1972 Volvo 164 3.0 litre from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Quality 6 cylinder motor

Faults:

Nothing, other than age related wear.

General Comments:

A impressive car, even in Auto form. Powerful, fast, reliable, comfortable, and for its age, quiet.

The manual, fuel injected model really flies, and will shock many a modern car.

Best points are the turbine smooth straight six, powerful heating/ventilation system, excellent 4 wheel disc brakes, ultra comfortable leather seats, good cabin ergonomics, easy maintenance.

Poor points are the BW35 gearbox - already out of date by that time, and no intermittent wiper speed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 9th February, 2012

1975 Volvo 164 E B30E from North America

Summary:

The Volvo 164 shows you've arrived!

Faults:

Around 180K.

New water pump and clutch fan.

Vacuum hoses replaced.

New radiator.

New fuel filter.

New alternator.

Engine burns lots of oil, and I'm putting in a newer B30E with 55K. So it will be like new again!

General Comments:

Very luxurious vehicle. Body is straight with almost no rust after 35 years. Interior is excellent and very comfortable. Has 6 speaker system now (4 AFS Kriket speakers in the door and 2 S40 Volvo speakers in rear deck.)

I also added a dash speaker, which is hooked up to a GPS.

Car handles perfect, very smooth on the interstate. Have been commuting daily with it, averaging about 60 miles a day. Had it almost a year now, and love it!!

(It's currently getting its new B30E engine!) :)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st December, 2010

8th Dec 2010, 11:25

Thanks for your comment! I was just checking today out of curiosity to see if anyone would comment it. Very awesome you had one of the first! :D. I wish I could have but I'm only 19.

I've had the same problem during the summer during rush hour when traffic comes to a stand still on Dodge Street. (If someone lives in Omaha you will know what that means), LOL.

As far as I know I'm the only one in Omaha with a 164. I have yet to even see one in Nebraska/Iowa.

I love my 164! I've had to dump quite a bit of money into it and will continue to. It's well worth it. Its extremely comfortable and safe.

Also I agree! I hate the newer cars they all look the same! Too bad volvo changed their designs. :(

What ever happened to your 164?

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1974 Volvo 164 3.0 liter from North America

Summary:

A beautiful, classy car and a joy to drive

Faults:

Car hadn't been driven much, so had to change all fluids, replace water pump & injector hoses and sort out fuel injection a bit -- manifold pressure sensor, temp sensor (lots of fun to pull into a garage and ask if anyone knows how to work on Bosch D-Jet)

Replaced old shocks with Bilstein HDs (hee hee).

General Comments:

A beautiful car and a joy to drive. Previous owner was a serious Volvo aficionado who added IPD sway bars and lowering springs, and replaced the ugly safety bumpers and grill with better-looking 1972s.

Lots of torque at relatively low rpm mated with 4-spd manual plus overdrive -- keeps pulling great at highway speeds, too.

Best seats Volvo ever made.

Suspension mods made it drive like it was on rails (though a bit harsh on DC roads).

Classy, classy lines -- several people insisted it had to be a Jag or a Benz. Never saw another one in three years of driving.

Panicked and sold when gas crested $4 gallon (got about 15 mpg around town/21 highway). Would snap up another one if I could - - only with 4 spd/overdrive combo though.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th August, 2009

25th Jul 2015, 18:41

I had a 74 back in the early-mid 80s with an automatic. I remember when the injection was working more or less properly, I'd get around 17 MPG on average, dipping down to 14 when I stuck my foot in it. It delivered around 21 on the highway.

I would have loved to have performed the mods that your car has, but at the time there wasn't much of a performance market for that model, or at least that I was aware of. I drilled a bunch of extra holes in the air cleaner lid, bumped up the timing, and replaced the muffler with a straight pipe. It was probably good for a mid 15 quarter, and would definitely give some of the factory performance cars a run for their money if I launched at 3000 RPM.

One thing is for certain; they didn't make a lot of 164s, and there aren't many around today.