A Swedish car company, currently owned by Ford, that in the 1960s got a reputation for making safe, reliable, and mostly ugly (except for the 1800 series, Volvo's only good looking car, made from 1959-74, and most known as the car Roger Moore drove in The Saint TV series) cars. The quality took a huge nosedive in about 1975 like the quality of many other cars. Almost overnight Volvos became completely unreliable and prone to breaking down almost on a daily basis. For some reason, Volvo's reputation amongst consumers wasn't affected much for years. They coasted on their reputation for what seemed like two decades, of course people unlucky enough to buy one would know that any Volvo made after 1974 is a pile of crap best suited for a junkyard. Not until the Japanese entered the luxury car market in the 1990s did people start to realize what pieces of shit Volvos were, and as a result their target market largely started buying Lexus and Acura. One of THE most expensive cars to repair, and you'll need to repair it often.
Volvos spend more time in the shop than on the road.
The Swedes tend to be such nice people ; how could they come up with a car as crappy as a Volvo?
The Swedes tend to be such nice people ; how could they come up with a car as crappy as a Volvo?
by Rattus cattus October 24, 2006
Best Swedish made car ever built with a 4 cyl. safest vehicle ever built since they moved away from Ford Motors Inc. great power for the price. a car you want to be in in the event of an accident or a roll over. very durable engines with high horsepower at low rpm. 2015 xc90 t6 has the turbo and supercharger.
ford owner: my truck can stop on a dime
volvo owner: you have to use your break pedal, i dont. the car does it for me with cw-eb.
volvo owner: you have to use your break pedal, i dont. the car does it for me with cw-eb.
by killerskull97 March 8, 2016
A car driven mainly by people over the age of 60. Looks and feels like driving a 100-ton brick shithouse. You can hit curbs, pedestrians, and other cars and not leave a scratch in your bumper. If anything on your volvo ever breaks or needs replacing, no matter how small, it will cost you 800.00. If the airbag ever goes off it will most likely decapitate you too. The cupholders.... oh wait... the early 90's volvos DON'T HAVE CUPHOLDERS. If you drive a volvo you're an asshole, bottom line.
by Domino May 21, 2007
pronounced vuuulllvvvoooo.
used by stoned teenagers along the california coast to describe anything and everything.
used by stoned teenagers along the california coast to describe anything and everything.
by bobertothe2nd October 10, 2005
by chuck February 11, 2004
by donbeta July 4, 2006
Volvo's one and only Sports Car. Introduced in 1961, the P1800 was meant to expand Volvo's lineup bying adding a Sports/Grand Touring model. Volvo made two body styles for the P1800; The coupe (Standard 2 door, 2+2), and the "shooting brake" ES, which is effectively a station wagon of sorts, Brought about by extending the rear sheetmetal and addign an all-glass tailgate, giving approximately 5ft of space behind the rear seats. The ES was first introduced in 1972, and was discontinued in 1973 (with just short of 8100 ES's being manufactured), along with the rest of the P1800 series.
The P1800 started life with Volvo's workhorse engine, the B18 (a 1.8L OHV Pushrod engine, with just over 100HP; Equipped with a pair of SU Carburettors ), gradually being upgraded to the 2 Litre B20, and eventually replacing the Carbs with Bosch D-Jetronic Fuel injection (in the 1800E). The Final P1800's had approximately 130-135HP.
The P1800's Body design was concieved under contract by Frua, an Italian design company. This gave the P1800 it's distinct lines and shape. The P1800's appearance changed little over it's production run, with the most important changes being a slightly different grille, changes in the side trim, and an interior refresh. These changes took effect in 1967 and were present on cars from that point onward. Changes strictly aesthetic, as the base sheetmetal did not change at all throughout the run (with the exception being the ES)
The 1800's shape may have suggested a sports car, but while it's performance was decidedly not lackluster (The 1961 model could do 0-60 in about 12-14 Seconds, and had a top-speed of about 105Mph), it was simply outclassed by the cars with which it competed (Jaguar's E-class, BMW, etc), though one of it's selling points was that it cost much, much less than these cars ($3995 for a P1800, vs $10,000 for the BMW, at the time). All in all, it was more of a Grand-tourer than a sports car. Volvo capitalized upon these facts, even running ads that called it "a souped-down" or "Poor-man's" Ferrari.
It was also significantly more reliable than most competing models, and Volvo capitalized upon this fact as well. A true testament to this model's reliability and longevity is the fact that the car with the Highest accrued mileage ever is a P1800 (Who's engine has only been rebuild once in it's 2.5 million mile run.)
The P1800 started life with Volvo's workhorse engine, the B18 (a 1.8L OHV Pushrod engine, with just over 100HP; Equipped with a pair of SU Carburettors ), gradually being upgraded to the 2 Litre B20, and eventually replacing the Carbs with Bosch D-Jetronic Fuel injection (in the 1800E). The Final P1800's had approximately 130-135HP.
The P1800's Body design was concieved under contract by Frua, an Italian design company. This gave the P1800 it's distinct lines and shape. The P1800's appearance changed little over it's production run, with the most important changes being a slightly different grille, changes in the side trim, and an interior refresh. These changes took effect in 1967 and were present on cars from that point onward. Changes strictly aesthetic, as the base sheetmetal did not change at all throughout the run (with the exception being the ES)
The 1800's shape may have suggested a sports car, but while it's performance was decidedly not lackluster (The 1961 model could do 0-60 in about 12-14 Seconds, and had a top-speed of about 105Mph), it was simply outclassed by the cars with which it competed (Jaguar's E-class, BMW, etc), though one of it's selling points was that it cost much, much less than these cars ($3995 for a P1800, vs $10,000 for the BMW, at the time). All in all, it was more of a Grand-tourer than a sports car. Volvo capitalized upon these facts, even running ads that called it "a souped-down" or "Poor-man's" Ferrari.
It was also significantly more reliable than most competing models, and Volvo capitalized upon this fact as well. A true testament to this model's reliability and longevity is the fact that the car with the Highest accrued mileage ever is a P1800 (Who's engine has only been rebuild once in it's 2.5 million mile run.)
by VolvoB20 July 27, 2009