Volvo 480 Club Europe

Date for your diaries.
Nothing organised yet, but we will undoubtedly start in Andover again with the first photos of the day at the entrance to Thruxton circuit.

Excellent!

David

I might actually be able to attend this one!

Passed my practical driving test this morning (first time!) and Andover is around an hour or so drive from where I live. Northants is quite a way away, so I might not be able to go all the way till the end, but it sounds fun! Look forward to seeing everyone and their 480s.

WillC9303 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:13 pm

I might actually be able to attend this one!

Passed my practical driving test this morning (first time!) and Andover is around an hour or so drive from where I live. Northants is quite a way away, so I might not be able to go all the way till the end, but it sounds fun! Look forward to seeing everyone and their 480s.

That is brilliant well done! I imagine the Wedge would have gotten some looks from the examiners...
Now you need to work out insurance, what are your options?

As for the meet, I am at uni then so will be unable to attend, as everything kinda starts from the 1st October

MisterH wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:45 pm

That is brilliant well done! I imagine the Wedge would have gotten some looks from the examiners...
Now you need to work out insurance, what are your options?

As for the meet, I am at uni then so will be unable to attend, as everything kinda starts from the 1st October

Thanks Ben! Due to the Covid restrictions, booking a test was incredibly difficult - It took me about 5 months to find a test date, so failing wasn't an option! As for the examiner, he wasn't impressed at all with the car, but that may have something to do with me driving my mum's 1 litre Citroen C1 instead Having driven both before, I found the C1 easier to learn in as it is much smaller and I'd rather pass my test in that than to potentially fail it in style.
You did well passing yours in a low-slung 80s coupe! I wasn't brave enough to do that. Insurance wise, a couple of quotes on a certain comparison site gave me a quote for £1,150 fully comp with no black box. 'Go Girl' I think the name was. However, I will go to an insurance broker to weigh up my options and see if I can get it cheaper.
Real shame that you won't be able to make it, was looking forward to meeting you in person! Perhaps a future meet then.

WillC9303 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 05, 2022 7:41 pm

MisterH wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:45 pm

That is brilliant well done! I imagine the Wedge would have gotten some looks from the examiners...
Now you need to work out insurance, what are your options?

As for the meet, I am at uni then so will be unable to attend, as everything kinda starts from the 1st October

Thanks Ben! Due to the Covid restrictions, booking a test was incredibly difficult - It took me about 5 months to find a test date, so failing wasn't an option! As for the examiner, he wasn't impressed at all with the car, but that may have something to do with me driving my mum's 1 litre Citroen C1 instead Having driven both before, I found the C1 easier to learn in as it is much smaller and I'd rather pass my test in that than to potentially fail it in style.
You did well passing yours in a low-slung 80s coupe! I wasn't brave enough to do that. Insurance wise, a couple of quotes on a certain comparison site gave me a quote for £1,150 fully comp with no black box. 'Go Girl' I think the name was. However, I will go to an insurance broker to weigh up my options and see if I can get it cheaper.
Real shame that you won't be able to make it, was looking forward to meeting you in person! Perhaps a future meet then.

That's really interesting, I have used price comparison sites, but not an insurance broker. I used GoGirl for my first couple of years, but be careful, as due to the car's age if anything happens it will be an instant write off. They told me this when mine had the incident, but as it wasn't my liability they weren't involved. If anything does happen, make sure they let you keep the salvage, as that will allow you to keep the car and have options.

The Volvo wasn't particularly hard to learn or pass in - remember, as cars go they are pretty standard in terms of characteristics. Transverse 4 pot, quite a short wheelbase, PAS, FWD etc. So it is actually an extremely smart choice

Sorry to be missing you too, but if you ever fancy a trip out to Bath, that is where my digs will be for the foreseeable! Not sure whether I will run the Audi or Volvo there. Volvo is a more modern drive, but right now I trust the Audi more. And the Audi hasn't had a 3.5k repair job done recently...

The schedule is going to be the same as last year as Volvo have come up trumps again.


9 - 9.45am Meet at Starbucks at the Weyhill westbound motorway services just west of Andover on the A303, postcode SP11 8FH

10 am - 10.30 Thruxton SP11 8PN for photoshoot outside the gates - there are no events at all so we should have the gateway to ourselves.

12.30 - 3.15 Silverstone NN12 8TN - lunch at the museum cafe, then museum visit. Tickets are cheaper online, £20 per adult.

4 - 4.30 Volvo UK have found a volunteer to open the carpark for a photoshoot at their Training & Development Centre, 2 Alvis Way, Daventry NN11 8QN. Once again Colin has offered to also let us into the nearby unit which houses a small part of Volvo's Heritage Collection.




Venue for the evening meal is not yet decided, will get that sorted asap.

Please could those planning to join us for the evening meal let me know so I can make a guesstimate of numbers.

First out the trap?

Haha, 5am! Have a great day everyone.

And it’s over

If anyone is travelling via the A1 to the M25 and takes the little shortcut road, the A414. I am at the first parking lay-by after the weird double roundabout thingie.

Car has sprung a leak on a hose, spraying on to engine. Still has plenty of coolant. I think some self amalgamating tape would do for the day.

jamescarruthers wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 01, 2022 6:28 am

And it’s over

Noooooo!

I hope someone can help you out.

He’s made it to screwfix, self almagamating Tape may help.

I’m heading to workshop checking for spare hoses.

bodged up and about to go again. Slightly melted fingers from exhaust manifold

Or not!

Now getting recovered to Halfords 10 mins away to get a generic heater hose

On a recovery truck to hopefully find generic heater hose at nearby Halfords.

Four taxis, one recovery truck and repaired properly with hose and tools from Halfords and more waterless coolant from Euro Car Parts.

Hoping to catch you all up at Silverstone or Daventry

Rotten luck James, especially after getting up so early.

We drove down to Newbury on Friday evening - it tipped down with rain most of the way which wasn't fun in the dark. When we stopped at services on the M4, I parked Lily next to something blue (no interest in modern blobs, it could have been anything). After refreshments, I returned to find my neighbour had returned to his car and was waiting for me. His first words were to congratulate me on my fabulous looking 480. It turned out that he and his father have 2 480s, currently off the road. One with lots of rust and the other mechanically poor, so one day it will hopefully be a two into one job. He used to be a member on here, so perhaps one day he will start posting again.

Saturday began with 2 two tones joining us at Andover, one of which was WillC's 2 litre. In the course of conversation Will told me he has a red dipstick so it's the same version of the engine that I have in my ES.

Off we went to Thruxton for photos outside the gate











There were light aircraft flying so a few cars were coming and going, one of which stopped for a chat - he used to be a salesman for a Volvo dealer and sold 480s when they were current.

Next stop was Silverstone for lunch



We all opted to sit in the cafe and chat rather than visit the museum - the time flew by surprisingly fast. Then it was off to Daventry
for more photos







The lovely man called Colin who had opened up the carpark for us took us over to the lockup which houses part of the heritage collection. He has the wonderful job of looking after the cars, arranging repairs on the new additions, doing maintenance and best of all, driving them to keep everything moving.







We were joined there by Jeff, Will (Jaster) and Ashley and various 480 parts changed hands in the carpark. Although the turnout was low, we greatly enjoyed the day and hope those who made it did as well.

Great pics. Breaks my heart to see the breakdown truck but we've all been there. Glad its sorted James.

Perhaps one day i'll make up the numbers