Page 2 of 2

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:14 am
by jamescarruthers
Image

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:15 am
by jamescarruthers
Image

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:15 am
by jamescarruthers
Image

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:15 am
by jamescarruthers
Image

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:14 pm
by jamescarruthers
Keith's been cracking on!

Image
Image

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:02 pm
by dragonflyjewels
That looks fabulous !! Assuming of course that we aren't looking at a 1987 photo of a Volvo showroom......

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:33 am
by AleksanderHugo
Looks great! I especially like the combination of black bumpers with colored lip :)

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:33 am
by dcwalker
That looks amazing!! If I were to be a real purist the one observation I would make is that somewhere throughout the restoration process it appears to have acquired the later type door mirrors...but that is being picky; the car is a great credit to Keith :D

Sadly perhaps (?) I can well remember when walking into a Volvo showroom would reveal a 480, a 340 and a 240...mind you, it was seeing a launch 480 in a showroom in Oxford as a student that triggered love at first sight for the model!

Aleksander - I agree with you about the lip spoiler/black bumper combination; the spoilers came unpainted when ordered as an accessory (as would be the case in 1987) but Volvo's intention was that it would be painted the colour of the car. I always wondered if it would look odd, and although I must have done I can't actually remember ever seeing it in place like this. However, I think it works really well!

David

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:08 am
by MisterH
That looks very smart, not sure about the choice of number-plate style though, I suppose it is impossible to find the right ones now. either way though, that is a very slick restoration, I will have to keep an eye out next time I am in Southampton! A Very nice Job!

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:39 am
by Alan 480
Stunning example, are the Volvo garage using it as a promo tool ?

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 12:04 pm
by jamescarruthers
I agree about the mirrors but unfortunately the driver's side one got hit recently on a narrow road and he only‎ had later ones spare. I think he plans to get the original style back on.

I also agree on the plates. It is difficult to get the old font but is doable if you order them ‎Platesforcars.co.uk and select the old font. I struggled to find this old font and was put on to this company from a Citroen friend. 

‎I guess the Volvo garage are being friendly and both sides are winners here. 

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:50 pm
by MisterH
jamescarruthers wrote:
Thu Apr 11, 2019 12:04 pm
I agree about the mirrors but unfortunately the driver's side one got hit recently on a narrow road and he only‎ had later ones spare. I think he plans to get the original style back on.

I also agree on the plates. It is difficult to get the old font but is doable if you order them ‎Platesforcars.co.uk and select the old font. I struggled to find this old font and was put on to this company from a Citroen friend. 

‎I guess the Volvo garage are being friendly and both sides are winners here. 
I think the font is okay, Seymor Horwell kindly provided some modern style plates with their modern branding and font, but they look smart all the same. It is the 3D texture I am not sure on, it is what my one had when it arrived, and I have seen lots of cars with that style plate around

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:12 am
by Jay-Kay-Em
I like the modifications - the body colour front skirt is nice - are the headlamp pods done as well? Amazing how those two body-colour items lift the car and that they weren't OE. I'm just surprised they have been performed on such a historically significant car. Try and get the wider Charles Wright number plate font if you can. Recently I have heard good things about DMB graphics but have yet to try them.

The dealership recreation brings back vivid memories and the photos are really cool. A showroom was my first 480 'wow' moment as a child when my dad was buying a 240 estate from Pollendines Volvo in Frinton. I see a 240 estate in the pictures too. When you look at the staid 340 and 240 parked in there, it makes you realise just how much a breath of fresh air the front-drive 480 was. What a boost for the sales guys of the time (if we overlook 480 warranty work :D ).

Thanks for putting the pictures up.

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:47 pm
by jifflemon
DMB no longer do number plates :cryhard:

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:56 pm
by jamescarruthers
Early cars had their headlamp covers painted as standard from the factory. I think one colour got painted covers throughout production... Maybe white but I'm not 100%

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:14 pm
by MisterH
jamescarruthers wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:56 pm
Early cars had their headlamp covers painted as standard from the factory. I think one colour got painted covers throughout production... Maybe white but I'm not 100%
Where am I looking for this?

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:22 pm
by jamescarruthers
You're looking at the pop-up light side covers.

To contrast, this car has the more common black ones:
Image

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:38 pm
by MisterH
jamescarruthers wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:22 pm
You're looking at the pop-up light side covers.

To contrast, this car has the more common black ones:
Image
Thanks, it mine are painted with the body colour, just assumed that was standard

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:49 pm
by dcwalker
It was standard for about the first three years - my 1988 white one had white surrounds on the headlight pods; by the time of my 1992 model they were all black. Cost saving...

I think the only ones that continued with properly painted black surrounds were the black ones; I think they had painted bumpers from the start too rather than the black plastic (incorporating the red stripe, of course...)

David

Re: Launch car Found!

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 9:27 am
by dragonflyjewels
jamescarruthers wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:56 pm
Early cars had their headlamp covers painted as standard from the factory. I think one colour got painted covers throughout production... Maybe white but I'm not 100%
Here's a 1990 white turbo with matching headlight surrounds - looks rather nice

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-Volvo-4 ... SwxnFcr4iD

but Lily is 1991 and hers are black

Image