1981 Volvo 345 Goes For a Drive 

*Note - I mentioned the 360, I know it doesnt have a 6 cylinder, it was too cold to think when I filmed this!*

What a beautiful car Mat. I had a 360 GLE (5 door saloon) in a much lighter green. We drove from Harrogate to Inverness in 1994 for a boating holiday and got out as fresh as a daisy. Superbly quiet and with a 1,7 Renault engine it was a dream. Turned me onto to being a Volvo nut, 440, 460 and two S40's. Love 'em.

Nice one Matt, glad you gave the 340 an honest review..... ive loved the 3 series since i walked into a Volvo specialist in Ringwood and saw a white 1988 360 GLT. I had to have it, and I did.... great fun and I will treasure the memory of 6 laps of Castle Coombe on a track day. You really need to drive a 360... chalk and cheese. The main difference is the torque of the 2 litre engine and coupled with, as you said, the near 50/50 weight distribution makes the car handle very well. The gearbox was 240 (on its side, i believe). I miss my 360's, they gave me a lot of fun and some great sideways action! Mind you, I love getting my Isuzu bakkie sideways these days! ....never becomes boring! Take care, Maurice.

I had a X-reg 343DL as my first new (company) car, so very familiar. I had to fit my own ICE. Headlamp wash-wipe & daytime running lights were standard by then. I too loved the gearshift - made the Escort feel very sloppy. Heated seats were great in winter, but in hot weather they switched on just as you were cooling off!

There's a trip down memory lane. Great stuff. I can remember the saloon, but not the van. Never realised the layout, do know the CVT on the 1.4 was rubbish, didn't know there was a proper auto either, a car liked on the Motability Scheme if you could afford the deposit. Think it was something like £1500, where as a Metro was £400 and the Escort £800, the Maestro was about the same (all base models autos 3dr, 5 for the Maestro), if I remember right back in in the mid '80's. They had a high price tag anyway and not a lot of discount given to to scheme like others to boost sales and as a marketing ploy. My mate has a disability, so kinda know some cars. Always a car that got the pi$$ taken out on of it. Another mate bought a later version 2nd hand, 2L GLT, keep going on that it was real good, took it for a drive and it was surprisingly a rather fun and competent on B roads, that layout explains it. Left us with egg on our face for take the p...😁

The 340 was first introduced with only the Daf variomatic CVT which is why it had a transaxle.

I love the sound of that engine, takes me back, I had a 340GL and then a 360GLE I loved them nice cars to drive

Matt, great review, my grandfather had a 1979 and 1982 3 door models. I had the 360 hatchback which was a 2 liter 4 cylinder not a 6., which had 5 speed and could cruise and perform well on the motorway, they also did a saloon later in the run

I did drive a facelift 340 1.4 in the 80s and found that gearbox really smooth and the rear wheels could be encouraged to break traction on a wet street quite easily but the handling and ride in the wet or the dry was really very good. The seats were very comfortable too. A friend of my Dad's bought a 360 when they came out. I thought that they had the 2.0 litre from the 240 but whatever it had it was quite a wee muscle car. He used it for towing a livestock trailer which it did without complaint. Great timeless design and a great car. Try a 360 you will be blown away Matt.

Great to see a 300 series on the channel, if you fancy trying out a late 360 GLS or GLT to see how they compare - let me know

My Dad had a brand new one of these 343DL (same headlights) in 1981 on an X reg. In a pale blue colour- and it had headlight wash wipes!! No radio or sunroof. It did many a trip from Somerset to Hertfordshire over the years, visiting family and was always very reliable- i am sure you could do the journey quicker back then, than you could legally do today! This was the first car i ever drove (local old air strip in 1988/9) and after passing my test in April 89, i got put on the insurance until buying an XR2 in 1991- that felt like a rocketship in comparison! Dad carried on with the Volvo until 1997, when it got P/X for a Honda Civic. Both of us have fond memories of the 343- sturdy old thing that it was.

Excellent review as always Matt, great little car, my memories of these little volvos were the crash test dummies going through a window on the TV Advert that Volvo done perhaps early nineties. So nice to see a earlier version of this car.

Great vid. Took me back 32 years ..... boot lock - horizontal for unlock / vertical for lock. I had a tired ex-Invicta radio (kent indie radio station) 1984 340 as my first proper car when I was 17.... was absolutely brilliant for learning car control at sensible speeds, plus my school carpark was a field, which was a great way to understand understeer / oversteer etc. Went on a road trip to the 1990 Manx international rally, where 2 360's were competing. Yes, try a 360 ..... I had a facelift 360 GLT (1985) that I absolutely loved ... nothing like a hot hatch, but could get some ridiculous slides out of it, which was so much more fun than hot hatch understeer! Had an early example of an illuminated key with a push-switch to light the bulb, along with central locking on the doors, but not the hatch!

As a child, after years of MK2 Cavaliers, my parents graced our driveway with FKM911Y, a burgundy 360 GLS. From that very first day in 1992, my love for Volvo was cemented! What a car!! I mean actually it was pretty crap and no where near as good as a 200 or 700 but for us it was superb! Great video as always Matt!

The first car I ever remember was one of these. My parents had one, 345DL, W reg too. One of my very earliest memories, was being in a mechanics garage while it was getting a new exhaust. I guess I would have been about 4 years old, if that. Our 345 was blue though. It's still my mum's favourite car she's ever owned though. It is mad though when I think I'm in my mid 30s, but I still remember that car so well, from when I was so young. (I think I must been about 5 or 6 years old when they sold it). Things like the backwards opening bonnet, the spare wheel in the engine bay, the really long handbrake, the headrests etc. But I couldn't tell you what I had for dinner yesterday.

Really pleased to see this as I have fond memories of the 340 I had as my first car. You've missed out by not experiencing the CVT version though - every time you move the gear selector, you get a loud siren and a big flashing red light like in a submarine. Also I thought the spare wheel was put in the bonnet because the bulky CVT unit didn't leave enough space under the boot.

correction: 360 is the 2 litre model, unlike 264 and 760 which indeed denotes the 6-cylinder version.

I remember as a kid we got a 340 from Volvo as a courtesy car while the 480 was in getting fixed. (Not uncommon) I was amazed by its shape and how comfortable it was. Always had a soft spot for these and love them! Matt, get your self a test drive in a Volvo 489 for some pop up headlight goodness! Awesome video!

I had a 89 F reg 340 1.7 GL back in the early 2000's. I bought mine off the side of the road when i was at Swansea University and the gearbox had just gone bang in my Seat Malaga (remember them?) Paid £170 for it with 6m months MOT and a months TAX and drove it all through Uni, it even got through an MOT with only a couple of advisories. And best of all when i was finally done with it I sold it for £250. I know what you mean about the steering tho it made my old S3 land rover seen light.

One of my earliest car related memories, was one of my nursery school teachers owning a Red 345. Remember a Volvo mechanic returning the car during playtime outside, and I ended up having a conversation with him an the teacher about the Volvo. As I'd always admired it in the carpark. In my late teens, my Grandad also brought a F reg 360 GLT when he retired which was also Red. Loved that car, I was gutted when he sold it!

There was a pre-facelift W reg one in bronze I used to walk passed many times as a kid. I used to be fascinated by the different front and rear lights to the later one dad had. Dad's was a D reg 360 GLT 2 door in black (the 360 was a 2.0 4 cylinder with mechanical fuel injection!) Very solid cars and surprising nippy and sounded good with the 2.0. It was great to have heated seats, they were a rarety back then used to like how the seatbelt light used to flash when you sat on the chair! Apparently the drift crowd like to fit the Renault 2.0 F7R engine used in the mk1 Mégane coupe (same basic engine as the Clio Williams) the 340 actually used the 1.4 Renault engine so it's a direct fit. Great review anyway and keep up the good work!

Many thanks for this very nice drive and the photos. Almost exactly this car, exactly in this version and colour was my first car from 1990 to 1992. My car had only three differences to the vehicle shown: It was a 1979 343 DL with the small bumpers and left-hand drive.

We tried a 360 (4 cylinder Volvo engine not a 6) in the '80s and were quite impressed with it. I guess it must have been image problems which steered us away. I like green for cars but not "garden tool green"!

Brilliant video , As a new driver back in the mid seventies, this was the one car I wanted to drive but never did. My dad owned a Daf 44 estate with the same transmission as this. It should have been a Daf.

I had a 1988 360 GLT saloon in the early 90s. Lovely car - quiet, comfortable, and quick (for an 80s saloon). I'd have another in a heartbeat, provided I could afford one in good nick. Quite a nostalgic watch for me. Thanks.

Same engine as the Renault 11 that I had back in the day. It had a 5 speed box though. Loved this review, those Volvos used to be everywhere and I don’t know when I last saw one.

Good to see Morsel and Motor's (Sion?) 345 being given a wider audience!

We have had about six of those volvo's in the family. And both grandparents had one. Here in Holland there were many sold, and they inherited Daf's image of being an old folks car (though less than de Daf, because they became available with manual gearbox also). First car i drove after passing my driving license, was my grandfather's 340 "Winner" , an absolute base level spec car even below a "DL" . Later on i got a 343 for free from a neighbor. A more luxurious "GL" . I even drove a 345 Variomatic (the "cvt") for a while, when my Lada 2105 automatic was letting me down. Really, at one point you could get these volvo's for free, or at least almost nothing. Now even in Holland they are rare, and expensive. Never really had problems with these cars, except for rust-issues.

Lovely 345 and a great review! I knew a guy who DAFfied his '79 example on basis of archive material.

A friend of mine had a Volvo 343 on a early 80s W plate. I was surprised at how whisper quiet inside the cabin it was on motorways, considering the aerodynamics of the car shape. Very comfortable ride, plus I got the chance to drive it later and it was a very solid car indeed. Another driver once rear ended it, and the only damage was to the other car.

Great video. I had one of these then his and hers 340's and they seem to have become more collectible than my current 95 440is which in my opinion is a far better car and fwd. That's classic cars I suppose. Keep up the good work

The sound when you pulled out the car park takes me back to my childhood.....

OMG I absolutely LOVE this car to bits!!! What a find!!! Thanks for this gem of a video!!!!

The only 6 Cylinder was a Prototype 363 CS which is in the Volvo Museum. It has the 2.7 PRV V6 from the 260 series. My Parents had two 340's An 86/7 'D' Plate 3 door hatch 4 speed DL, and a 1988 1.7 'F' Plate 5 Speed 5-door Redline. Basically all the looks of the 360GLT with the 1.7 Renault engine. Nice cars, particularly the later ones. Power stering is a big miss although can be retrofitted. Was the only thing that pushed my parents away, bit heavy for mum, otherwise they'd have kept the redline much longer. Went to the 440. Another Nedcar/DAF descendant. From a Friend who is ex police - apparently the Driver trainers loved the volvo 300 series, and used to buy them up to use for car control/skid pan training. Brings back memories this.

Such beautiful and quality cars. Safe and reliable which something that can be said about the Allegro from last week. This model became so much more refined with the facelift. Lovely memories of these cars. Thanks for reviewing!

Loved this, good to see cars people actually drove 👍

I was the proud owner of an ‘88 E plate 360GLT. Really wish I’d had the space to keep it. I used to love driving it. The fuel injection made it a little more reliable

Loved the video, great to see Sions cars being enjoyed. In terms of production numbers you were slightly out though, between 1976 and 1991 around 1.15million were built in both 340 and 360 guise, with a million being hit in 1988 and a special run to commemorate (limited edition in the UK, millionaire edition in Europe)

A mate of mine had a facelift '86 340GL and it always impressed me how solidly built it was. No power steering though! The 360GLT injection was the one to have, they had the nicer colour coded bumpers and alloys, big news back then!

👍Recall lots of these on roads in 70s/80s. I drove a 2 door auto 345 a few times and remember it being very nice to drive.

Had 2 of these in the 80's, good shout with the sunroof, always got stuck and leaked. It was a chunky well built car in comparison with other 'small' cars at that time.

the 360GLS with the 2ltr volvo engine (definitely a 4pot lol) lowered 2" and on BMW rims was the only car I ever truly regretted getting rid of. and all it needed was a bit of welding.. parts were not easy to find so you really have to look after them. miss that thing so much, it caught many a golf and fiesta 'rudeboy' by surprise

Daf were pioneers in CVT. I had a 345 GL manual, not sure which year. As I worked in Milton Keynes it was great throwing it around roundabouts, great handling car.

Memories of a not too distant past ... You used to see these 340s a lot even for a few years in the 2000s, which always implied to me that their build quality was above average. After providing many years of good service, most of them now have vanished though and somehow the 340/360-range didn't manage to achieve the cult status other Volvo-models did. As I read in another comment, for the first few years, a CVT was the only transmission of choice in the 343, which was logical given that it was a Daf-development, but a year before the 345's arrival, there was also the much anticipated option of a manual gearbox.

Had. 340 with the 1.7 engine many years ago. Motored really well, and very tail happy in the damp. Also drove a 1.4 with the CVT box.. much fun in that car too.

My first Volvo was a 360 back in 1987. Been driving Volvo since then.

Nice. 🙂 A used Volvo 300 series in 4 or 5 door form was briefly considered by my parents when it came to upgrading the family car in 1988. Volvo have been fitting seat belts all around on their cars since the mid to late 1970s if I'm not mistaken.

If my memory serves me right, Esther Rantzen featured these cars on the 'That's Life' tv programme as the ones with CVT had a tendency to shoot off and crash through garage walls. Don't know if this was because the CVT belts/mechanism did not properly disengage when selecting park or whether it was the closeness of the pedals as you've alluded to. My friend test drove the 1.4 CVT model but it felt underpowered and sounded like a spin dryer on heat. He went on to buy a 2.0L 360 with a glass sunroof. I recall it was super comfortable and airy with all that glass area and the seats where well cushioned like your favourite armchair.

the mats are called floor trays... the 360s had a torque tube and were all 4cyl.

My brother had a 360 for years. I used to borrow it to tow a car trailer, it had an excellent torque delivery which made it great as a tow car and a lovely comfortable cruiser. Unfortunately he had to scrap it in the end due to rust, but the engine and the drive train were still fine.

My mate's mum had one of those. When he was little he got in it and pretended to drive it, let the handbrake off and it rolled out into the (luckily empty) road and blocked it. He pannicked he'd get in trouble so just left it there and ran off. His mum found out when someone knocked on the door to ask what her car was doing across the street! A sturdy road block!

The car that saved the day! Very cool, like the car, fun colour combo, perhaps I am biased. Nice B-roll shots. Over here there is/used to be a special racing series on the Zandvoort circuit with the 340/360. Thank you :)

Very appealing cars now, the CVT versions sound bonkers lol. Great review and video Matt

My Gran and then my Auntie had the same Volvo 340GLE (F202DYA) that was brought new in the late 80's, naturally being a later model the dash/centre console was different so it did have a rev counter, the clock was relocated to the centre console and the radio had digital tuning. I even had a proper Volvo car seat, which I liked so much I didn't was to switch to just sitting on the normal seat. It was powered by the 1.7L Renault engine which was supposedly the best if the bunch if looked after properly. It was finally scrapped in 2016, having been replaced by my gran with a Ford Focus in 2000 and being given to my Auntie who replaced it with a new KA (what a terrible purchase that was). My uncle also had a C reg 340 until 2004 though being a lower model that had a "change gear" light instead of a rev counter and ended up being replaced with a new Wagon R+, which was an excellent car, especially given how tall my Uncle was.

I owned three of these in the late 70's and early 80's. Actually when the car was first launched it was ONLY available with the CVT. This was based on the system developed for the earlier DAF 44 and used an unusual system employing heavy duty toothed V profile rubber belts, which needed to be changed about every 100,000 miles or so. The control system used a combination engine manifold depression, and a spring balanced centripetal force system like a govenor, which caused the two halves of a split flywheel to slide inwards and outwards. This changed the profile of the central V shaped notch in which the belt ran, thus altering the relative diameters of the two flywheels. The big problem with these early CVT systems was that many of the garages of the day didn't really understand how to set them up properly, causing poor performance and reliability. Thankfully as an engineer I was able to learn how it worked, and thus started to do my own maintenance, an unusual hobby for a female at the time. The manual transmission was introduced in the second or third year of production to address this issue. I recall the car as a fun drive, but because of the unusual weight distribution that arose from the trans-axle gearbox, rather prone to doing sudden pirouettes if cornered too hard. All in all I have very fond memories of those cars, although I was always secretly a bit jealous of my friend who owned the rather faster 2 litre 360 model.

The numbering regarding the middle digit was always different on the small Volvos. On the 300 series 4 means the car has a Renault engine and 6 stands for the 2 litre Volvo engine. On the 400 series it indicated different body styles. (This confusion apparently started after the 300 series' facelift, as all the prefacelift ones have a 4 regardless of the engine, which all indeed were 4 cylinder ...) It was only in 1983 they launched the sedan, so the hatchback was first by some seven years. For the first few years, all the cars were three door hatchbacks with a Renault engine and a CVT transmission. I had a 1987 360 GL sedan. It was kinda weird, but liked it.

I too am a Volvo enthusiast who has had 145, 242, 240, 740 and 940 models. Currently a 1989 740GLE and 945. This car has a bit of the look of the GM Chevrolet Chevette/Opel Kadett of that period. I wish the car had been exported to the US.

Really enjoyable review, this Volvo actually has quite a cool retro style going on❤️.

Great little car... not the most reliable by todays standards. My father had a small Volvo dealership in the 70/80s and sold over 100 of these in the area. I recall going out on numerous Sunday morning breakdown calls... nothing serious just the usual starters, alternator, fuel pumps, points. The DL were basic with floor mats, mud flaps and radios being optional extras at the time. The dream machine to have is the 360's GLE/GLT with the B21 engine.

Great stuff. I drove a 340 1.7 once, it was very comfy, I loved it!

1983 - mum buying a new car and I was so excited. Volvo 340, Triumph Acclaim (my 2 favourites) and a Nissan Cherry were the 3 contenders. Ended up with the Cherry 😞

Volvo did design work on these, The first car to have side door bars and full seat belts as standard in 1976 , also the first to have a second chassis rail along the top of the front wings like in in today's cars. And if you look underneath you will find huge extra chassis members along the car from bumper to bumper which they used for air ducts to cool The CVT pulleys. The outer sill isn't structural, its inside the sill where the pressed main thick member lives. You will notice a thick polythene mat on the suspension tower where the spare wheel sits, that guides the wheel in a big frontal crash. It also has heated seats as standard in all models. Yes the gearbox is straight out of a 240 laid on it's side with an alloy propshaft going up to the clutch, this explains the odd abnormality in feel occasionally as the syncro has to slow down the whole propshaft when changing gear, even the ratios are identical to the 240.The gearbox is bolted to a unique differential housing . Lower , stiffer front springs an inch lower and harder front dampers really transform this car. beyond all belief without spoiling the ride too much .. NO there is no 6 cylinder , the 360 uses a 2 litre version of the big 240 engine , with a torque tube to the gearbox at the back just like a Porsche 924 .So the whole unit is as one suspended by 2 mountings at each end . The 343 won the European Rallycross Championship In 1980 beating all the sophisticated Ford works cars. With a 250 bhp turbo version of the 1397 engine. The 300 series were extremely reliable and had quality suspension and other parts on them , which lasted several decades even up to the present day and never any driveshaft or CV joint problems. ( the CVT had a few minor problems and needed new Belts between 24000 and 36000 miles. My Father had a 4 speed manual 1980 model which he did 250,000 miles in up until 2014 , it never needed ANY new parts, or even a fan belt. It never broke down, this would be quite typical. exactly the same with a 1988 model we bought in 2015 , i put a 5 speed gearbox in from a 1.7 engined version, that one even has its original green coolant in it. Certainly I would drive to the other end of the country without checking anything. Always keep the tyre pressures to 35 psi with a decent premium brand and that alone transforms the car,, By the way I should find some smaller shoes , I cant remember that ever being a problem !

A mate's mum had one of these, in varicose vein blue on an F-plate. I remember her giving four of us a lift into town one weekend and my mate turning crimson up front whilst the rest of us hunkered down in the back wearing baseball hats and shades lest we be recognised by absolutely anyone.

The 360 was never a 6 cylinder, it was named as such as more of a spec level, the 360 actually got a 2.0 4 cylinder volvo engine in carburettor or injection form, the GLT is top model with 115 bhp, the 340 always had the 1.4, but in 1985 the offered a 1.7 82 bhp Renault engine with 5 spd as a gap filler between the 1.4 and 2.0, in 1984/85 the also did a saloon version, all manual gearbox cars was just 240 gearbox mounted at the back and they all had a torque tube, one interesting difference about the 360 is the moved the petrol tank from under the boot floor to under the back seat and made it larger, 57 litres to the 45 litre 340 tank, the spare tyre went under the boot carpet to make more space in the engine bay

What a fantastic early 340! Really cool. Awesome colour too. Another epic review Matt :D

I would have absolutely loved to have driven one of these in Canada back in the day. We didn't get a compact Volvo hatch here until the C30 arrived (closest thing before that was the V40). If I recall correctly, we did come very close to getting the 480, so close that the Québec-based "Guide de l'auto" around 1986 did a full review in their annual publication under the assumption it would be available as a late offering.

The 360's were not 6 cylinders, the biggest engine offered in these was a non-turbo B20 if I remember correctly.

I had a Daf 46 estate in that colour. Very Dutch. Terrific car, great fun to drive.

Great review. I drove a few of these and they are good little cars. Also had an excellent turning circle. There was also a diesel version, with a 1.7l unit fro. Renault as well, If I’m not mistaken.

The different versions of the 360 are also 4 cylinder cars, but they have a 2 liter Volvo engine in different tunes (slightly confused here, because they're listed as being 2 liters, but i see the early ones called B19 which could indicate a 1,9). ..and to add to the confusion i think i recall that Volvo - at least in some countries - changed the name of the 360 to 340 mid 80s.. Volvo were ahead of the times on more than safety.. They nailed lying model names back then :D I've only experiences the launch spec 340, the 1,4 with CVT, once back in the late 80s, and only in city driving. Under those circumstances it delivered. Felt quick and fun. ..but i do agree.. They can't be that good on faster roads..you'd think. They look even taller and weirder now a days, but i still really want a 5 door 360GLT for the weekends tbh.

I remember when these were everywhere - a sensible shoe type of a car. If it was a shoe, it would be a Clark’s Polyvelt. Durable, practical, and (hopefully) as well built as other Ovlovs of the time! Very nice! I like the later GLT models myself. Gosh, I remember those AA books - my granddad always had one in his Viva!

wooo...a DAF 77, lol. Nice one Matt.

One came here to Au. Was used in a 24hr race then converted for rally. I think it's still kicking around somewhere.

Matt, I loved this review, my mum had three of these, the first was a very early 1980 one as we were waiting for the 5 door (DEG506V where are you now). The I think an 1985 and finally an 89/90, and I even learned to drive in them. Finally replaced with a 440 which lasted one year as the build was utterly dreadful. Finally, Volvo in the family were displaced by a E36 3 Series.

great video Matt. Nice green Volvo /Daf

I had x reg one for 3 years,loved the comfy velour seats

I had all 3 engine variations, the 1.4 which was under powered, a 2.0 which had oodles of power but way too thirsty, and the 1.7 which imo was the best. I have to say i enjoyed driving them.

Briefly, I owned a used Volvo 340 (1.4 litre manual transmission) in white. Although it seemed a very solid car, I had three major issues with it: 1) The seats were badly shaped and had no lumbar support - making it bad for my back. 2) The tail had a habit of 'flipping out' any time the road surface was damp. 3) There was nowhere to put my left foot other than over or under the clutch pedal. It was, of course, designed as a left hand drive car - so in LHD form there is probably somewhere to put your left foot to the left of the clutch pedal. And a decent car trimmer could have reshaped the seats with lumbar support. I genuinely like the car, but sold it on as I found it too uncomfortable.

Small correction. The 360s weren’t six cylinder models. 6 in the middle of Volvo badging changed meaning over the years. Originally it denoted a six-cylinder engine, then basically (as in the case of the 300 series) the bigger engines in the range living under the bonnet (in the case of the 200/700 series, often still a six-cylinder unit). Then, by the time the 400 series came along (more or less the 300 series’ replacement, but in usual Volvo style there was a few years of overlap) 440 meant 5 door, 460 meant 4 door, and 480 meant coupe. Hardly a recipe for clarity, but that’s Volvo’s ever-changing ‘80s numbering convention for you.

Hello matt..i had a 360 which in fact was my first ever volvo (dutchie) car and they are very sturdy and reliable...i have driven volvo cars exclusively ever since...thank you.

Thanks, Matt. Nice surprise to start my day

I drove the Volvo 343 back in those days, yeah, that one with the cvt gearbox. Bloody good to drive on twisty roads. Later on, I drove then the new 360 GLT with the to liter 115 Hp version. Funny and good to drive.

Great memories! In 1984 my best mates Mum swapped her Renault 18 for this exact car, then she had a 360. In 1991 my at the time girlfriends parents bought her an 89 340 as her first car as they wanted her to be safe. Finally in 1992 my housemate at Uni had a 360 once a drunken passenger continually dabbed the ash from her cigarette into the tape deck as she was convinced it was the ashtray due to its strangely large aperture!

What a fabulous review. The footage of you preparing to change into fifth was hilarious and relatable.

The turbo diesel Volvo 343 and 345 cars were the best, economical as well as safe. The Millionaire special editions are well worth seeking out if you can find a good one, they came with 'Millionaire' graphics, air conditioning, power steering, electric windows and an optional sunroof, and were well worth the money - the air conditioning perfectly supplemented the powerful heater linked ventilation system as you could even have warm air to face level as well as foot and screen level in winter for furnace like warmth, whilst the air conditioning rapidly cooled the interior in summer, and with the air conditioning set high and heater set warm, rapidly demisted the windscreen and side windows on snowy or frosty mornings.

About the spare wheel in the engine bay. Thats the best place. I noticed that when I had a flat tire on a Audi 100 on autobahn with the trunk full of vaicationstuff and had to unload all the luggage to get to the spare wheel. :)

They were quite popular in the Netherlands, and you saw a lot of them during the eighties. Nowadays however they have become very rare.

My Nan's 345 had the rubber band gearbox. She hated it. I loved the super comfy seats. Actually I think it was a 343.

I remember the distinct sound of the CVT versions driving past. It was a kind of loud unpleasant tin box how,l, not too dissimilar to the sound made of an oldish car stick in second at 50!

It looks almost modern but not quite. Uncannily old-fashioned while predicting what cars would look like for the next 15 years. Like an early 70s concept car for an early hatchback.

The 5 door hatchback was not the last body style to be launched. The 3 door came first, then the 5 door, then lastly the not very common (here in the UK) 4 door saloon, which was 340 1.7 or 360 2.0 only. No 340 1.4 saloon in the UK.

Feels like "yesterday" these were everywhere.

My granddad had a 1984 Volvo 360 GLT. C60 CYM. Sadly lost to the dreaded scrappage scheme. It is my dream car and by dream I mean it. There's around 10 left and it's very unlikely I'll ever see one physically, let alone drive or own one.

Feel like I've seen this car before. I fully approve of the cassette tapes and cassette deck with Dolby. I've only ever known two people with similar Volvo's to this, all be it much later versions. One was a primary school headteacher and the other was an engineer which says a lot about the type of people who bought these I'm period. Never knew they had a transaxle.

I had only one ride in it as a front seat passenger. It reminded me of a contemporary VW Golf when you closed your eyes.

I was overtaken by one of these in 1986 whilst driving my Dad's Rover 213 at 72mph, so I have always had a lot of respect for these diminutive 'Volvo's'. atb snack.

I didn’t recognized it in preface lifted form. I have seen a few 300 series but all later models. This pre facelift reminds me of Mazda 3, especially the front end.

My mate would borrow his grandads 1980/81 W reg 343 variomatic with the same headlamps as this one around 30-32 years ago. It was a thirsty beast achieving somewhere around 15mpg! I had a later 1987 340 GLE 1.7 with the OHC Renault unit. That went quite well though it really needed power steering that wasn’t available on the 340’s only on the 360’s. I didn’t really get on with it so didn’t keep it very long, trading it in against an E30 BMW 316.

Looks like you were following a nice old Volvo estate (phase 1 V70?) at some point there too! 🙂👍

Nice! I remember the advert for this model where a crash test dummy drove it through a window!