Wow.... This is a strange video. It seems to have been made by someone completely unfamiliar with Volvo, their history and the European car industry in general. The 480 was slightly interesting and slightly quirky, but it didn't do anything remarkable and wasn't a radical design. It was just another small coupé. And Daf was pronounced Daf, not D.A.F. Really, a weird video.
Nice looking car. They were made in the factory you mentioned and I drive by there two or so times a week. They made DAF, later Volvo Smart and BMW in Born. The Volvo 300 series was basicly a DAF design taken over by Volvo.
I had two Series 1 Turbo variants, one in red, the other in silver. Since the second one had a modded ECU, it was very different to drive - the first one was a bit more "raw", while the second one had more power along the whole rev band. Both ran into cooling issues when cruising for long times at high speed though, the oil wasn't properly cooled on these, and going for long runs on the Autobahn wasn't kind on the oil temperature (as the frantic blinking in the onboard computer would tell you). Build quality was... shoddy, to put it mildly. The non-metallic cars my friends and I owned would rust on strange spots, sometimes right in the middle of a door, without any visible prior damage. All cars had huge problems with water ingress around the taillights, the butylene sealant straps from the factory had to be replaced every few years. If people gave up and used silicone, you often broke the lights when trying to remove them. Which was a problem later on, as they also startet to fade quite badly - newer "shiny" ones became rare and expensive, because production of one side was bought up by a motorcycle-sidecar-manufacturing company. So one side would set you back 150€, the other could rise up to 400-500€. Ouch. Other stuff is also now unobtainable. The arms to move the belts forwards for the front passengers often broke when a rear passenger exited the vehicle without looking out and swiveling them out of the way first. Earlier 17€, nowadays... Same for simple things like heater knobs - bought replacements for mine for 71 cents a piece, these days they go for upward of 14€ if you can find new ones, and they are prone to yellowing. The plastic of the dash was prone to cracking. Door cards were flimsy, armrests would rip out of their supports or break underneath the rubber coating (and the doors were HEAVY). Door pockets were often crushed when a door slammed shut due to wind and you tried to stop it with your foot. The instrument cluster was prone to failure because they used capacitory rated for 75'°C maximum on a lot of these, but then put a 10W bulb in it to illuminate the onboard computer (which even left scorch marks on some of the PCBs from the heat). If you changed the bulbs to LED, you were in for other troubles, as apparently the alternator used the power draw from the bulbs of the dash to get started, and if they didn't draw enough, it couldn't do its job properly (at least it worked on my models if some critical bulbs remained standard). Wiring harness to the rear wiper/heated rear windo was also prone to cracking/breaking/shorting out, the wires would harden over time and their insulation break away. The ECM or electronic control module which controlled a lot of stuff (even the blinker relay was integrated into it, the indicator sound came from a speaker!) was also at some point reverse-engineered by fans because of parts shortages and problems with the factory units. And so on and so forth. Basically, if you couldn't do basic repairs yourself, you better steered well clear of these cars. But when they were freshly serviced, had new suspension parts and well-kept engines, they were a LOT of fun to drive! They never gained any real following though, even Volvo omitted them almost completely when introducing the C30, tracing its heritage only back to the P1800ES, not the 480ES. Therefore used car prices hit rock bottom for a long time, and lots were bought up by people looking for a cheap, fun car - which were then not able to maintain these properly. Today, a not-rusted-through, well-kept example can reach five-figure-sums. Which isn't really a lot - but then again, it is rare to find one still driving with less than 150.000km on the clock. Because the people like and KEEP driving them!
I fell in love with one in 'Ocean blue'. Perfect choice for me in practical terms, as well as that superb interior. It drove nicely and was comfortable. Pity it was deplorable in reliability, and changed me to Japanese engineering for ever. Should have got that Honda Aerodeck!
I had two ... a blue then a black ... second hand ... nice at the time ... I converted one to LPG ... the beast at the time was the Saab 900 coupé turbo ... not the 480
I had the 1995 GT turbo. Bought it for its rear end design. Not my favorite car. The front bonnet design is poor. The flat design on the Honda Aerodeck is much better. The car did not feel luxurious nor powerful. Was very glad when I manedged to sell it on.
Hey Lad, I am a subscriber, create shorts for these videos, although your monetary policy will be affected a little, but you'll gain traction with wider audience, try it.
I had a 480ES turbo and is the only rubbish Volvo I have ever owned. Dutch built Volvo's were always righty mocked. Unreliable, bad to drive and a joke of a car.
'Headturner' in the wrong way! Ugh, that thing looks like something Clark Griswald or Homer Simpson designed. and, in 1988, the 1.7L turbo only made 5hp more than Horda's naturally aspirated 1.6L! i'm suprised they sold anywhere. Just proves there are idiots everywhere.
0:48 seconds "The Four hundred and eighty". Ouuucch, I think my soul just left my body. 😢
"Unlike anything they've done before..." Not counting the p 1800 es...
He says that DeVries was inspired by the 1800es when designing it...
@@LorchVHS Exactly, that's why it's nonsense to make that statement relating to it's exterior design earlier in the video.
@@LorchVHS So... Inspired by something they did in the past?
p1800 wasn't front wheel drive, so it was unlike anything they'd done
I had one of the later 2.0 litre ES models, great car.
The Toyota Supra of this time period and the 480 are among my all time favorite cars.
Those are awesome, really good looking
Beautiful ❤
Wow.... This is a strange video. It seems to have been made by someone completely unfamiliar with Volvo, their history and the European car industry in general.
The 480 was slightly interesting and slightly quirky, but it didn't do anything remarkable and wasn't a radical design.
It was just another small coupé.
And Daf was pronounced Daf, not D.A.F.
Really, a weird video.
Nice looking car. They were made in the factory you mentioned and I drive by there two or so times a week. They made DAF, later Volvo Smart and BMW in Born.
The Volvo 300 series was basicly a DAF design taken over by Volvo.
Only 11 extra bhp by adding a turbo...
I had two Series 1 Turbo variants, one in red, the other in silver. Since the second one had a modded ECU, it was very different to drive - the first one was a bit more "raw", while the second one had more power along the whole rev band. Both ran into cooling issues when cruising for long times at high speed though, the oil wasn't properly cooled on these, and going for long runs on the Autobahn wasn't kind on the oil temperature (as the frantic blinking in the onboard computer would tell you).
Build quality was... shoddy, to put it mildly. The non-metallic cars my friends and I owned would rust on strange spots, sometimes right in the middle of a door, without any visible prior damage. All cars had huge problems with water ingress around the taillights, the butylene sealant straps from the factory had to be replaced every few years. If people gave up and used silicone, you often broke the lights when trying to remove them. Which was a problem later on, as they also startet to fade quite badly - newer "shiny" ones became rare and expensive, because production of one side was bought up by a motorcycle-sidecar-manufacturing company. So one side would set you back 150€, the other could rise up to 400-500€. Ouch.
Other stuff is also now unobtainable. The arms to move the belts forwards for the front passengers often broke when a rear passenger exited the vehicle without looking out and swiveling them out of the way first. Earlier 17€, nowadays... Same for simple things like heater knobs - bought replacements for mine for 71 cents a piece, these days they go for upward of 14€ if you can find new ones, and they are prone to yellowing.
The plastic of the dash was prone to cracking. Door cards were flimsy, armrests would rip out of their supports or break underneath the rubber coating (and the doors were HEAVY). Door pockets were often crushed when a door slammed shut due to wind and you tried to stop it with your foot.
The instrument cluster was prone to failure because they used capacitory rated for 75'°C maximum on a lot of these, but then put a 10W bulb in it to illuminate the onboard computer (which even left scorch marks on some of the PCBs from the heat). If you changed the bulbs to LED, you were in for other troubles, as apparently the alternator used the power draw from the bulbs of the dash to get started, and if they didn't draw enough, it couldn't do its job properly (at least it worked on my models if some critical bulbs remained standard).
Wiring harness to the rear wiper/heated rear windo was also prone to cracking/breaking/shorting out, the wires would harden over time and their insulation break away.
The ECM or electronic control module which controlled a lot of stuff (even the blinker relay was integrated into it, the indicator sound came from a speaker!) was also at some point reverse-engineered by fans because of parts shortages and problems with the factory units.
And so on and so forth. Basically, if you couldn't do basic repairs yourself, you better steered well clear of these cars. But when they were freshly serviced, had new suspension parts and well-kept engines, they were a LOT of fun to drive!
They never gained any real following though, even Volvo omitted them almost completely when introducing the C30, tracing its heritage only back to the P1800ES, not the 480ES. Therefore used car prices hit rock bottom for a long time, and lots were bought up by people looking for a cheap, fun car - which were then not able to maintain these properly.
Today, a not-rusted-through, well-kept example can reach five-figure-sums. Which isn't really a lot - but then again, it is rare to find one still driving with less than 150.000km on the clock. Because the people like and KEEP driving them!
I fell in love with one in 'Ocean blue'. Perfect choice for me in practical terms, as well as that superb interior. It drove nicely and was comfortable. Pity it was deplorable in reliability, and changed me to Japanese engineering for ever. Should have got that Honda Aerodeck!
such a wonderful car and it's just a real shame that they did not sell them here in Australia as I think that it would have sold very well .
I had two ... a blue then a black ... second hand ... nice at the time ... I converted one to LPG ... the beast at the time was the Saab 900 coupé turbo ... not the 480
A friend had one.Nice looking car,but not as well made as Swedish Volvos.
Look like a half Honda, half Geo wagon. Never seen this car before. What car has both headlights AND pop-up headlights?
Most of them. Ferrari Testarossa, Mazda MX5, Toyota MR2 mk2, and so on.
Daytime runninglights…
Good thing Canada missed out on this lemon.
Shame on you.
I had the 1995 GT turbo. Bought it for its rear end design. Not my favorite car. The front bonnet design is poor. The flat design on the Honda Aerodeck is much better. The car did not feel luxurious nor powerful. Was very glad when I manedged to sell it on.
Meh. The European Honda Accord Aerdeck was similarly shaped and designed with better reliability.
Hey Lad, I am a subscriber, create shorts for these videos, although your monetary policy will be affected a little, but you'll gain traction with wider audience, try it.
it didn't shock anyone
I had a 480ES turbo and is the only rubbish Volvo I have ever owned. Dutch built Volvo's were always righty mocked. Unreliable, bad to drive and a joke of a car.
ore utter BS! This Car DID NOT "shock the world" WHy make up BS?
How does a car shock the world when it isn't available or even known to North America?
Hmmmm, let's see. Maybe because, contrary to north american believe, North America is not the world.
It shocked American nerds who read a lot of car magazines….
@@BillLaBrie what magazines? What articles?
Most car enthousiasts were well aware of it.
@@htimsid no one cared. Go read the old articles. A car designed for America that never made it to America. It shocked no one.
FWD Volvos suck. FWD was a bad joke that the auto industry inflicted on us , making cars more expensive and difficult to work on.
I woud bet you have never driven a 480, not even sat in one these, dude. Shame on you.
'Headturner' in the wrong way! Ugh, that thing looks like something Clark Griswald or Homer Simpson designed.
and, in 1988, the 1.7L turbo only made 5hp more than Horda's naturally aspirated 1.6L!
i'm suprised they sold anywhere. Just proves there are idiots everywhere.