It’s the mid-70s and Volvo is heavily in
debt. The new 200 series is unreliable, they have
43,000 gas guzzling large family cars waiting to be sold at a time when the world is swarming
to small fuel economical cars. Volvo’s trying every trick in the book to
stay afloat, and at the same time must spend money to develop a new car to sell in the
1980s, if it makes it to the 1980s. But the investment paid off. The 700 series would be the car that saved
Volvo and would go on to sell almost 2M cars. This is the Volvo 740 and 760 story. (music) Just a year after the 200 series launch, Volvo
started to look towards its replacement. The new car should capitalise on the 200’s
best points, while moving the car brand upmarket to a more profitable category. Project NV80 as it was called, focused on
seven key criteria to make the new car a success. The 200 series had been unreliable out of
the gate, although that quickly improved, but Volvo would make reliability a big focus
of the new car. The 1973 oil crisis also loomed large. Customers were moving towards small fuel efficient
cars, and Volvo – a maker of large family cars – was suffering financially. The new car would use fuel injection and turbodiesels
to make the cars competitive. Volvo wanted the new car to have a lower total
cost of ownership, from purchase to trade-in. If they couldn’t win the battle of the cheapest
car in its class, they wanted to show it was cheaper to service. Those serviceable parts would be easily accessible
so even an inexperienced owner could change them, and garage repair bills would be lower. If nothing else, it would reduce the costs
for Volvo’s own service centres. For example, to replace a headlamp bulb it’s
simply a matter of twisting the holder out, swapping the bulb and replacing it. On some cars it could be a much more complex
process, for example on the VW Beetle, developed 20 years later. By 1976 many different designs had been created,
some from Volvo design lead Jan Wilsgaard who had penned Volvo’s cars since the Amazon
in 1956, but others from outside design firms Coggiola and ItalDesign. The finance department wanted a simple shape
that was cheap to manufacture, and this made the team look at a simple, straight-edged
design. But that boxy shape needed a drag coefficient
of just 0.4 to help make this a low-cost fuel efficient car to own. After a great deal of work in a British wind
tunnel, they would achieve just that. After much deliberation the team chose Jan
Wilsgaard’s design. Three shapes were considered, a saloon, a
hatchback and an estate, but making all three was simply too expensive. So, the plan was to focus on the top of the
range saloon first and introduce an estate later on. With finances tight, the new car would inherit
the already good underpinnings and rear wheel drive layout from the Volvo 200 series. To improve handling and interior comfort the
wheelbase would be extended 5”, while keeping the overall length the same. Transmission and engines would also be carried
over, using the same V6 developed with Renault and Peugeot; introduced in 1974 and used by
the DeLorean. The suspension would be tuned for predictable
handling to ensure it would be a safe car to drive. The rear axle would be suspended by a subframe
to reduce road noise, making it a quieter, higher-end driving experience. With the NV80 project now renamed to Project
P31, the design team toured Volvo’s export markets getting market data to lock down the
car’s design. What would 1980s drivers be looking for, and
what upcoming legislation could hinder it? This helped shape the car and ensure it would
have a long life. But Volvo’s finances were getting worse. By 1976 thousands of cars were left unsold
because of overestimating demand. Volvo’s loan request from the Swedish Government
was rejected, forcing them to think of drastic measures to survive. Management looked into merging with Saab the
following year, but these plans were ultimately dropped. The P31 project was ominously renamed to Project
1155, that’s 5 minutes to 12, meaning there wasn’t much time left to get the car out
before Volvo went bankrupt. This was the car that would make or break
Volvo. To make sure the car was right Volvo held
public product clinics in Volvo’s top export markets, West Germany and the USA. The car was unbranded so participants didn’t
know it was a Volvo, but given the boxy shape, what else could it be?!? Customer response was overwhelmingly positive,
calling it a luxurious, safety conscious car – just what Volvo was going for. There were of course criticisms, but these
were minor – for example the windscreen rake was too severe, and the feedback was
taken on board to improve the car. The car had initially been planned for a 1980
introduction, but it took until spring of 1978 to get a driveable prototype, and the
car’s introduction would be delayed until 1982. With tight finances, Volvo came up with a
slightly odd plan to prevent bankruptcy. The Norwegian Government would give Volvo
rights to drill for oil in newly found North Sea oil seams, and Volvo would then sell the
oil. This would make Volvo the only car company
that was also an oil company. But Volvo shareholders nixed the deal in 1979
and had their knives out to cut Project 1155 entirely to save money. Without a 200 series successor Volvo would
be in even more trouble, so Project 1155 continued apace, now renamed to “Project 01”. With the USA being an important market, the
car had to be tested not just for extreme cold, but extreme heat, so the car was taken
to the Australian Outback and Rocky mountains. To further gauge customer opinion for the
car, and to show Volvo’s progress in fuel efficient vehicles, the “VCC” or “Volvo
Concept Car” was shown in 1980. It was essentially an estate version of Project
01 and became just one of many VCC-badged concepts Volvo would produce over the years. Production of Volvo’s 2-door coupé, the
262C ended in 1981. High-end 2-door coupé’s sold well in the
USA, if Volvo could get the package right, so they looked to make a replacement designed
on Project 01’s chassis. They turned to old collaborators Bertone to
bring it to production. The new coupé – dubbed Project 1780, started
in August 1981. Volvo suggested Bertone take a Project 01
chassis and make minor modifications, but Bertone thought more major work was needed
to make a compelling car. Volvo didn’t agree with Bertone’s design
so sent Jan Wilsgaard to Italy to help out. Together they produced a compelling package,
but with the resulting design not sharing a single panel with Project 01, the profit
margin was going to be slim. By this time Project 01 development had cost
around $600M USD. Although the 200 series continued to sell
well, Volvo had a lot riding on this car. They were already developing a compact executive
car but if Project 01 – now dubbed the Volvo 760 – wasn’t successful, there wouldn’t
be any more money to bring it to reality. To protect Volvo’s truck, bus and construction
equipment business from bankruptcy, the car division was spun off into a separate company. (music) The Volvo 760 launched on February 2nd, 1982
as a high-spec luxury 4-door saloon. With power steering, electric windows, sunroof
and mirrors, heated seats, alloy wheels, central locking, leather seats and an automatic gearbox,
it checked the boxes as a safe, luxurious car. It came in cheaper than the German and US
competition, a niche Volvo would come to own into the 21st century. But European reviewers were less sure. They felt the boxy shape was out of step with
current European car fashions and that it wouldn’t sell. The boxy look was too “American”. But it also looked like it would protect its
occupants, which played to Volvo’s strengths. Those bohemians who had loved their 240 were
growing up and wanted something more luxurious, and the 760 fit the bill. The 760 was intended to replace the 260, but
for now both models were sold alongside each other, with the 260 being the more “cost
effective” model, that’s marketing speak for “cheap”! Volvo had used this tactic before, and it
helped get additional much needed profit from a car that had already paid off its development
and tooling costs. By 1983 the 760 was also being powered by
an economical turbodiesel, but Volvo took the 2.1L petrol turbo engine from the 240
and expanded it to 2.3L, giving a blistering 0-60 time of under 8 seconds. That’s like sticking a Mentos mint into
a diet Coke, if the Coke weighed nearly 2 metric tonnes and was rather boxy! Volvo themselves used a marketing campaign
to compare the car to the Porsche 944. Both cars had identical quarter mile times,
but to cap it all the Volvo got to 60mph first! The range was filled out in 1984 with the
introduction of the more cost effective 740, providing more reasons for customers to choose
it over the 240. Back in the 200 series days, the “6” in
260 stood for 6-cylinder engines, with the “4” for 4-cylinder, but Volvo had long
abandoned this nomenclature, using the “4” for lower spec cars that often had smaller
engines to cut costs. The stalwart Volvo Redblock engine used in
the 240 and indeed the new 760 would be updated to provide better performance and fuel efficiency. But the 740 wasn’t a stripped down basic
model. The base model came with power steering, central
locking and indeed heated seats as standard! No wonder then that the 740 was much more
popular than the 760. The 700 range was further expanded the following
year with the 740 & 760 estate. It was based on the 1980 VCC but extended
to provide more cargo space. And to improve the 700 series, ABS and traction
control were added, and the 740 gained a turbo. Volvo would announce their new car in the
time honoured ancient Swedish tradition of stacking things on top of it. They would stack a large truck, and also several
other Volvos as they’d done with the 140 when that was launched. With this, the 700 series could now replace
the 200 series, but the 240 continued to sell, and sell, and sell….. To complete the range, that 2-door coupé
from Bertone was introduced in Geneva in 1986 as the 780. It was a highly appointed car that was used
to take Volvo further upmarket. Volvo had tested the car, but Bertone would
manufacture it. The sumptuous interior would be customised
just for this car and included all the creature comforts from the 760 plus wood trim, electrically
adjustable seats and cruise control. The team did want to add a turbo, but the
small engine bay caused overheating, but a turbodiesel option was available. In 1988 the 760 got a subtle update. The wipers were hidden
to make them more aerodynamic, and the front was revised, making it more sloped. Both the 760 and 780 got multi-link suspension
to provide better handling, and Volvo was one of the first companies to add this to
a mass-produced car. The following year the 4-cylinder 2.0L petrol
engines gained 16-valves, a turbo and an intercooler to provide further fuel economy and performance,
giving up to 200hp. Volvo evaluated a 2.3L version, but discounted
it as it would be too powerful for the existing gearbox. But the 700 series updates were subtle as
Volvo was focusing a lot of its time on developing the new 850 that would be introduced in 1991,
and in fact many of the 700 series improvements at this time came from 850 development. The 740’s front styling was updated in 1990,
the car got a dashboard update in 1991, and the 780 coupé was discontinued, but this
wasn’t the beginning of the end. Back in 1988 Volvo had started looking at
the 740 and 760’s replacement, but with all funds going into 850 development, there
was little money left. Given its strong sales, and the continued
sales of the 200 series which refused to die, Volvo believed they could get additional life
out of the 740 and 760 with a styling update, particularly around the back of the saloon
that was looking dated. Operation Backlift, as it would be known also
looked at the old 1974 V6 engine that was becoming uncompetitive. The 850 would use a new X-100 4-cylinder engine. Volvo were able to enlarge it to both a 5-cylinder
and 6-cylinder version, and the 6-cylinder would be used on the updated 760. The subtle styling update was influenced by
the 850’s new look, and the similarity would give the cars a family feel. But the changes around the front were subtle. With the 740 and 760 update being called the
940 and 960, if you didn’t know where to look – mainly around the back of the saloon
– the only thing that would tip you off it was the new car was the “9” on the
badge. Around 1991 the Volvo line-up was confusing. There was the 200 series – about to end
its life in 1993, then there was the last of the 700 series being sold at the same time
as the 900 series it was replacing. Then there was the slightly shorter but very
similar 850. Am I the only casual observer that got baffled
by Volvo’s line-up at this time? But by 1993 the line-up was rationalised to
just the 850, 940 and 960. Volvo’s decision to soldier on with essentially
the same car was a smart move as the car still sold well, and was updated just a year later,
further updating the styling both inside and out to keep it relevant with the times, and
taking technology updates along the way. By now the car was being built all around
the world, a testament to just how popular it was in multiple export markets and to how
good the original 700 series design was. In 1996 Volvo rebranded its range with “S”
for saloon and “V” for estate, and this meant the 900 series was renamed the S90 and
V90 in select markets. But age was finally catching up with the venerable
car, and production ended in 1998. The car had to sell well to save Volvo, and
sell well it did, selling over 1.9M cars in its 16 year production run, despite having
to compete against its cheaper predecessor for much of its life. The 700 series set the mould for the large
saloon and estate the company would be known for well into the 21st century. Matchbox cars have a long and storied history. Find out more by clicking on the video on
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