Retroratchet is where I share my passion for everything automotive. I started this channel in Feb 2023 and cover project and restoration reviews on my personal cars. I am also keen to review classic and retro cars, and present my take on them. I hope you all enjoy the content !
What? The Uno is more understated than the Cherry? No way, the Cherry looks very bland for a sporty model imo. The Uno is the best looking out of the three.
I had the MK2 Uno Turbo in red just like yours. Great car. I remember hitting 135 before the front-end was getting ready to lift off... From memory, it did have the black roof spoiler fitted. Loved that car :) Lovely Nissan's too.
The main difference underneath is this has a torque tube connecting the engine to the rear mounted gearbox, the 340s had a propshaft and the cvt 2 belts.
Worked in a volvo dealer as a tech in the late 80s early 90s just as the 440 was out but people still bought these. The 360glt was quite a nice drive. I liked the 740 turbos and the 480 which was such a departure for them at the time. Those b200 and b230 engines do 500k easy.
2 door 309 gtis had similar rear window systems to the cherry. Some seriously rare metal here. The collector likes red, and i see a bluebird turbo in the back.
I had two s12s in my time. A black one and a gunmetal one. Loved them. That looks like a scorpion system on it and it has a bung in place of the pressure relief valve on the inlet manifold , so probably has a restrictor bead in the wastegate hose to up the boost to about 10psi so I'd guess this is running about 170ish. That Cherry is lush too .
Great to see someone else giving these cars some attention. I worked my apprenticeship, (mechanic), in a car hire company, in the mid to late 80’s, we had a whole bunch of Nissans on the fleet, including a couple of Cherry turbo’s, Silvia turbo’s and Bluebird ZX turbo’s. They were fantastic cars and always great fun to drive. Shame they were not as popular or well known as the alternatives at the time but, that, to me makes them much more desirable. Always wanted a Silvia turbo, very rarely seen any for sale, these 2 Nissans must have been a lot of work to find in this condition.
I had a mk1 Uno Turbo 60S from new back in the day, even with a 60bhp 1100cc engine it was nippy, great handling so great fun to drive. Always fancied a turbo but insurance costs were high and I was buying my first house.
Nice review. I enjoy so much too, with this car. These is a gorgeous Ferrari, low units built and the first modern Ferrari being last Enzo era Ferrari. Head turning for people with 50, I have seen hands on heads for people with 18, that even doesn't know the model.
My father had a blue '83 360 GLS. Sat on GLT alloys, white lettering on the tyres and a semi decent sound system. Was not a bad car, brought it for £300 about 30 years ago!
*New Subscriber* : That was great. An interesting car; a focused walk around; good commentary on the car's dynamics; and you're a natural in front of the camera. Your channel should have thousands more subscribers in no time ! My sister bought a 1988 Volvo 340DL from the brother of the local big Volvo dealer. It had a problem with a leaking differential, due to someone jacking the car up on the diff ( if I remember correctly, there was a plate on the underside of the diff, and using it a jacking point bent the plate and led to the leak ). That was easily fixed. She was the 2nd owner from 1993 to 1999, and then I bought it from her. I *loved* it. So comfortable ( like sitting in an armchair ); surprising quick ( I was coming from a 1.1L Fiesta, maybe that's why it felt so ); and built like a tank. The only reason I gave it up was that I got a company car in 2022. Otherwise, I might still be driving it. Living now in Prague, I haven't had the need for owning a car in 20 years. But I'll be living back in either Ireland or the UK by the end of the year, and my plan is to buy a reliable 2nd hand modern machine for the first year until I get settled, and then swap that for a 30+ year old Volvo ( to get classic car tax : look up the tax rates in Ireland for big engined old cars younger than 30 years and prepare yourself for a shock ! ). All the best and looking forward to more content.
Chris, just looking back at some old photos of the family's 300 series Volvos the earlier models didn't have a rear wiper. The rear wiper was probably introduced around 1986 and continued until the end of the production run in 1991, switched from the edge of the tray below the gearstick. That's how when you reviewed the 1.7 you felt that the rear wash/wipe switch was an after thought. I changed from a 'C' reg. 360 GLE with Carb. to an 'F' reg. 360 GLT with fuel injection which made a difference in performance.
I had four 3 series, a 1984 360 gls as a first car, a 340 gl 1.7, a 340 gle 1.7 and a 360 glt saloon. I did the most miles in the gls. Also I uprated the dampers to gas ones, and fitted conti tyres. Transformed the handling. The body control was tighter, it cornered a lot flatter and the ride quality was better too. My gls had front fog lights and a rear spoiler 😂 all factory fitted and an aftermarket sunroof 🙈😂 They are happier sitting at 90mph than they are at 70mph in Germany of course 😉 due to the power band. The 360 glt felt more sprightly to drive and being a saloon was even more solid that the hatches plus it had pas which the gls and 340s didn't. Also the glt had 14" alloys with lower profile tyres too. Nice review though 👍😎
I had a 343 1.4, it was quite underpowered and the gear ratios seemed a bit off, it was OK to drive at steady speeds but maybe the 1.7 would have been a better bet!
I currently own the the 340 1.7 gle you tested. I used to drive a lot of these when I was 17 and 18 . Am had from the 1.4 340s to the 360 glt . The one I would perfer is the 360 glt . To me they are not much in it between the 1.7 340 and the 360 gls . The 350 just had that bit extra grunt on the hills .
What a blast from the past, my parents had 3 of the 360 series cars firstly a maroon 83 GLS just like this, then two GLE injections an 85 and then an 88 both the awkward looking saloons with massive rear headrests , and weak electric window switches but very comfortable to ride in, all did around mid to high 20s mpg at best but very reliable.
Pretty sure the 360 should have had alloy wheels. One of the lads in my Apprenticeship back in 1988 had one of these. 2.0, Very comfortable and heated seats. He always got picked on as it was a grandads car, but it was actually really nice. I remember the heater on it was a weapon, could literally make the inside about 40c lol.
Fuel injected 360s (GLT and GLEi) had alloy wheels, carbureted 360s like this GLS had these steel wheels. In other markets outside the UK some fuel injected cars had a bigger 14 inch steel wheel and a lot more optional wheels throughout the years. I think there were in total 12 or 13 different wheels between 13 and 14 inch with all the different variants
Always wanted one of these or the Montego but ended up with the MG Metro Turbo - quick but biy was it fragile. Engine mounts, gearbox destroyed, head gasket blown etc. Great job by the way.
