Hello.
On a recent trip to Coventry I had the pleasure of being given a lift by a friend who drives a 960 Estate (2.5 Manual). He picked me up at night and I was immediately impressed by the condition of his N reg car. It was absolutely spotless outside and looked good, boxy, but good. I have since found out that there were some subtle things he had done, chrome exhaust, clear indicators... lots of little things that all add up to create a classy effect.
When I got in I was greeted with a sort of electric blue glow from the dash and stereo. If you had said to me "electric blue lights with a walnut dash" before I saw it in action I would have cringed and said "tacky" - but somehow it worked really well. The interior was full leather, spotless - again not much done really just a lot of small, subtle things to make the whole experience pleasurable. Central to the journey was the in car entertainment. I have no idea what models and makes his kit was but he had a CD/MP3 unit which was hooked up to his ipod, and an amp and subwoofer. I've been in a lot of cars with bleeding edge sound systems and heard all sorts of music at stupid volumes sound amazing - but this was something else. I know his sound system wasn't very expensive and consisted of a 1000w sub, a 400w amp and a Fusion head unit. Still it wasn't the sound system that made it so impressive, it was the acoustics in the car.
You put the same sound system in a smaller or newer car and it just wouldn't have felt the same.
After one half of the trip I had pretty much decided that "I want one of these".
So I have been looking around for a good example of a car on which to base my humble beginnings. The one I have found is a P reg, manual 940 2.3 Classic LPT in dark blue. This is where I will begin. In a rare stroke of luck I've managed to get a complete sound system that is nearly new and cost over £700 from a desperate seller for £150 which includes a Fusion amp, a 1500w sub and a decent looking MP3/CD/DAB head unit.
A Volvo estate isn't ever going to be a performance car, and that's really not the point. I sort of like to think of it as a house on wheels. Solid, sturdy, dependable and extremely comfortable and personal on the inside. That's what I want, and that's why I'm learning about styling and modification (especially interior).
I've already got loads of ideas and hope to spend some time learning about methods and pick up tips and tricks from this forum.
The overall theme of my design will be subtle (but not subdued), classy (but not antiquated) and comfort/luxury will be the primary goal.
I'm going to have all the seats re-upholstered in soft leather, I'm going to fit this sound system I got, I'm going to replace the coloured lens rear lights with the clear lens ones from the upper end models, and I'm going to get a chrome tail pipe.
Those are definite, the rest though is up in the air. I really like the idea of painting bits of the interior and am going to look for ways to do that, but I am also thinking about other ideas like replacing some of the dash with walnut or similar effect - replacing door panel fabric and so on. Anyone with ideas, tips, tricks suggestions and experience in the area of this type of car please feel free to fire off ideas at me or show me examples.
I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck in.
It should be noted that for now I am going to deal just with the styling (primarily interior but some small external mods too). I don't know much about engines and such and I think performance is something I will probably get into further down the line, but hey, we all start somewhere right?
Edit: The nostalgia part came from the fact that all through growing up my parents always drove big Volvo estates - 740s etc - and I felt very much at home in the very familiar interior of my friend's 960.
On a recent trip to Coventry I had the pleasure of being given a lift by a friend who drives a 960 Estate (2.5 Manual). He picked me up at night and I was immediately impressed by the condition of his N reg car. It was absolutely spotless outside and looked good, boxy, but good. I have since found out that there were some subtle things he had done, chrome exhaust, clear indicators... lots of little things that all add up to create a classy effect.
When I got in I was greeted with a sort of electric blue glow from the dash and stereo. If you had said to me "electric blue lights with a walnut dash" before I saw it in action I would have cringed and said "tacky" - but somehow it worked really well. The interior was full leather, spotless - again not much done really just a lot of small, subtle things to make the whole experience pleasurable. Central to the journey was the in car entertainment. I have no idea what models and makes his kit was but he had a CD/MP3 unit which was hooked up to his ipod, and an amp and subwoofer. I've been in a lot of cars with bleeding edge sound systems and heard all sorts of music at stupid volumes sound amazing - but this was something else. I know his sound system wasn't very expensive and consisted of a 1000w sub, a 400w amp and a Fusion head unit. Still it wasn't the sound system that made it so impressive, it was the acoustics in the car.
You put the same sound system in a smaller or newer car and it just wouldn't have felt the same.
After one half of the trip I had pretty much decided that "I want one of these".
So I have been looking around for a good example of a car on which to base my humble beginnings. The one I have found is a P reg, manual 940 2.3 Classic LPT in dark blue. This is where I will begin. In a rare stroke of luck I've managed to get a complete sound system that is nearly new and cost over £700 from a desperate seller for £150 which includes a Fusion amp, a 1500w sub and a decent looking MP3/CD/DAB head unit.
A Volvo estate isn't ever going to be a performance car, and that's really not the point. I sort of like to think of it as a house on wheels. Solid, sturdy, dependable and extremely comfortable and personal on the inside. That's what I want, and that's why I'm learning about styling and modification (especially interior).
I've already got loads of ideas and hope to spend some time learning about methods and pick up tips and tricks from this forum.
The overall theme of my design will be subtle (but not subdued), classy (but not antiquated) and comfort/luxury will be the primary goal.
I'm going to have all the seats re-upholstered in soft leather, I'm going to fit this sound system I got, I'm going to replace the coloured lens rear lights with the clear lens ones from the upper end models, and I'm going to get a chrome tail pipe.
Those are definite, the rest though is up in the air. I really like the idea of painting bits of the interior and am going to look for ways to do that, but I am also thinking about other ideas like replacing some of the dash with walnut or similar effect - replacing door panel fabric and so on. Anyone with ideas, tips, tricks suggestions and experience in the area of this type of car please feel free to fire off ideas at me or show me examples.
I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck in.
It should be noted that for now I am going to deal just with the styling (primarily interior but some small external mods too). I don't know much about engines and such and I think performance is something I will probably get into further down the line, but hey, we all start somewhere right?
Edit: The nostalgia part came from the fact that all through growing up my parents always drove big Volvo estates - 740s etc - and I felt very much at home in the very familiar interior of my friend's 960.
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