Axon's Automotive Anorak: Looking back at Volvo on its 90th

I was reminded of Volvo – and one of its darker moments – earlier this week. In the tedium of the morning commuter traffic, a vision as orange as a Space Hopper caught my eye. At the head of a slow-moving convoy, crawling along the Chiltern country roads – and in fact, the very reason why the traffic was moving so slowing – was a battered but very original early S-suffix plated Volvo 343.

The Volvo 343! Aargh! The perfect car for the anti-car enthusiast, and arguably the worst car Volvo ever made. Usually coloured beige, brown, or bright orange – just like the one that delayed me on the A413 – this late 1970s baby Volvo hatch was truly a thing of horror. Sadly, that didn’t prevent us Brits, more than any other nation of earth, buying these cursed things in their thousands!

Originally developed by Dutch car and truck maker DAF as its range-topping model, the DAF 77 (as it was due to have been badged), this late 1970s baby Volvo stuck with the Eindhoven marque’s traditional ‘Variomatic’ CVT belt-driven transmission, as used on all previous DAF models, since 1958. Unfortunately, unlike each of the earlier DAF models, the 77/Volvo 343 was not styled by the Italian master, Giovanni Michelotti, but rather by the talented and exotically-name British designer; Trevor Fiore.

Born Trevor Frost in Sheffield, this often-overlooked car designer changed his name to Fiore to sound more Italian. He designed some fine-looking motor cars, including the beautiful Elva-BMW GT 160 coupe, the TVR Tina prototypes and the Trident. When briefly head of design at Citroen, Fiore also created the pyramid-shaped Karin and Xania sporting estate concept cars. Bizarrely, his design work for the Volvo 340 was never mentioned on his CV though, for good reasons! 

The story goes that in the early 1970s DAF was very keen to move its passenger car business on, so that it could concentrate on building far more profitable tracks and buses.

Through previous discussions with various car companies, including BMW and Audi, DAF knew that Volvo, in particular, was looking to expand its model range, beyond its sole 200-Series, with a more affordable, smaller entry model, and the new Project P900 (77) rear-wheel-drive hatchback DAF was developing could be just what Volvo wanted and needed.

DAF briefed Fiore to ‘design the 77 ugly, so that it looked more like a Volvo’ and he fulfilled this brief admirably, resulting in the slightly unfortunate-looking Volvo 343 three-door hatch, as originally launched in 1976. 

The 343 was like quality version of the Morris Marina at the time, based around a dated rear-drive platform, using an underpowered 1.4-litre (Renault) engine, and popular with the non-enthusiastic motor fraternity.

During its staggeringly-long 15-year production career, the 343 gained two rear doors to become the 345, and went to acquire larger 1.7 and 2-litre engines, plus a 54bhp diesel, sporting GLT derivative, and a boot for the better-balanced saloon version.  

With a welcome facelift in 1985, the 300-Series (as compact Volvo family became known) began to become an almost-acceptable (but still undesirable) car, though somewhat behind the times and out-classed compared to contemporary front-wheel-drive rivals such as the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Escort III, Vauxhall Astra, Nissan Stanza, and so on. 

Despite its many failings, in the best Volvo traditions, the 300-Series was built to last (although time has proven otherwise as most have long since expired), and curiously, today this ugly duckling has something of a cult following, thanks mainly to its archaic rear-wheel-drive layout.

The compact Volvo has become a popular ‘classic’ choice of with young, grungy drifters, who hoon around in their Dutch bustle-back hatches, often lowered and repainted in dark, matt colours. Quite a contrast to the old, original, orange S-reg example I was stuck behind earlier; a real low point in Volvo’s 90 years of car making. Things could, and did, only get better. Happy Birthday Volvo!