The
Volvo 164 is a six cylinder sedan unveiled by
Volvo CarsVolvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish...
at the Paris Motor Show early in October 1968 for the 1969
model yearThe model year of a product is a number used worldwide, but with a high level of prominence in North America, to describe approximately when a product was produced, and indicates the coinciding base specification of that product....
. The company built 146,008 examples before production ended in 1975.
Introduced with a faux wood dashboard, a six cylinder engine and an optional leather interior, the 164 represented Volvo's first venture into the luxury segment since the demise of the
PV 60The Volvo PV60 is an automobile manufactured by Volvo between 1946 and 1950. It was the first car produced by the Swedish company at the end of the Second World War....
in 1950.
History
Jan WilsgaardJan Wilsgaard was the Chief Designer at Volvo Cars from 1950–1990, having studied at Gothenburg School of Applied Arts before joining Volvo when co-founder Assar Gabrielsson still headed the company. Wilsgaard was followed at Volvo by the noted designer Peter Horbury.Wilsgaard's father was a...
designed the 164 — initially in the late 1950s as a
concept carA concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
called the P358 powered by a V8. The P358 was cancelled when the home market was found too small. The front styling was inspired both by the
Wolseley 6/99The Wolseley 6/99 was the final large Wolseley car. Styled by Pinin Farina with additions by BMC staff sylists, the basic vehicle was also sold under two of BMC's other marques as the Austin A99 Westminster and Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre. Production began in 1959 and the cars were updated and...
and the
Volvo P1900The Volvo Sport is a Swedish fiberglass-bodied roadster of which sixty-eight units were built between 1956 and 1957 by Volvo Cars....
.
In 1968 Volvo introduced the 164 as an extension of the
140-seriesThe Volvo 140 Series is a range of automobiles which was produced by Volvo Cars of Sweden from 1966 to 1974. The range comprises the Volvo 142 2-door sedan, the Volvo 144 4-door sedan and the Volvo 145 5-door station wagon....
, equipping the 164 with a 3.0 litre straight-6. The bodywork of the 164 from the windshield forward differed from the 140: including a longer bonnet accommodating the bigger engine and a larger, more prominent grille. The interior was equipped with a faux wood dash and optional leather. The 164 was Volvo's answer to the
Mercedes-Benz 250The Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 were luxury cars built by Mercedes-Benz from 1965 through 1972. The line was an update of the predecessor W111 and W112 fintail sedans. The cars were successful in West Germany and in export markets that included including North America and Southeast Asia...
and
Jaguar XJJaguar XJ is the designation that has been used for a series of luxury saloon cars sold under the British Jaguar marque. The first XJ was launched in 1968 and the designation has been used for successive Jaguar flagship models since then. The original model was the last Jaguar saloon to have had...
6. In 1973 the 164 received the same makeover as the 140, i.e. different taillights and slightly revised sheetmetal, completely revised dash which included face vents (eliminating the need for the quarterlights in the side windows although these continued for another year,) and the grille was now a somewhat smaller plastic item, as the front bumper was now straight rather than dipping down under the grille. Sales declined as the
energy crisisThe 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
made cars with large engines less desirable. The less expensive and more efficient
BMW BavariaThe BMW New Six is a line of six-cylinder luxury cars produced by the German automaker BMW from 1968 to 1977. The series was introduced as a response to the Mercedes-Benz-dominated large luxury car class and was very important in establishing BMW's reputation as a maker of sporting, luxury sedans....
also ate into the 164's sales. In 1974 the Volvo 164 became the second car (after the
Saab 99- Development :On April 2, 1965, Gudmund's day in Sweden, after several years of planning, the Saab board started Project Gudmund. This was a project to develop a new and larger car to take the manufacturer beyond the market for the smaller Saab 96...
) to offer heated seats. Cars built for the final (1975) model year show small signs of a facelift: new front seats with a centrally mounted handbrake and different badging on the trunklid as well as 6 segment taillights. For a more detailed list of changes see the
Volvo 140The Volvo 140 Series is a range of automobiles which was produced by Volvo Cars of Sweden from 1966 to 1974. The range comprises the Volvo 142 2-door sedan, the Volvo 144 4-door sedan and the Volvo 145 5-door station wagon....
as all changes occurred on both 140 and 164 simultaneously. The 164 was replaced by the
264The Volvo 200 series is a range of large family cars , produced by Volvo from 1974 to 1993, with more than 2.8 million units sold worldwide. The 200 series was essentially an updated version of the 140; both were designed by Jan Wilsgaard. It shared the same body, but included a number of...
which was powered by the
PRVThe PRV engine is an automobile petrol V6 engine that was developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo Cars – and sold from 1974 to 1998. It was gradually replaced after 1994 by another joint PSA-Renault design, known as the ES engine at PSA and the L engine at Renault.-Corporate history:The...
2.7 liter V6 engine.
Engine and powertrain
The 164 was powered by a 3-litre OHV
straight 6 cylinderThe straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...
engine, the
B30This B30 was a straight-6 automobile engine produced by Volvo Cars starting in 1969, and used in the company's 164 sedan from 1969 through 1975. It was also used in the Volvo C303 military vehicle. Other uses included marine, industrial and agricultural applications. It was a robust pushrod engine...
, which was a 6-cylinder derivative of the proven B20 4-cylinder engine that powered most other Volvo models.
The 164 was the first six-cylinder equipped Volvo in 10 years, since the
PV800 seriesThe Volvo PV800 Series was a taxicab manufactured by Volvo between 1938 and 1958. The Sow dominated the Swedish taxicab market during the 1940s and 1950s.- PV800-810 :...
ceased production in 1958.
1969–1971 models were equipped with dual
Zenith StrombergZenith Carburetters was a British company making carburettors. In 1955 they joined with their major pre-war rival Solex Carburettors and over time the Zenith brand name fell into disuse...
175CD2SE constant-depression
carburetorA carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
s. In 1972,
BoschRobert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
's first volume-production electronic
fuel injectionFuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
system, D-Jetronic, was offered as optional equipment. Carburetors were dropped and "D-Jet" became standard equipment for the 1973 model year. Cars equipped with the fuel injection were badged as
164E models, the "E" standing for
einspritzung (German for fuel injection). Like other fuel-injected Volvos, the 164E models gave improved performance and driveability with less-toxic exhaust emissions than their carbureted counterparts. Being one of the first fuel injection systems on the road, however, the D-Jetronic system gained something of a reputation for being difficult to keep in proper repair. Unlike its B20 counterpart, the B30 engine had poor gas mileage, though still better than American luxury cars.
Transmission
Transmission options included a manual 4-speed
M400-M400:M400 is a gearbox from Volvo used in Volvo 164 and in a modified version, a limited number of the early 1970 1800E. A stronger version of the M40 gearbox designed to withstand the higher power of the B30 engine, It can be identified by the drain plug being on the opposite side to the M40...
gearbox, which was known as the
M410-M400:M400 is a gearbox from Volvo used in Volvo 164 and in a modified version, a limited number of the early 1970 1800E. A stronger version of the M40 gearbox designed to withstand the higher power of the B30 engine, It can be identified by the drain plug being on the opposite side to the M40...
when equipped with the optional electrically-operated Laycock de Normanville
overdriveOverdrive is a term used to describe a mechanism that allows an automobile to cruise at sustained speed with reduced engine RPM, leading to better fuel economy, lower noise and lower wear...
. Both the M400 and M410 had Volvo's "remote control" shifter, which used a conventionally short, vertical shift stick placed between the front seats. Manual-shift models other than the 164 and the P1800 continued until 1971 to use Volvo's direct-control shifter, featuring an extremely long, almost horizontal shift lever with its pivot point well under the dashboard. A 3-speed
automatic transmissionAn automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
, the Borg Warner BW35, was also offered. The automatic shift selector was mounted on the steering column from 1969 through 1971, and on the floor from 1972 through 1975. Despite its rough operation and inefficiency, the BW35 was popular in the North American and Australian markets.
Body and chassis
The 164 was only offered as a 4-door sedan, and shares many body and chassis components with its 144 forebear. From the cowl rearward, body sheetmetal is identical with the exception of the remote shifter transmission tunnel, which would reach the 140 series in 1972. The front was lengthened 100 millimeters in wheelbase and 60 millimeters in overall length to accommodate the longer 6-cylinder engine. Because of the shared components between the 140 and 164, several private parties have constructed
station wagonA station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
and 2-door
hardtopA hardtop is a term for a rigid, rather than canvas, automobile roof. It has been used in several contexts: detachable hardtops, retractable hardtop roofs, and the so-called pillarless hardtop body style....
versions with 164 front ends. Despite strenuous calls from Volvo dealers for a 6-cylinder Volvo station wagon, including a prototype built in
Melbourne, AustraliaMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in 1972 and possibly another in
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, an estate version of the 164 was never offered.
Descendants
When developing the 262C coupé in the mid-seventies, Volvo employed a 164 as a testbed. The resulting two-door "162" with a lowered, vinyl-covered roof (recognizable in the later 262C) remains on display at the
Volvo Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden.
External links