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ICC
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 05:42pm
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I know there are other car nuts here. Are there any other foreign car nuts? Old Volvo nuts?
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 06:00pm
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For a moment I thought you were talking about those stupid things rednecks hang under their trucks.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 06:19pm - Edited by: ICC
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Ha-ha. No. Nothing nutty like those.
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paulz
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2022 02:52am
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Had a friend with a P1800. Great looking car but sounded all done at 65 mph.
Another friend recently got an Austin Healey 3000, around the same time I got my '56 Corvette. Beautiful car, haven't ridden in it. He was griping the other day about the price of parts.
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rpe
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:47am
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I've owned a few Volvos, 850 5-speed, V70 5-speed AWD, XC70. These are very comfortable cars that are also quite economical if you can do your own maintenance.
The XC70 hauled piles of building supplies to the cottage over the years. I made 2x4 lateral cross bars that bolted to the existing roof rails, and hauled 4x8 sheet goods, pressure treated lumber (up to 16 footers!), and even a few bails of insulation at lower speeds. It also hauled a loaded utility trailer with ease - or seemed to until the transmission went out.
We're driving a Venza now. It's got a bigger interior, and has needed less repairs, is a bit better on fuel (4-cyl). The big downfall which I didn't realize when purchasing is that due to panoramic roof a proper roof rack isn't possible. Man I miss that roof rack.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:54am - Edited by: gcrank1
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As I recently turned 69 and have been driving since 15 I can say that many of my past vehicles are now considered 'classics' and a few 'antiques'.  or  , Im not sure lol
Somewhere in that span of time I concluded that a 4 wheeled vehicle was best not 'an extension of my perceived personality', the tariff for that is far too high. So I embraced the concepts of 'personal transportation module' and 'ugly is usually cheap', Im better off financially for that!
Now if that pretty cherry Toy 2014 Land Cruiser down the road for sale would just stop calling my name......
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2022 02:49pm - Edited by: DaveBell
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My first car when I was 16 was a Ford Cortina GT, 4 speed, 40MM weber, header, walnut dash, all factory stock. Made in England with steering wheel on the USA side.
Then when I turned 40, I bought a 1989 Porsche 944 turbo. It had Z rated tires, 200 MPH. Chipped and turbo bypass delay. I got it up to 125 mph on a straight stretch of I-95 in South Carolina. I miss the sound of my waste gate. I miss the turbo pushing me back in the seat. I miss taking 55 mph turns at 90. I miss beating Corvettes. I don't miss the bill from Tyson's Porsche to change the timing belt every 30K miles.
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ICC
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# Posted: 18 Feb 2022 02:26pm
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Quoting: paulz Had a friend with a P1800. Great looking car but sounded all done at 65 mph.
Depending upon the year they had from 75 to 115 HP. They had either a 4.10 or 4.56 rear axle, so yes, at 65 some of them were sounding like threshing machines.
The engine used (B18 @ 1.8 litres, B20 @ 2.0 l.) was solidly built; a 5 main bearing forged steel crank.
With some head work, cam, and so on one can get 150 HP.
I had a friend with a '72 P1800ES. Myself, I love the older 1950's to 60's PV544 (looks like a pre-WW2 Ford) and the 122S (60's to 70).
I have had a few over the years. Presently I have a '60 PV544 that I use and a '68 123GT with an engine being built.
The PV544 has a B20 engine with a European sourced supercharger and intercooler. It's a cogged belt driven, twin helical rotor-blower, not a turbo; 8 PSI at 1500 RPM's. EFI and other mods.
With these when you get to the 200 HP level there are many things needing upgrading, from stronger rod bolts through swapping the transmission (5 speed T5) & rear end (9" Ford).
I have never dyno'd Victor (My PV544 has a name  ) but with a weight of 2500 lbs and a 1/4 mile ET of 13.2 @108 mph I'd guess 300? (8.3 lbs/hp). Brakes and suspension mods too so it stops & turns as well as goes fast.
The '68 123 GT (2 door sports sedan) will have a 90's vintage modded 2.3 L, 16 valve Volvo 4 cyl. engine with turbo. Engine is nearing final assembly after some needed parts are here.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 18 Feb 2022 03:07pm
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Yes those PVs make nice hot rods. A friend many years ago had one he put a B20 in. I can't even remember how it ran, he was happy with it. As I recall some parts are swapable with American iron, Ford wheel pattern.. some transmissions to maybe.
That's one fast Volvo you have. Not the average old Volvo driver, bucking the stereotype.
Yesterday I was on the freeway nearing a fairly steep hill when a '60s VW Bug came on. Faded paint, old license plate, but not dented or rusty. I told my wife "watch this thing slow to a crawl going up the hill". I'll be darn if that thing didn't actually move out of the slow lane and pass some other cars going up that hill! Not a wisp of smoke or smell coming out the pipes. Surprise the heck out of me.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 18 Feb 2022 03:32pm
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You can put a Porsche engine in those with work. Subaru's can also be fitted.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 18 Feb 2022 03:35pm
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It is possible to fit a SBC V8 in a PV. I love making small 4 bangers roar though
Yes, the Ford wheel pattern was used... made a 9" rear very practical, though they need narrowing
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 18 Feb 2022 04:31pm
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Well, my '63? Sunbeam Alpine wasnt a Tiger.....what more can I say.
One night on a lonely 2 lane I pulled out to pass a semi and about half way through I had no power, actually slowing and a car oncoming.
I bailed on the pass, got off the gas and tucked in behind the semi but couldnt hold speed; pulled off on the shoulder. It didnt coast in either even with the clutch in. Got out, tried pushing it and it was locked up. In desperation I started it, put it in neutral and backed up; it made a Snap sound in the left rear and moved! I stomped on the brakes then repeated the backup and brakes again.
Now it worked like normal. As long as I didnt hit the brakes. Drove home carefully.
When I got to working on it I pulled the left rear brake drum and found something had broken (iirc it was the spring that holds the two shoes together) so they self actuated into full on once the piston expanded.
I didnt want to have to go anywhere when it was dark, cold and raining, with the lights, heater fan, and wipers going the gen light would flicker and I was slowly draining the battery. One night I barely made it into my driveway with it sputtering, got in and it died.
But my fav was my 1959 Austin A35 2dr sedan, the same platform as the 'bugeye sprite', same 948cc engine but with a single carb with a throat about the size of my thumb. In the '72? oil embargo I was driving around all I wanted getting 50+ mpg, actually better than I got with my Honda K2 750-4.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2022 10:04am
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Got another friend with an Alpine, have ridden in that. Much like the P1800, and the AH Sprite I had many years ago. Those '60s, sporty Euro cars, while great on the back roads, just weren't suited to the US freeways. Which is fine, as long as that's not your intention.
Took my '56 Vette on a 3 day weekend up the coast a couple months ago. Bone stock, and very capable for a car of it's vintage. Any of the cars above will destroy it on a tight windy road but it does have the ability to cruise comfortably at any speed the traffic may be moving. I don't have the ability to drive like I used to so highway comfort is more of an importance to me.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2022 12:26pm
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I used to push the handling limit on cars and bikes. Those skills and sometimes brainlessness are long gone! So putting about in a snazzy 'girls' car on windy-twisty back roads is fine. High speed hi-ways are not my fav drive, though they make sense if I must get somewhere in good time. Im sure Id like driving that Vette anywhere
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