Volvo Does the Unthinkable

[Pogo]

Fun fact: Volvo is Latin for "I roll".

That's nice, anything does on a hill, but a working drive train would be such an improvement.

 

[Treeshepherd]

A blade of grass is the journeywork of the stars. Every moment of light and darkness is a miracle. Do I contradict myself? Very well I contradict myself. That's why I drive a Lincoln

 

[HenryBHough]

The two I had were prolly THE most unreliable two vehicles I've ever owned. And I've owned a lot.

Fatter o' mact speaking back to HenryBHough about electricals, I recall a $1500 repair bill on exactly that for the other one (744 I think it was). And I know the mechanic took a loss charging me that little for all he had to do.

Ah, then you never owned an MBG! If you had you'd reorder the unreliability list. Knew a fella made good bucks "restoring" P1800s for the California elitist trade. Didn't use much body putty. Didn't use much paint. Used one hell of a lot of ROMEX replacing the wiring. Solid wire shouldn't stand up well in automotive use but it did last much better than the cotton-braid covered harnesses that were the cause of so many toasted Lucas-"equipped" vehicles.

As I think back on the earlier MGA, the part I appreciated the most was the hand-crank on the wall of the boot compartment. First time I needed it I was very glad to have accidentally seen it a few days before. Each subsequent time it was like shaking hands with an old friend. Don't get me started on SU fuel pumps.....

 

[Pogo]

The two I had were prolly THE most unreliable two vehicles I've ever owned. And I've owned a lot.

Fatter o' mact speaking back to HenryBHough about electricals, I recall a $1500 repair bill on exactly that for the other one (744 I think it was). And I know the mechanic took a loss charging me that little for all he had to do.

Ah, then you never owned an MBG! If you had you'd reorder the unreliability list. Knew a fella made good bucks "restoring" P1800s for the California elitist trade. Didn't use much body putty. Didn't use much paint. Used one hell of a lot of ROMEX replacing the wiring. Solid wire shouldn't stand up well in automotive use but it did last much better than the cotton-braid covered harnesses that were the cause of so many toasted Lucas-"equipped" vehicles.

As I think back on the earlier MGA, the part I appreciated the most was the hand-crank on the wall of the boot compartment. First time I needed it I was very glad to have accidentally seen it a few days before. Each subsequent time it was like shaking hands with an old friend. Don't get me started on SU fuel pumps.....

Nope, never had an MG of any kind, never had a British-built car until the current MINI. But we were talking about Volvos, not British Leyland or Morris. Our next-door neighbors back in the old daze did have a Morris Minor (as well as a Simca and a Checker) but I'm not aware of what their electrical issues might have been.

On the P1800 I don't recall cotton braids, or electricality concerns. I do recall transmission angst, which is kind of deplorable as it was a stick. With a consarned hydraulic clutch.

Electrical issues, aside from the later Volvo, would have been the Fiat 124. One night some local kids broke into my car, made a clumsy and unsuccessul attempt to remove the radio, and set fire to my maps. The fire went out but the worst, and unforgiveable, thing they did was they retuned my radio to the local disco station.

Wellsir, after a minimal fixup I was back on the road but a weird thing happened after that --- I regularly took a winding hairpin-besotted road to work; when I took a right hairpin the car acted normally, when I took a left hairpin, a fuse would snap and all my instruments including speedometer would shut down.

I'm not sure I've ever seen quite the same facial expressions elsewhere as I saw on mechanics trying to figure out the circuitry on that car. To this day when I see a Fiat on the road I am overwhelmed with feelings of sympathy.

Although, again --- great sexy car when running right.

 

[Treeshepherd]

I got rid of my car. I have a ten minute bike ride to work. I save a crap load of money, even if I resort to an occasional $20 cab ride. And my legs have become like Lance Armstrong's on Russian steroids.

My daughter has a Honda Civic so she's all set.