Has anyone ever driven a 544? The Volvo mystique acquired from that early export to the US seemed based on a basic and somewhat generic automobile of above average reliability and performance and fuel mileage. They were as Spartan as Ford 8Ns.
Your all total idiots. *rantrantrant*
Somewhere, an English teacher is crying, and she doesnât know why.
âThey were as Spartan as Ford 8Nsâ.
@Rod Knox-- A Ford 8N is not spartan as compared with an International Harvester F-12. At least the 8Ns had electric start.
At the time, I didnât think the Volvo 544 was that spartan. It was more upscale than the VW Beetle of that time and certainly more luxurious than the Studebaker Scotsman.
Speaking of rust protection used in Volvos, as many of you know, I have been preaching âoilingâ cars for years as the only divinitive way of inhibiting rust. For the first time, I will be using âGâ motor oil, a completely biodegradable oil for this use. It was on sale for a buck and three quarters a quart at the local VIP store. Not ready for me to use in the motor yet but in the next week, I will spray it liberally on the grader blade, york rake and blower intake reels along with rust proofing the cars. Hope it works as well as those old Volvos.
http://www.getg.com/index.php
The 544 was somewhat stark as I recall @Triedaq. The seats were similar to public transit benches and mechanically it was as basic as a farm tractor except for the dual carburetors. But of course, like my good looks, my memory has faded in recent years.
The next door neighbor to the house where I grew up in HAD one of those 544s. I remember it was a pretty basic looking thing.
@Rod_KnoxâI believe the 544 had a passenger side sun visor. For me, that puts it in the luxury class.
Bottom of the line cars in those days only had a sun visor for the driver.
Did they have turn signals, @Triedaq? I have forgotten whether the 544 had them but there were several automobiles in the late 50 that required arm signals. Itâs likely that few, if any posters here recall cars without âblinkerâ lights.
@Rod_KnoxâI believe that any car built after January 1, 1956 and sold in the U.S. had to have the âblinkerâ turning signals. I did see a1956 VW at a dealer that had the arm type turning signals. It also had a speedometer and odometer that read in kilometers. I talked to a mechanic about this VW and he told me that it had been brought to this country from Germany and had not been converted for U.S. specifications. I donât think the regulations were as strict back then
Never heard of biodegradable oil before but you sure thatâs what you want to use under the car? Wouldnât you want something thatâs not going to break down?
Just saw a Volvo 544 the other day in the parking lot at work, looked pretty good for what appeared to be a regular driver.
@Bing. I am hoping there is a difference between biodegradable and water soluable. The oil is applied inside the body cavities where most rust occurs and not under the car. Hopefully, there are few microorganisms there that find this oil delicious. BTW, boil linseed oil, also biodegradable, is an excellent rust preventor. But, like most oil products, it does eventually wash away and should be repeated every year or two for maximum effectiveness. Just did both of our cars yesterday with this stuff in less then 45 minutes. This is the first time I havenât taken extra time with capturing drippings. I also treated the tractor attachments which are left outside and will monitor them over the next few months to see how much oil is retained on the surface.
Really? Whereâs the engine?
You necroâd a 4 year old thread to ask that?
Itâs in the car, where it belonged
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I wonder where @dagosa disappeared to? We should probably have a âtapsâ section like the Legion so we know if they are no longer among us.
It said he was last seen on March 17th
Hi guys. I still read your discussions with interest and occasionally respond. Thatâs sometimes as much fun is being a regular participant. Keep up the good work.
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Actually Volvos are still the safest vehicle made. They literally set the benchmark for every other car manufacturer because of how they reserch and test their vehicles. Back in the 70âs they put together a team of crash investigators and they would go out to all of the crashes that Volvos were involved in and they would study what happened and re-create the crash and look to see how they could make the car safer, they have been doing that all these years. Back in the early 2000âs they built a state of the art crash test facility that cost 1 billion dollars. Today they are literally the only car manufacturer to research and test their vehicles like that. They are able to crash test their vehicles in any angle where No other car manufacturer goes to the lengths to crash teat their vehicles like that. Most car companies take their cars to a testing facility not owned by them to have them crash tested. A lot of the safety features that other car companies put in their cars was first designed and used in Volvos before any other car manufacturer with the exception of Airbags, mercedes started working those back in the 70âs and put them in their cars in the 80âs. But Volvo has created SIPS which basically are your side impact system, all your lane changing sensors, front and rear sensors and compartment safty, go do some research and yuâll see what im talking about. Also im FIRE & EMS and ive seen and been on a lot of accident scenes and talk to other fire and ems and they all say the same thing. So aim not sure where you are getting your information but its wrong.
You should probably go do some research on Volvo because you evidently dont know they are literally the safest cars out there. So safe, they are claiming that they will not have any death in any 2020 or later modle vehicles. And ive also read that over in europe, when they came out with their XC90 in 2003, there have been no reported deaths in those vehicles. That says a lot.
Volvo is unfortunate owned by China but its stil the same Volvo company it has been. It hasnât went to China and none of its standard operating procedures have been changed or modified. Volvo is still Volvo and they are still making the safest cara out there today even being owned by a Chinese company.