New shite!

[Captain Mainwaring]

Picked this beast up last weekend. Sorry about the wanky photos.

 

 

 

 

Pretty much nowt wrong with it, bar a few minor cosmetic imperfections. It's got the brilliant 1.4 engine coupled to a Variomatic tranny. A very strange introduction to codgermatic driving but I'm slowly warming to it.

[Craig the Princess]

She's a beauty, where did it come from?

[dollywobbler]

Nice one! Proper rubber band tranny (that sounds quite wrong). They are very weird to drive at first, but surprisingly GR8 4 DRIFTIN...

[Captain Mainwaring]

She's a beauty, where did it come from?

 

A Bradford Volvo specialist. I noticed it parked in the yard and asked him if he wanted to get shut. Which he did.

 

@ Dolly: YES. Extremely weird to drive at first. Driving it back home from the seller's, I genuinely thought something was broken. Engine running at stupid revs pretty much all the time is very unsettling when you're not used to it. Very slowly warming to it, though.

[dollywobbler]

I think there is a knack to it - ie get yer hoof down to build the speed up, then ease off and the revs should fall. A bit.

[ashmicro]

Yep, what DW said. My pal had one exactly the same as that years ago, and he loved it. Some fucker stole it, it was never seen again.

 

Good find.

[Shep Shepherd]

Nice. I consider the Volvo 340 to be the Worst Volvo Ever (apart from the C30), but I'd still quite like own one, especially a Variomatic version

[r.welfare]

Bizarre flat pastel colour + CVT = giffer original owner.

 

Early facelift on a C-plate. I had a B-plate 1400DL 3-door (beige!) as my first car. Manual 'box though. NOT GR8 4 DRIFTIN once I put GLT alloys and Pirellis on it though, the bugger would never lose traction.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Early facelift on a C-plate.

 

Aye, I thought that. Must be among the first ones, I'm damn sure I've seen pre-facelifts on C plates.

 

I've not had any of the usual wet roundabout scariness with this one just yet, but then, I've not yet been able to bring myself to give her the beans.

[r.welfare]

I only ever suffered lift-off oversteer, rather than power oversteer, to be honest.

 

I think the facelift came in for the '85 Motor Show in October. Get the hubcaps off and reveal the delightful, tiny slotted steelies beneath.

[Captain Mainwaring]

I had one as my first car as well, a 4 speed manual, and I got plenty of unintentional power oversteer with that thing on wet roundabouts, I can tell you.

 

The bloke who had it before used it as his daily hack for a couple of years, and being a Volvo mechanic, had a big stock of Volvo wheels lying about, seemingly all with decent tyres. Whenever one of the tyres on this car became close to the limit, he found it easier to just change the wheel over as opposed to changing the tyre, hence, the steelies on this car are I think all of different designs. I've not had a look yet.

[scooters]

paint me pink and call me doris!

 

a Daf 300 series - rare as mustard that!

 

Sam Shep - the Volvo 300 isn't really a Volvo at all as it was designed by Van Doorne Auto Fabrik and the plans were sold wo Volvo when Daf cars went. The production car the Daf 66 Volvo kept on and called the Volvo 66 - all the others the stopped and started making the 300 series inntially in Variomatic form.

 

Some real pluses to Variomatic

1/ a hoot to drive

2/ very efficiant

3/ no expensive transmission to worry about - once you get used to how it works and fixing it it is a piece of piss.

 

Captain - you'll be better getting tech support from the Daf owners club with this car.

 

DW is right - 'cruise control' is about easing off the gas when at the desired speed and the car will sit there happily - all about momentum driving.

 

And of course - it is the fastest road car EVA - in revese - it will go as fast ackwards as it will forwards.

 

Good luck with it and enjoy BELTING along

[Captain Mainwaring]

I'm actually very glad of DW's post because that's pretty much what I've picked up after a week of driving this beaut.

 

When I first started driving it I felt horrible, being accustomed to the manual car and all. Pushing that 25 year old B14 to those kind of revs just felt wrong...

[RobT]

Very nice, basic spec car you've got there combined with 3 door rarity, well done! You probably know already, but there's a good bunch of lads over on the Volvo 300 mania forum. The 1.4 340 I had was a robust and comfortable old thing.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Very nice, basic spec car you've got there combined with 3 door rarity, well done! You probably know already, but there's a good bunch of lads over on the Volvo 300 mania forum. The 1.4 340 I had was a robust and comfortable old thing.

 

I've been a member there since 2004.

[theorganist]

Wow thats magnificent, well done that man!

[RobT]

Very nice, basic spec car you've got there combined with 3 door rarity, well done! You probably know already, but there's a good bunch of lads over on the Volvo 300 mania forum. The 1.4 340 I had was a robust and comfortable old thing.

 

I've been a member there since 2004.

 

Just goes to show how observant I am!

[Cavcraft]

Lovely, nice find. Bet it's a hoot to drive once you get used to it.

[Spottedlaurel]

Nice one. I wouldn't have thought they were still doing the CVT by this time, when did they phase it out or did it stay right until the end of the 300's life?

 

The registration is familiar, my 309 must've come from the same area but isn't now in quite such good shape:

 

Peugeot 309 1.6GR crash by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

[Shep Shepherd]

Sam Shep - the Volvo 300 isn't really a Volvo at all as it was designed by Van Doorne Auto Fabrik and the plans were sold wo Volvo when Daf cars went. The production car the Daf 66 Volvo kept on and called the Volvo 66 - all the others the stopped and started making the 300 series inntially in Variomatic form.

 

Indeed. I have referred to the 66 and the 300 Series as Fauxvos for years because of this

[rml2345]

Nice save! That has provoked an unhealthy desire for a Variomatic Volvo...

[ProgRocker]

Looks good.

 

Amazed that with Volvo's reputation for safety and peace of mind that even the DL spec didn't come with a rear wash wipe.

[dollywobbler]

Looks good.

 

Amazed that with Volvo's reputation for safety and peace of mind that even the DL spec didn't come with a rear wash wipe.

 

Must be a Swedish thing. It was an extra option on my Saab! Even then, it's only a wash/wipe. You can't actually turn the thing on just to wipe. Which irritates me greatly. S'pose it's because these hatchbacks don't get spray on the rear screen in the same way as an estate or Pug 306-style hatch.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Amazed that with Volvo's reputation for safety and peace of mind that even the DL spec didn't come with a rear wash wipe.

 

It must have been a specifiable option, because my old DL had a rear wiper. Mind you, that was a five door, so perhaps none of the three doors had them?

 

Spotted, that picture has un-nerved me somewhat. You did bally well to walk away from that. Did you break owt?

 

GF is, I believe, a Lahnden registration.

[CreepingJesus]

I'd have one of these in my fantasy museum. Lifted up high enough, and at a slight angle, so the visitors could marvel at the Heath Robinson-ism of them. It would definitely be in the 'They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore' section.

I've driven one or two CVT's, over my trade years, and they do always seem a bit weird to drive. The looks on the faces of passers-by as you go away from the lights with a stack of revs is usually priceless.

I wonder how many makers have marketed CVT's? I've sampled the Fiesta and Uno (was that a ZF 'box in those?), and I recall MG Rover trying it. All valiant efforts, but the general public never seems to take to them.

[Parky]

Great save Captain, truly a chariot of a WINNAH!

[345DL]

Very nice indeed, and welcome from a fellow 300 owner!

 

Although mine is an early car, it's just young enough to have a manual gearbox. They were available only as CVT until 1979 when the manual box was introduced. I think I'm probably glad it's a manual, but I would like a go in a CVT sometime to see how a genuine 340 feels!