, May 2021)
2009 Mercedes A160 (the sacrificial car used for work protecting the Volvos :D )

jifflemon
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Me and my Volvo 480, Celebration No. 244

Post by jifflemon » Sun May 30, 2021 7:31 pm

As someone who has two sets of those new rear lights, I can absolutely vouch for them!

Storm Grey celebs (with the absolute single exception of celebration 312) are might absolute favourite.
volcar16 wrote:
Sun May 30, 2021 4:49 pm
I still have the dashboard plaque (and maroon nose cose, and tailgate glass…) from No. 289 which intriguingly had been fitted the wrong way round, the plaque was on the right nearest the centre console. Even the casting of the plaque isn’t as nice as mine as just below the 289 is a casting sink mark from the pin on the back!


With 289, I reckon the dealer accidently fitted the badge upside down and so just fitted the trim piece reversed!
volcar16 wrote:
Sun May 30, 2021 4:49 pm
It’s mileage is currently 176,000. It a fantastic piece of car design even if the leaks, rattles, and plastics that disintegrate would test the patience of a saint!
Whilst sort of true, you'd be surprised just how much you can refine and fix with more modern day materials! heck I think you can even stop them leaking (goes off to knock on as much wood as he can find)

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volcar16
480 Newbie
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: Me and my Volvo 480, Celebration No. 244

Post by volcar16 » Mon May 31, 2021 1:22 pm

Would the dealers fit the Celebration plaques? It’s riveted on the back to the strip and the breaker bent the strip getting it from the dashboard, he was either clumsy or it was very well stuck on.

I pictured a change of shift in the factory and someone new had done 10 cars plaques at the wrong end before the anyone realised and then they took the philosophical view of ‘they’ll have to go out like that’...

When I got the car I’m pretty sure it didn’t rattle at all, it was a surprisingly refined car and reminded me of my dad’s 740 Turbo in quality and luxury. I guess when it was getting to around 100,000 miles of stiffly sprung travel, fixings became looser and worn.

I fixed the leak by keeping it out of the rain... :D
1995 Volvo 480 Celebration 244/480 (owned 20 years)
2002 Volvo C70 T5 Coupe (owned 16 years, featured in "Classic & Sportscar" magazine, May 2021)
2009 Mercedes A160 (the sacrificial car used for work protecting the Volvos :D )

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