Sweden's Land Yacht - Volvo 262C
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- čas přidán 2. 10. 2020
- Hallå! :D
Today, we take a look at a company that doesn't often get much attention, that being Sweden's biggest car maker, the always dependable Volvo.
While Volvo's reputation has been steeped in the creation of sensible family cars (my family has owned three in our time, an S40 and two V40s), in 1978, to emulate the exuberant and stylistic luxury of America's Lincoln Continental, the company launched its own facsimile of the traditional American land yacht, the 262C.
Although most people are quick to judge the car by its less than stellar looks, the truth is there's much more to this machine than one might expect, and apparently many people were willing to look beyond the car's external styling, so much so that Volvo struggled to meet demand.
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References:
- Volvo Cars Heritage (and their respective sources)
- Car and Classic (and their respective sources)
- Volvo Club (and their respective sources)
- Hemmings (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references) - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I must have bad taste because I always thought these were stunning.
I think they ARE stunning too.
you probably do, but it's not like we're going to beat you up or anything, you're entitled to have whatever taste you like:DD
yes, a very bad taste. The best looking Volvo was the 1800 and 1800 ES
The safest car ever built. Volvo was FAR AHEAD than any car maker.
Drew Burk they are the best
I love the way you show images of the 4 cylinder engine while you are describing it as a V6 and several instances where you show footage of the Volvo concept safety car that did not go into production but lent styling cues to the upcoming models. Interesting illumination of a seldom thought of model.
I own one, great car! One of the prettiest Volvo built
I had one too: for me he was a miscarriage of a car in any sense. See just above. Pretty?? No way: just ugly and clumsy: the worse Volvo ever!
@@marcob4630 You must've hit your head on the roof a few times if you really believe it's ugly
@@CLVS - I have had one too: In fact I often hit my head on the stupid low roof. It's not only my opinion: in Europe this kind of Volvo was totally a failure; maybe only good for American taste, because of boasting with a kind of little but ugly Rolls for few money. Not only his look, but also the dursty engine with no overdrive (!) was too loud, and above 100Km/h really uncomfortable. The first project was to install a V8 cylinder engine, however after the '73 worldwide petrol shock, Volvo simply cut 2 cylinders down: the result was a miscarriage!
@@marcob4630 Looks better than some of the modern crap brands today !
@@hungryboy424 : better than some ugly SUVs, OK !
This is drop dead gorgeous!
It seems strange to hear that there were only just over 6000 made, at least several hundred right hand drive examples made it to Australia and most are still roadworthy and registered.
Well, it’s a Volvo.
There are a few in NZ too. I was ready to buy one second hand but at 6ft 4in tall it was a tight squeeze for me.
They were fine cars, as was their other 2-door, the 240 GT. Still got mine! The interior is a bit, ahh, American 1970's, but mine is still neat and tidy. Wanted the Bertone one, but happy with what I have, given it is a rare manual.
During fairly recent times, I’ve seen two of these here in OZ, one fitted with the small Lexus V8 and another with a GM V8 with manual transmission,
both cars beautifully presented!
Everywhere in England! 😂
With extravagant panther upholstery and and a zebraskin roof this would be the ultimate Swedish pimpmobile.
Italian build quality AND Swedish styling? Sign me up!
Lol!
😂😂
If you find one, go for it! They're amazing cars
@@CLVS In the summer of '81 I actually took a pass on one. The owner of the local Volvo dealership had his '80 Bertone for sale. At the time I owned a '77 264GL. They were asking $16,000 and were giving a trade in value of $8,000 for mine. So, I took it for a test drive. When I came back I told them that it wasn't worth the paying the extra $8K just to lose the sunroof I had on mine. I loved my sunroof! lol
Lmao
I remember seeing one of these for sale, a gold one, back in 1991 or 1992. I always thought it looked kinda cool, like a Volvo from an alternate reality. I had no idea how rare these were, or I would have bought it.
Love Volvos, especially the older ones, the 2 series were the best.
1800 ES !!
Another great video. I had no idea Volvo made such a car dating that far back, and indeed I see 3 of these for sale locally in the US, amazing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this clip. You have unearthed some great historic pictures - splendid.
we had a 1980 262 when i was a kid. i loved that car. i wish we stilll had it. i don't remember it ever having any problems. it came to its end in the early 2000's when my mom was hit by a land rover without her seatbelt on. she walked away with a scratch on her chin. the car wasn't drivable after that but the land rover was destroyed. beautiful, reliable and safe. i love volvos
My mom was hit in her 260 by an 18 wheeler and dragged about 100 feet and did not get a scratch. She said the car simply refused to roll.
David Bowie owned one. So I therefore love them
Well l didn't know that. I knew he had an e type and thought it was the only car he bought. Thanks.
Recently sold for £160,000
Probably the first Volvo I truly fell in love with as a teenager. I fantasised non-stop about owning and driving one of these. I even had a magazine with an advert of the 262C in it - in glorious unadulterated colour. I drooled reading it non-stop. I thought it was unashamedly GORGEOUS....!!!
But it is GORGEOUS.
I worked at the Volvo Plant in Chesapeake Va. and repaired these and other Volvo's that Sweden threw together. If you close the door a little too hard and the window was down, it would shatter the glass inside the door. Fun to clean up and repair. You are right on the inside ride height. Im not that tall and my head almost touched the interior roof. They did drive good, and looked cool at that time.
Funny, I always found the Bertone 262C and the Camargue beautiful vehicles.
Ugly just doesn't describe it. Honestly I would drive this all day long!!!!!
You don't know the reallity. Even n the USA there were far better cars than this sort of a miscarriage, which had no success at all in Europe.
@@marcob4630 I'm sure the 262c is readily available in north korea(Swedish politicians fell for the Nigerian prince scam by north korea and sent alot of Volvos to them). But in the real world it's a luxury car that's not seen even here in Sweden. I see Uruses at least once a week and can't think of the last time i saw a 242 on the streets.
@@Tommy-qe2lz : Interesting! This car has also followers in North Korea, not a very progressive country. As far as I know there are no more such Volvos here in Switzerland. Totally outdated
No mention of the 242 Turbo - a neighbour had one in gunmetal with black wheels and it was a surprising beast.
Ugly? I think it looks great.
Much better looking than those ugly Lincoln 'lounge-room-on-wheels'!
Those headed lights go 0-0
@Mark Grudt No way! I just reckon most American car-designs past & present suck!
@@stevie-ray2020 lol you must be pretty dumb to trash every American design ever made when we’re known to make some of the best looking cars ever.
@@joshfenby4170 Typical yank who thinks they're the 'best' at everything! Sure there's been some good looking designs, but usually their dynamics let them down as they're built to a price! The best car designs have come from Europe & Japan!
As always ,,, fantastic please keep it up, looking forward to any subject you cover
I have a 1978 model year, which I bought 24 years ago. Now I am 44. The 262c my first car and will be my last. Just the looks of it caught my attention when I wasn’t allowed to drive a car yet. a few years ago a skateboarder stopped me, and commented, this car is so “sick”.
Thank you for a very good video.
I used to own a 240 estate, 1987 GLT. Here in 2020, good-condition specimens of that car sell in the UK for around £8,000. The 262C Bertone can be three times that price. So Volvo were right to estimate that it would attract buyers with a collector's perspective.
I wish those prices were true. I got mine for 2500$, the only issue being a crappy painjob and some minor rust. My dad got a stick '78 for 5000$
"Volvo 262C, deploy mast" "
Ja mästare" *Mast extends from boot/trunk*
Saw one of these on sale yesterday. Waiting for the vid.
The engine at 5:30 is a four cylinder carburettor engine, not six cylinder fuel injection. Interesting article - I used to see a 262 around Bristol at the time I drive a 265.
Can you do another video on high speed rail? The history of the ICE, for example. Or the history of pan-European high speed rail. Your history of the TGV was phenomenal. I'd love to see more in that style.
He needs to do one on the Italian high-speed rail system.
Looks pretty cool to me, I was fan of the Volvo 240 lol. I got my first Volvo last year. The XC 90 is one of the best-kept secrets on the road.
I sat in a brand new 262C in an automobile sales showroom once upon a time. I closed the driver seat door and it was the most comfortable seat I've ever had in any car. If only I could have afforded a 262C I would probably still own it to this day!!!!
I've always loved the 262C and 780 for their beautiful lines and exotic car appeal. At age 18 in 1987, I nearly purchased a 1980 262C in gold metallic as my first vehicle, but ended up walking away due to the high cost of maintaining its unreliable PRV V-6 powerplant. I settled instead for a 1982 244GL which, though fairly boring on the road, was a safe, reliable and comfortable car for my college years. I'd buy one as a collector car in heartbeat!
Great video. And for the record, I've always loved these square, rear-wheel-drive 262-based Volvos the most! True, I was just a little kid back then, but Drivers Ed would have taken on a whole new meaning if they were the vehicles used. And in Europe, the sedans were police vehicles yet this coupe was the one I liked the most! 🐰
Well done documentary! Gold and Bronze 5 speed please 😎👍❤️
I’m well into my 2nd 740 wagon and have no plans for giving it up. Wish it had 50 more HP.
As a technician in the 80’s, those Volvo V-6’s could be confusing to service, when compared to other American cars. Wished I’d gotten into European cars a bit earlier. The educated and affluent of Cleveland loved these Volvo’s
Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing
JT
Orlando Florida
There used to be one near me when I was growing up - I always wanted one.
The flyover of the Volvo factory is showing the Torslanda plant, not the Kalmar plant. Torslanda (where I live) is in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden while Kalmar is on the east coast
This Volvo vid just got you a sub; from a happy 1994 Volvo 940 owner.
Interesting video. Liked the clip of Swedes driving on the left. I think they moved to driving on the right in 1967
I remember when these came out and were more than a Seville. I lived near a nice area and I never remember seeing one of these in person.
I always liked these. Great video.
Interesting. I wonder if your final comment was deliberate? Show a picture of the P1800, then say "enough to raise a curious eyebrow". That was the gesture of Simon Templar (Roger Moore) who drove one of these! Brilliant!
The engine shown is not the 262C engine
Engine shown is a B21A the lowest HP engine Volvo built.
ya think ? really ??? ......... looked v6 though lol
Agree. That is a slant 4 with single SU carburettor, you can count the exhaust headers, plug wires and distributor. The V6 was a PRV engine, used in Renaults, Pugeots and the deLorean.
The V6 engine were crap!
@@andersolsson2523 I agree. I don't know why they put such an engine in the Delorean.
I’ve always liked these cars, and I like the video, but there are several instances where the image doesn’t match the narration. A couple examples are when explaining that the car is based on a 200 series chassis, video of Volvo’s safety concept car is shown, and a Volvo 4-cylinder is shown when explaining that the engine would be the PRV v6. This didn’t ruin the video for me - maybe video clips of the 262 are hard to find or just don’t exist. Anyway, I always enjoy your videos - sorry for the nitpicking.
Saw one today in Sydney mint, champagne colour, black vinyl roof and shiny mags it was stunning and took me a while to figure it out as it had no vovlo badge first one i have ever seen too
Awesome video as usual my friend, I knew about the 780 but not this thing thank you.
FYI around the 90 second mark you've got a green Chrysler Imperial onscreen when referencing Lincoln. They're really similar. Easy mistake to make. Good video!
Nice video, thank you 👍😎
Good review! I am restoring my grandfather 262 in Argentina jee
Mr Detail TV Era de esperarse encontrarlo a Ud. por aquí! Jaja, saludos!
I new a guy that had one of these early 2000's,bet he's still got it
Really interesting video thank you. My dad worked for Volvo Concessionaires in the 1970s and I can remember him being quite rude about the looks of this car. Have to say I do think the c pillar and low roof look completely awful, I see the rarity value appeal though I suppose for collectors. Volvo did do a 2 door saloon version of the 200 series which imho looked quite nice but I don't think it was ever available in the UK, you sometimes see them for sale in Holland.
At this time, my brother in law had a Volvo of this kind, but not the very rare coupé, but the much roomier estate version.
Car magazines used to say about this car : "looks like a tank, built like a tank, behave like a tank". The renowned "safety features" forgot to fit this car with a proper rear suspension giving a good roadholding...
I owned a blue one back in the late 1980s that I purchased from my boss. I loved it!
I always loved this design, it said style class and money. I'd say it's. design icon.
it said also unwealthy boasters
Always loved these cars. If I could find one, and afford it, I'd have one straight away.
You torment us with this masterpiece...
Ugliest?! No way!! That’s an absolutely beauty
Ugliest from Volvo
@@derrickstorm6976 true!
@John Carlsson it's another car
Is this a generational thing because it seems only young people of this generation like this thing?
No. It is ugly.
A beautiful and cool car.
Leave a like... no provision to do so here but I DO like! With Swedish lineage on my father's side, I love the 262C's ugly-duckling-made good story for Volvo, and as a Canadian I appreciate British matter-of-fact discretion in presenting the story without gimmicky video or audio bells and whistles.
My dad had a siver one black leather interior for over 20 years I think it was his favourite car he ever owned .I think the interior was the best bit
The Sheriff at the Sheriff Court when I was a little lad had one of these. A gold colour. It was stunning. Used to walk past the Sheriff Court car park on the way to primary school just to ogle it.
Stunning looking car.
I still see these on the road in Portland, Oregon. Most are trashed, but still running.
I visited the Volvo factory in Sweden in 2011 and we extremely impresses. It is an absolute disgrace that this innovative and quality leading company is now Chinese owned and owned by the company whose owner is the brother-in-law of Xi the Chinese president.
another piece of Europe got to China!
Yes, but remember where Volvo was before the Chinese came into the picture.
@@imonymous belonged to GM and went downhill...unfortunately
@@marcob4630 That was Saab and as you obviously have noticed, they weren't nearly as lucky. GM dumped them even earlier. They are owned by the Chinese too now (NEVS), but it's pretty much dead in the water.
Volvo was owned by Ford who sold them off along with the other brands in their Premier Automotive Group, like Jaguar and Range Rover. Interestingly Ford still uses derivatives of Volvo's old platforms.
But to be fair to the Chinese, they funded Volvo's remarkable comeback. I'm sure they'd rather not have sold a national icon once again, but you gotta go where the money is.
@@imonymous : indeed!
It was Volvo's reputation for crashworthiness that kept them in the U.S. while some other European brands were getting bumped out.
@5:30 voiceover comments on the PVR V-6 (or Vee sic) while vid shows carbureted inline 4cyl. B21
In 1985 my dad nearly bought one second hand - he went for the 260 instead... I was gutted.
It was silver with a black roof. Black leather.
It has more than a whiff of the contemporary Rolls-Royce Carmargue about it.
a car for unwealthy boasters!
Great video, very cool despite their rather odd looks
David Bowie owned one it recently sold at auction for £160,000
There`s nothing ugly at all about these cars, in fact they a rather smart and well proportioned.
I have to say this is a really good run-down on a rather obscure motor; I'd never heard of it. However I don't know where the ugly comes from it looks much like most Volvos of the time and the understated embellishments compared to contemporary US models actually improve it's looks. Safety might not be uppermost in the mind of the target market but no doubt more than one owner was thankful for it at some time.
Great video
As a lifelong Volvo owner I'd love to have a 262C I'd drive it everyday. That way I garage my XC70 for a couple of decades.
The 262 looked great then, and still looks great.
Neighbors were Volvo fans growing up and they had one of these beasts. I had no idea they were wealthy enough to afford a 58K (today's dollars) car. And back in those days, people paid cash for their cars. Their P1800 and the son's 1970 164 were more attractive cars as was the subsequent smaller model of Bertone designed Volvo.
Why is an inline 4 being shown while the announcer is talking about the 2.7L V6?
ONE OF MY DREAMCARS
There used to be one parked in Paris near Iena it was tatty but still tuned heads.
god i love this car
I think it looks cool!
5:23 that is not the V6 B27 PRV engine. You’re showing a 4 cylinder B21 or B23
They forgot that Lincoln IV was unbelievably comfortable....
It was more comfortable than sitting in your living room,
With UR feet up!
Looks great with double headlights.
Makes me want to get a 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix again.
Apparently 12 cows worth of leather went into every car
I would love to have one of these
At 2:06, Ruairidh mentioned "the 120 Series, better known as the Amason," and caught my attention. That name was unknown to me, as it was known here as the Volvo Canadian. Given the vehicle's Nordic origins, I always thought it was a fitting name for a vehicle designed for a subarctic environment. So, evidently, did Volvo's advertising department: ad02.jpg (800×433) (ingeniumcanada.org). Was "Amazon" used in the U.S.?
The most beautiful!!!!!!!!
My favorite car at the time
I loved that car
0:59 that is not an overview of the Kalmar Volvo plant!
THE TRUE CAR VOLVO IN DESIGN TRADITIONAL. 2020
Now I want one
I like it a lot!
Nice video, lacking a V6 engine picture.
I love my Volvo. 208,000 and still daily driven 105 miles a day.
Que carro lindo,e o melhor de tudo,feito para durar
There's one of these parked near my place, rotting in the sun. I always think it has an odd style all unto itself.
Obviously there's still enough of them around in Sweden for them to be regularly seen driven in rally-competitions!
....& they really get knocked around!
P1800 raised a curious eyebrow - Sir Roger Moore as the saint
As early as 1973 (even earlier?) Volvo made a ordinary b20 engine for the 140 serie which had electronic fuel injection and had 124 horsepower (compared to the ordinary b20 that had 82 hp) It was stunning, back then and made a lot more sense than that sluggish and heavy 6 cylinder engine.
Sorry, but the engine you showed, in a green car, is an inline four cylinder, not the described V6!
mi carro aún que he tenido tanto volvo de este mododelo me recuerdo siempre