1985 Volvo 760 GLE review from Australia and New Zealand

The water pump has developed a slow leak, which can be dealt with by a weekly top-up. We have purchased a new pump at a cost of $150.00 but have been waiting until it is totally necessary to replace it (hope this doesn't mean waiting until the motor severely overheats)

The headlining is sagging and needs to be replaced or re-glued. Replacement has been quoted at $300.

The Volvo 760GLE is a seriously ordinary and bland car to look at there is no doubt, but its accountant's exterior hides a very different machine...

Jump into the firm and supportive leather bound driver's seat and take a hold of the chunky large-bossed steering wheel, lower your legs to the perfectly placed pedals (if this doesn't work the driver's seat is almost infinitely adjustable) and crank the starter. The 2.8 liter V6 purrs into life. Push her into drive and squeeze the throttle...it's not hair trigger sensitive like a Mercedes, and the smooth responsive engine throbs with that V6 growl that never becomes obtrusive unless she is working really hard.

Performance is adequate for a 2.8 litre engine (this one was used in Europe by Renault and Peugot) It never seems to be in the wrong gear, as the 4 speed auto is slippery smooth and never harsh, and although the engine is not a technical tour-de-force with cams built into the block, rather than up in the heads (remember this motor was designed in the late seventies) the power of 114KW is enough for most traffic-light derbies.

This is not a light car so one would expect a good ride... get ready for a shock. The ride is cosseting and super soft; one would think that with the lack of control inherent in a softly sprung car this would result in a vehicle that wants to stray either side of the dotted line when the going gets tight. The body roll is probably a little alarming at first in the fashion of old French cars, but road holding limits are very high. When she finally gives in to the forces of the corner the attitude is neutral. Our car has really bad high profile tires so lower profile better rubber would definitely help.

I wish I could be as praiseworthy about the fuel consumption, though. To say she guzzles is somewhat of an understatement. Tests have returned approximately 15l per 100km and this doesn't improve a lot when on a long high-speed cruise at the legal limit. This can largely be attributed to the Bosch Mechanical fuel injection which uses a cumbersome fuel distributor instead of timed pulses to locked injectors which is seen on the four cylinder 740 variant.

The air conditioning is great; it's powerful and quiet enough so as not to give you a massive migraine when using it up to the third speed (fourth is a little loud, but is so powerful that you would only require it for short bursts) The elecric mirrors work well, the heated front seats equally so and the ergonomics of the well placed instruments and controls add to the overall impression of good design and solidity. Carpets are dense and of high quality as is the paint. Panel margins are tight.

There is no rust on the car yet (and if we can find a mechanic who remembers how to service the mechanical fuel injection) we might hold onto it to see it to its 40th birthday!