I have just spent a week in New England and was surprised to see how many Volvo 240 and 740 cars existed. Most seemed in excellent condition but I suppose being Volvos they would be. A few BMW's seen but hardly any Mercs.
One note of caution to those travelling in the USA and need to use the phones to the UK. My first call, I had to use a credit card, cost = $32.00; time = 5 mins. Ouch. The second time I used coins, cost $1.50; time = 4 mins. The expensive phone was not in a hotel but freestanding in a bar.
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Go to any of the major Volvo web communities and you'll form the same opinion; 240, 740, and 960 models seem to remain disproportionately popular with our Stateside cousins and there are thriving spare and tuning parts operations in support of this.
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Go to any of the major Volvo web communities and you'll form the same opinion; 240, 740, and 960 models seem to remain disproportionately popular with our Stateside cousins and there are thriving spare and tuning parts operations in support of this.
In the UK, my brother runs a high-mileage ten-year-old 740 (or something like that -- one of the bigger, most angular ones). It's still very reliable, and cheap to run, and I'm sure it's got a lot more life in it. Surprising there aren't more of them still on the road.
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Motoring related:
The 240 I had (at 17 years old) was in good condition, but like most cats of its age ended up giving in to structural rust. Various structural members of the chassis had been eaten away causing MOT failure, and the tailgate was rusted through - it's a weak point on 240s.
Non-motoring related:
I found the phonecards where you dial a 1800 number and type in a code were very good value for money when I was stateside.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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Erm... the Volvo was 17. Not me.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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And it wasn't a cat. It was a car. Dammit.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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Well the 740 in particular has a shape which I would imagine would have appealed to the US so would expect them to have sold quite a few.
They also quite like the VW Jetta don't they? I was watching a film recently, and in one shot of a car park, 3 of the 10 or so cars was a Jetta. Thinking about it, they liked a lot of the VW saloons including the Passat and the Fox (the latter built in Brazil and not sold in Europe). I'm not sure if the Golf (Rabbit) was received with as much enthusiasm as its saloon relation, the Jetta
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Look at any major movie which features the typical US suburb, and 9 times out of 10, the family has an 740/940 type car.
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VW Jettas (and Boras) outsell Golfs by about three or four to one in the States where the preference is for saloons rather than hatchbacks.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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The Focus saloon is a lot more popular over there. In fact they even get a Yaris saloon.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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The Focus saloon is a lot more popular over there. In fact they even get a Yaris saloon. ----
and they even do it in gold
tinyurl.co.uk/6y1n
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It's almost as good looking as the Dacia *ahem* Renault Logan. Or whatever Fiat call that booted Punto thing they insist on selling to unfortunate Poles.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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and they even do it in gold tinyurl.co.uk/6y1n
I thought that sorta colour was only fashionable in parts of Lancashire! But colour aside, it's not a bad-looking car (apart from the horrible nose they've stuck on it), and I bet it has much more luggage space than the half-pint boot on a Yaris hatch.
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>> and they even do it in gold
>>But colour aside, it's not a bad-looking car
>>I bet it has much more luggage space than the half-pint boot on a Yaris hatch.
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Have a look. Sorry it is in gold. Click to enlarge.
www.toyotaaruba.com/index.php?page=yaris_ex
tinyurl.com/7eyfc
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An almost certain sign of the times; American posters on the aforementioned Volvo web communities are now asking when D5 variants will be available in their market.
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Have a look at the 2006 US spec Focus on here ...
www.fordvehicles.com/cars/focus/
... it is basically our 2004 Focus though further faclifted and new engines.
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That?s what Ford do best. Repackage the old stuff and sell at as new product. They're not as bad now, but the Escort and Fiesta are good examples of what I mean.
That focus doesn?t look that bad
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Have a look at the 2006 US spec Focus on here www.fordvehicles.com/cars/focus/ ... it is basically our 2004 Focus though further faclifted new engines.
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And a rear spoiler. I have not seen them fitted over here.
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