8th Dec 2010, 17:45

You are so ahead of the curve, to be so very young, and yet also have a well developed appreciation for such a work of art as the Volvo 164 ~~!!

I hesitate to admit this, but was foolish enough to be annoyed by the overheating thing, actually frightened by it, as sometimes the traffic lines were so long I couldn't tell if/when it would clear, and overheating scared me. Interestingly, I traded it in for a BMW 2002, which was also a nice car, but lacked the elegance and presence of the Volvo 164. Both cars were unusual for Maine USA in the 1970s, which was a kick indeed ~~!!

Your 164 is becoming really collectible, so I suspect if you keep it, may end up paying you back, eh?!!

7th Jan 2011, 12:21

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. Thanks! That's quite the compliment. Very cool, I rarely see a BMW 2002. I saw one out in Colorado last summer though. The body was great, but the interior was horrible. It is a shame Volvo moved away from the elegant front ends. Even more sad is that Volvo won't even be a true Swedish car manufacturer anymore, since the Chinese own them now. Doubt Volvo will ever be a status car or quality again. I certainly won't buy anything from Volvo newer than 2005.

I have to say it's a strange how I became interested in Volvos. Short story - An ex girlfriend's dad had an S80, which I thought was an extremely nice car, so I looked into buying an older Volvo - an attempt at brownie points ha ha! ;)

Originally I wasn't looking for anything quite that old, but I came across the 164E, which was for sale in Iowa. I instantly loved it, and bought it. I absolutely love the older European style with the typical Volvo look. It's amazing how many comparable features it has that the S80 has. 10 outlet AC, 4 disc brakes etc... (I've tried to make the inside as close to an S80 as possible, and continue doing so.)

I was surprised however how fast it is. It's no S80 turbo, but it handles beautifully. I personally don't like flooring it; everyone ends up at the same red light anyways ha ha. Plus it's hard on the engine/consumes a lot of gas. They probably assume I'm the stereotypical slow Volvo driver ha ha.

On another random note, I've tried finding the original owner of the car. (which was in the owners/records sleeve) but have had no luck. It was originally in a very small town in Iowa. I'm assuming he is no longer alive. But the only thing I can guess about its history is that it was possibly a salesman's car; there's a wear mark in the seat behind the drivers that looks like a briefcase was constantly in and out. Oh well... I'd love to know the story behind it. Perhaps your 164 is still on the road?! :)