.....is looking a bit blank at the moment.

We have plans to try and fill in some of those blanks.

Would people mind jotting down ideas and the mods will collate it together. Full credit will be given to whoever contributes

Thanks.

Right, I'll start the ball rolling

340 Production started - 1976 Finished - 1991
360 Production started - xxx (after the 2L 340, but was that ever realised in the UK?) Finished - 1989

Special edition models,
1986 - 360 GLEi SE
1989 - 360? SE (the one that got leather, nearly all saloon, I've seen one hatch)
1989(first half) - 340 Redline
1989(second half) - 340 Blueline

I'd be very pleased to see an accurate write-up of the Volvo 300's history in English. It'd be nice not only to see a general write-up similiar to the one in the French section, but also a detailed timeline on the model's development.

I once tried to figure one out once myself, getting most of my information from the V3C site:
http://www.volvo300club.nl/berichten.ph ... u=volvo300
... from the V3M history page in the French section
http://www.volvo300mania.com/histoire.htm
... and bits & pieces from period brochures & test reports. Aymat did a write up of trim changes once:
http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... =1998#1998

The following is by no means complete and may not be entirely correct (certainly not for all markets).

#######
# Mk1 #
#######

# phase 1 #

19th February - presentation to the press

1976/03 - 343 DL released

1976/12 - 1977/01 - Early hub caps dropped (CH 318090)
1977/02 - 03 - chrome mirrors dropped, now matt black (CH 322918)
1977/06 - 07 - pushbuttons (headlights, heated r. screen, foglights) dropped, now rocker / rotary (CH 338990)

1977/09 - chrome door handles dropped, now matt black (from MY 1978, CH 348000)
1978 early - black dashboard available in addition to brown. Only available for certain colour schemes

# phase 2 #

1978/09 -
manual version available
new dashboard - more Volvolike, rocker / rotary switches again different
indicators on the front wings

1979/09 - 345 5-door intr.

1979 late -
larger wing mirrors
new wheels
GL intr. (tinted windows, metallic paint, wider tyres)

1980 early -
new decals side & rear

1980/08 -
2 litre 95HP B19A engine intr. (DLS, GLS)
steel bumpers replaced by wrap-aroung plastic ones

1980 - Volvo 343 Turbo wins the European Rallycross title

#######
# Mk2 # (arguably)
#######

# phase 1 #

1981/07 - new headlights, indicators, grille, bonnet

1982/02 - 345 Van

# phase 2 #

1982/08 -
new dashboard
343 / 345 repl. by 340 & 360 (2 litre)

1982/08-09 -
360 GLT B19E engine

1983 - 360 GLE (2 litre B19E in a saloon (european markets))
1.4 litre gets electronic ignition & solex carb

1984 - 340 diesel

1985 - 1.7 litre (80PS), 5sp
B200K (101 PS carb.) & B200E (115PS inj.) repl. B19A & B19E
VDO instruments replaced Smiths

1985 - start of CKD operations ("completely knocked down" cars in kit form assembled by local labour in other countries (e.g. Malaysia)

#######
# Mk3 #
#######

1985 late -
facelift front & rear

1986 -
air con option
B200EA with EGR and Pulsair
B200F with multipoint inj. 3-way cat & lambda sond

1986 (?) 340 DL Diesel- / 360 Transport (3dr van for some markets)

8th March 1988 1,000,000th 300

1989 - last 360

1991 - last 340

In total, 1,086,405 300's were built. 910,382 were 34*'s, 176,023 were 360's
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/history/300 ... search.php

It might be an idea to seperate engine / gearbox changes from trim & exterior differences, and I'm sure the "special editions" section could become very long & confused, as they varied so much from country to country. Here's an attempt at listing them anyway (the market country codes may be wrong or incomplete on some models).

#######
# Mk1 #
#######

1977/8 343 DL Special (NL/D)
1978 343 DL Black Beauty (NL) / Black Diamond (B) / Silver Star (F) 343 DL-C (D) / unnamed (A/GB)
1979 343 Oettinger (D)
1980 343 DL / GL Blue Special / Green Special / Spring Volvo (NL/D/A/F/B)
1980 343 Touring (brown /red / silver met.) (D)
1981 343 Touring (white / blue met.) (D)
1981 R-Sport (D)
1981 345 GLS VIP (D/A/I)

#######
# Mk2 #
#######

1981 343 Junior (D)
1981/2 343 Winner (NL)
1982 345 GLS 2.0 5-Speed (A) / 345 GLS BlueLine (B/NL) / 345 GLS Spring Special (CH)

1982 340 Special (A)
1982/3 340 GLS R-Sport (A)
1982/3 340 DLS R-Sport (B)
1983 360 GLT "Black Beauty" (CH)

1984 340 Grand Luxe (A)
1984 340 DL/ GL / GLS Special (NL)
1984 340 GL Special Edition (GB)
1984 340 GL Frühjahrssondermodell (D)
1984/5 340 DL Polar (D)

1985 340 Winner (NL)
1985 360 GLS Sedan Spring Special (CH)
1985 340 DL Club (D) / RAI Special (NL)

#######
# Mk3 #
#######

1985 340 Winner (NL)

1986 340 Arctic / Arvika (D)
1986 360 GL Emerald (F)
1986 360 GLT Special 25 (CH)
1986 360 Crystal (CH)
198? 360 GLE SE (GB)
1986 360 GLEi SE (GB)
1986/7 360 GLT RSX2 (CH)

1987 340 Winner / Special (NL)
1987 340 DL Black Silver (D)
1987 340 Nautic (D)
1987 340 GL Special Edition (GB)
1987 340 GLE Limited Edition (GB)
1987 360 GLT "60th Anniversary" (GB)
1987 340 DL Grey Diamond (D)

1987/8 340 Redline 1.7 (NL)
1987/8 340 Blueline 1.4 (NL)
1988 340 GL Redline (D)

198? 340 Redline (GB)
198? 340 Blueline (GB)
198? 340/360 Redline (A)

1988 340 GLE Millionaire (GB/NL)
1988 360 GLT Millionär (A)

1988 340 Harmony (F)
1988 340 DL Como (D)
1989 340 DL Fjord (D)
1989 340 Special / GL Special (NL)


If someone has a specific query, I have pretty much all the 340 / 360 brochures from '76 through to '91, at least for the German / Austrian market. I'd also be interested in names & dates from the early to mid seventies when the 300 / Daf 77 was being designed & planned, information which perhaps the Dutch V3C people could help with ...

Tom

12.11.07 limited editions updated
10.12.07 limited editions updated
08.05.08 limited editions / links updated
13.06.08 limited editions updated
15.06.08 limited editions updated - thanks pistonpen paultje
16.06.08 limited editions updated - thanks antiekeradio
18.06.08 limited editions updated
09.09.08 limited editions updated
11.11.08 limited editions updated - thanks BUF340 (Helge)
21.11.08 limited editions corrected
08.04.09 limited editions corrected
09.12.09 Mk1 revisions corrected - thanks volvomania
11.12.09 Mk1 revisions & limited editions corrected

Total Build Numbers;

Model Year / No built
340 3dr

76 5206
77 29902
78 37700
79 67969
80 49940
81 29108
82 47066
83 50778
84 31658
85 29400
86 29849
87 27230
88 17628
89 15870
90 3130

340 4dr
84 11107
85 12719
86 19469
87 18639
88 11314
89 6716

340 5dr
80 28655
81 30779
82 47499
83 48337
84 26617
85 24796
86 31153
87 36698
88 33871
89 29024
90 17960
91 2595

360 3dr
84 7743
85 9073
86 5994
87 5836
88 3129
89 1760

360 4dr
84 18253
85 15608
86 10459
87 11502
88 6910
89 3475

360 5dr
84 13781
85 14249
86 15153
87 15296
88 11322
89 6480

re. trabitom's message from november 11th;

Mk 1 / 2 / 3 are not official designations, but I believe the usual indication of Mk1 vs Mk2 is the front.

ie. motor hood, headlights, grille, etc.

that means the change from Mk1 to Mk2 happened early 1982, not in 1980.

V6 Man wrote:Total Build Numbers;
Model Year / No built

Shows why Mk3 3 door 360s are pretty rare ...

antiekeradio wrote:that means the change from Mk1 to Mk2 happened early 1982, not in 1980.

Good to see you posting here again, Wouter

I'm quite sure the changeover from Mk1 to Mk2 occurred in mid-1981 (although they probably called it the 1982 "model year").

1980/08 -
steel bumpers replaced by wrap-aroung plastic ones

That refers to the final changes to the Mk1 when Volvo dropped the heavy steel bumpers, not the changeover from Mk1 to Mk2 (assuming we're calling the Mk2 the version with the different headlights / bonnet / grille).

BTW, do you know whether the 340 Blackline actually existed? There's a reference to one on the V3C's "Modelontwikkeling" page, but I've never heard of one previously ...

Tom

yep model year 82.

in any case the 'wraparound' bumper introduction is still Mk1 territory


the blackline is some sort of mistery to me, too.
This reference has been on the V3C website since before I became webmaster, so I have always kept it in without being too sure it actually existed. Don't take the information for sacred, there are some other omissions that need to be tackled.

Greetings Wouter

Hm, in that case I think I'll remove the "Blackline" from the above list. I was always a bit unsure about that one - maybe it got confused with the "Black Silver" special edition - basically a DL with the matt black trim of the base model, metallic silver paint and a stripe, along with a few of the cheaper accessories ...

Tom

The Black Beauty was called Black Daimond in some country's. And came also as silver daimond.

Also, together with the blue special, there was a kind of green special. They were called "Lente special" Something like: "Spring Special"

pistonpen paultje wrote:The Black Beauty was called Black Daimond in some country's.

Updated Apparently, this brochure



is in Dutch, so maybe the Netherlands got the "Black Diamond" whereas the Germans were forced to drive around with "Black Beauty"s?



The lucky Austrians got no fancy name at all:



Funny, how the different markets were subjected to different "special edition" names. The "Blue Special" you were talking about Paul, was called "Blue Special" in Austria, but "Der Frühlingsvolvo" (the Spring Volvo) in Germany, and it seems the Netherlands got their "Lente Special" - except it was green.



Who came up with these awful names I wonder? "Black Beauty" is bad enough, but imagine having to drive around in a 340 "Crystal" or a 340 "Harmony". Bleugh.



Tom

black diamond = belgian version.

Interesting quote by Robert Koch (Volvo NL's design department) on the MkII facelift:

On the first 343 we built a nose that consisted out of several parts, which would make it easier to give the car a facelift. But as soon as the first facelift came we threw the entire design in the bin and started over again. It turned out that mounting a different nose was so labor-intensive that pressing new wheelarches and mounting those was preferred over having to unscrew an entire part and screw the new nose in place. These days, with all the robotics, it's easier to assemble the entire nose near the assembly line and mount the nose in one turn with all the headlights properly adjusted alltogether!

Source: http://www.volvo-480-europe.org/volvo48 ... evelopment

Tom

Sorry I need to say there are 4 versions of the car, not 3.
As not to many early cars remain it is a mistake often made.
Differences can be found in body, brake system, gearbox, interior and engine.
#######
# Mk1 #
#######

19th February - presentation to the press

1976/03 - 343 DL released

1976/12 - 1977/01 - Early hub caps dropped (CH 318090- )

1977/02 - 03 - chrome mirrors replaced with matt black (CH 322918- )

1977/09 - chrome door handles replaced with matt black (from MY 1978 chnr 348000 - )

1978 early -
brown dashboard now black, rotary switches instead of push buttons A black dash became available besides the brown dash. Only available for certain colorschemes.

#######
# Mk2 #
#######

1978/09 -
manual version available
new dashboard - more Volvolike
indicators on the front wings

1979/09 - 345 5-door intr.

1979 late -
larger wing mirrors
new wheels
GL intr. (tinted windows, metallic paint, wider tyres)

1980 early -
new decals side & rear

1980/08 -
2 litre 95HP B19A engine intr. (DLS, GLS)
steel bumpers replaced by wrap-aroung plastic ones

1980 - Volvo 343 Turbo wins the European Rallycross title

#######
# Mk3 #
#######

1981/07 - new headlights, indicators, grille, bonnet

1982/02 - 345 Van

1982/08 -
new dashboard
343 / 345 repl. by 340 & 360 (2 litre)

1982/08-09 -
360 GLT B19E engine

1983 - 360 GLE (2 litre B19E in a saloon (european markets))
1.4 litre gets electronic ignition & solex carb

1984 - 340 diesel

1985 - 1.7 litre (80PS), 5sp
B200K (101 PS carb.) & B200E (115PS inj.) repl. B19A & B19E
VDO instruments replaced Smiths

1985 - start of CKD operations ("completely knocked down" cars in kit form assembled by local labour in Malaysia)Also at other locations.

#######
# Mk4 #
#######

1985 late -
facelift front & rear

1986 -
air con option
B200EA with EGR and Pulsair
B200F with multipoint inj. 3-way cat & lambda sond

1986 (?) 340 DL Diesel- / 360 Transport (3dr van for some markets)

8th March 1988 1,000,000th 300

1989 - last 360

1991 - last 340

In total, 1,086,405 300's were built. 910,382 were 34*'s, 176,023 were 360's
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/history/300 ... search.php

never ending discussion, it seems.

interesting to see that the brown and black dashboards have been sold concurrently.
did that brown versions still have the pushbuttons?