Quote:
Originally Posted by Clifford Pope
The 240 was derided as brick-shaped originally, but it is now appreciated as a very elegant car from its period. In my view it has always been a design classic.
The shouldered doors, and the subtle sweep of the bonnet line along the doors and continued with a slight down-turn to the rear is beautiful.
The most brilliant feature is the way both the saloon and the estate look absolutely right, even though they share the same profile back to the rear door edge. There have been very few estates that even begin to look elegant in their own right - mostly they look what they are - just add-on extensions that spoil the looks of a nice car.
The 740 estate by comparison does, in my view, really look like a brick, and the saloon like a converted chest freezer.  |
Much is of course in the eye of the beholder but for me, and I have a background in architecture and design, the 200 shape is just a little better proportioned, especially from the side. If anything I prefer the saloon, which has a real air of quality about it, the 700, and 900 too, saloons don't to my eye feel quite 'comfortable'. I particularly like the sweep of the 200 arches, which seem to give the car a sense of movement even when stationary, and whilst the shape itself is in a way dated, being based on a much earlier design, it also has a non-fashionable timeless classic appearance. Getting into aesthetics here though is bound to be something of a minefield! I have no direct experience of the performance merits or otherwise of 700s or 900s. It seems to me though that all the RWD Volvos are superb cars in so many ways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by canis
I've never owned either car. But when the 740 appeared I thought it was stunningly beautiful and I've wanted one ever since. I especially liked the saloon model with that sharp, near vertical, rear screen. The old 240 seemed very old fashioned by that time.
But it is characteristically volvo, and I think I would gladly have one now if one came my way, in preferance to the modern styling of cars. What puts me off cars these days is their windscreens have a very shallow rake, and the 'A' pillars are annoying at roundabouts and stuff, trying to look around them. The acres of black plastic dashboard in front of me. The tight squeeze trying to sit in them. There's a lot to like about older cars over new ones.
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I agree about those raked windscreens, and the ever smaller side and rear windows too, which I imagine make parking sensors almost essential. And yes, all that plastic, yuk! My Tors is just so easy to drive, as well as being so comfortable that I'm sometimes reluctant to get out after a journey!