These first generation 960 estates are very rare (especially the 1991), as they were ridiculously expensive when new. I had a second hand 1992 as my first own car and I absolutely loved it because it had everything and did everything, I've never found anything similar in any car ever again. And I agree with your statement, as I think most true car people do: an estate would be the most logical combination of practicality and efficiency, especially when we are shifting towards electric vehicles. Though Volvo makes the most beautiful ones, I completely don't understand why people keep buying these big heavy SUV's.

Have actually driven a manual version of this on Swedish summer roads... it was a joy to drive... it was almost new... that's how old I am 😂

Excellent video. Absolutely have all the time in the world for these. I learned to drive in an F reg 760 in the exact same colour combination aged a mere 11 because my feet could reach the pedals thanks to the electric seat. Fast forward to present day im 32, now own a modified 240 GLT estate and have a 2 year old. His face whenever I use it over our other cars to collect him from nursery says it all! Long live the quintessential estate car!!

I have a 1997 940. Regarding E10 fuel, I checked and all models from 1976 are compatible!

Great video! Having driven this car myself I can definitely second this. It’s a crying shame what Volvo have announced. Plus this car drives lovely! It’s a credit to the brand!

Got one myself, a 1996 940 turbo estate. It's a second car after my daily big SUV (yeah, i know, sorry) or actually a third car after my 1970 MGB roadster, but it's so useful, and so comfortable, and so charming. I've been smitten by its understated brilliance. What a shame Volvo have rejected their roots. great vid, thanks.

My parents drove an ‘87 740 GLE wagon. I remember the Volvo smell. And the cool headrests.

As a dad I love your channel and all the great cars! My parents have had Volvo estates for ages, I swear by Saabs (with two small kids). You should definitely try a 9-3 or 9-5 aero Estate if possible one day. They are harder to find nowadays but so worth it! I reluctantly traded my o so sweet blistering fast 9-3 convertible for an aero estate when our first child was upcoming, but still love the dynamics and practicality of my 9-3 aero estate after 5 years. It's pure magic from 50-130 kph and mighty reliable. Very much unlike Volvo's nowadays...

I had one of these bricks. A great and comfortable car. It was awesome to transport any kind of stuff around. My 4 cylinder turbo was very thirsty though.

USA models had front airbags also for safety. My 1996 850 T5 had side airbags as well.

Found this channel via JayEmm's video of the DadB9. My dad had Volvo estates for 30 years, 760/940/V90! We'd holiday around the UK and Europe (6 up plus roofrack), I miss those rear facing seats! I'm now on my 3rd estate - currently driving an E63S. You can borrow it if you like Ben.

I hate SUVs, MPVs etc., for many years, I drove American cars and station wagons. Masses of room, tons of power, incredible comfort and very cheap and easy to fix. (Although they rarely go wrong). They're not as heavy on fuel as most people think either, and the low cost of servicing and insurance more than make up for it. I've never been a fan of Volvo, I think they're far too thirsty, (I got better fuel consumption from a 7·5 litre Oldsmobile than I ever did from a Volvo). My current daily driver is a 2006 Lexus GS300 SE-L. Amazingly comfortable, whisper quiet, totally reliable, very, very fast indeed (165mph!) And economy is excellent, 43mpg on a motorway; 21 - 32 around town. I now need a station wagon again so I'm planning to buy a 1994 Chevrolet Caprice Classic (huge and smooth) and then get a Honda Accord 3litre coupe to run alongside it. SUVs and MPVs should be banned in my opinion; they just get in the way! Good channel, I'm enjoying it a lot

For a big estate with a 4-Speed slush box, it seemed to shift fairly quickly. It definitely sounded good on camera.

What is hardly ever mentioned is the crazily small turning radius of these big bricks compared to nearly all other cars, even smaller ones. Ever driven in one of these old Italian towns with their narrow streets and tight corners? Or tried to park in that last space available that's not much bigger than the car you drive? Whenever I drive other cars the difference in radius is usually the first thing that annoys me and I'm always happy to get back into my 940 turbo. Apart from that I agree with everything in this video.

Fabulous touring cars.....I still have a big smile on my face driving my '97 S90. And by the way, did anyone forget to mention that the inline six cylinder was designed by Porsche??!! No wonder most owners don't want to give these up! ♥

I'm watching your channel and enjoying the content. I've noticed this is the 2nd car I own you own as well. First one was the GS430 I had few years ago, now I've a blue 940 2.3 LPT I'm using on every day basis. And I'm not even a dad lol. Rock on man! PS: ah, I see this is a friend's car.

We have a 1996 960 estate it was my late fathers car and has been with us for over 20 years and has been garaged all its life, it’s only used during the summer months now, beautiful car, we’ll never sell it as it is part of the family and has great memories, previous to this we had a 760GLE which I always sat in the back of when I was a kid, again great memories!

A 4year old nissan qashqai typically has more rust than my 30 year old volvo thanks to the volvos entirely galvanized body.

Hi Ben, hope your doing good. That was an awesome video. One beautiful car. I didn't know that was a Lambda Sond estate. That's even better. I miss the old Volvo wagon I used to have, it was a turbo wagon. My Mum had a 1980s 244DL Lambda Sond estate that was orange with black interior. That's just so sad Volvo quit making saloons and estates. I loved the video. The only brake estate I have now is a late 1990s Citroen XM Diesel turbo. Stay safe and take care.

I've driven the current xc90 I loved it but yeah it is a shame they are stopping what made them successful. 850 t5 is what got me interested in Volvo as a kid

This really winds me up. Hopefully there are some manufacturers who see sense and give the sensible people the choice of an estate over an SUV

Always loved an estate. Been after a decent v70 estate but the interior always puts me off. Opted for a Mercedes s205 c250d. Great car, loads of room for the family and looks amazing to boot. Super comfortable

I own 97 S90. THe upgraded facelifted 960. So much equipment and great engine. It hadnt ran fora year then i turned hte key and it started up just ike it had been turned off a fora hour or so. And no graddad car, its an enthusiast car for all ages and genders

My grandad 👴🏾 took us to the seaside every so often in his 240 Estate. Brilliant car. I wanted to get a 240 Estate but none of the ones i saw were ulez exempt, so i i opted for a P2 V70. Another great car, but I’d much prefer a 240.

Dad had a 740, 850 and two V70s. Your video makes me really want a 960 (or a 940).

ive had this car on my driveway haha the owner james came to look at my 960 last september when i was gonna sell it (ive since decided against). nice guy, just didnt meet on the price but that's life, im glad i still have mine. the interior on this is GORGEOUS and i definitely need a tan interior for mine if i can find one. good video and summary of the car :)

This obsession for SUV's and things like the Ford Ranger baffles me, the drivers seem to project an air of I'm bigger than you, so I can just do whatever I want. Of course the manufactures of these types of vehicles will encourage that ethos, money is money, just like EV's, it's all about the me now mentality... I drove passed a car recycling facility the other day, the number of what I considered as modern cars in there was staggering. I guess I am old school, older well made things were what you aspired to, now if it is not new and trendy, scrap it... Thanks for the review, station wagons are just as useful as a giant ego trip, I wonder where the next trend will lead us?

V70r would be something I'd like to see on the channel. It's sad to see Volvo in the UK going SUV only as I think the latest v90 is actually very good

Great vid lovely car Got v70 mk1 myself try to keep her going myself like u said on weekends Other family car is xc90 mk2 so know what u mean to point they r greats car too tho Is shame what Volvo have done in uk only stopping scaling estates and saloons, but looking to be due to small numbers they sell And their big push to full electric, hopefully next gen EV wagon soon

I remember from magazines in the 90's that some Scandinavians lowered the roofline and welded up the rear doors.. Looked ace!

Wow, amazing video! Thank you for posting this. I for one am sad to see that these cars are getting more and more rare. I cannot speak about the estate version but I am the owner of a 1992 Volvo 960 Sedan (that's what they are called in Canada) with the exact same engine as the one in this video. I bought this car in 2017 for 500$ Canadian. The car has never seen winter, has zero rust and still has a beautiful paint job - I guess because the car was kept in a garage its entire life. The individual that sold me the car was the original owner. Nobody wanted to buy it because of a few minor mechanical issues. I am an engineer by trade and a former mechanic so I was not afraid to make this purchase. The car only had 154,000km when I bought it. Some facts about the 1st generation Volvo 960s like this one I would like to share based on my experience with this car: First, these came with a weak, undersized, anemic timing belt. In many of these early 960s, the timing belts would snap since those belts were so weak. Since these are interference engines, sadly, many of these 960s ended up in the scrapyard since the cost to repair the engine after a thrown timing belt was very expensive. The later year 960s (2nd generation after 1995 model year) came with much larger and stronger timing belts since Volvo addressed that problem. In my case, I modified the timing belt system and the car now uses the same timing belt as a 1997 Volvo 850 - a much stronger belt than the original and lasts roughly 60,000km (the original would last roughly 35,000km) easily before having to replace it. By the way, replacing the timing belt on these cars is a snap. It takes me 45 minutes. Second, the air box on these 1st generation 960s is very restrictive. I had the exact same air box as shown in this car in the video. My check engine light kept coming on indicating a problem with the mass airflow sensor. I kept cleaning the mass airflow sensor and reset the engine code but after 50km or so of driving, the check engine light would come back on with the same problem. The problem with these restrictive air boxes is that they would cause the car to run rich because not enough air made its way to the intake. What I did is, I went to the scrapyard and got an air box, intake hose and idle control valve from a 1997 Volvo 960 and replaced mine with that. Problem gone!! In fact, the car feels more powerful now and certainly more responsive!! Third, many of these 960s came with self-leveling rear suspension called Nivomat shock absorbers. When I got the car, the Nivomat shocks were leaking and the rear end was always sagging. When I checked it out, not only were the shocks leaking, the coil springs were broken on both sides as well. I bought from IPD USA a conversion kit and converted the rear suspension to a regular suspension kit. The car now drives like a dream! Sorry for the rant, I just wanted to share my experience with this car. It is such a delight to drive from the handling, the power. the feel of a rear-wheel drive and sound the engine makes. Thanks again for sharing your video, great work!! Cheers!

You won’t be wrestling with rust! The body is galvanised steel & the tailgate is aluminium.

Ahead of its time, and how well the interior holds up for a 32 year old car.

My first Volvo was a 2000 V70 2.5 TDI. I was 19 at the time. Had many other models over the years but currently have a 2012 XC70 and have no intention to sell it or change for anything else. Also just as the news were announced I bought a 1997 2.3 T5 manual. Yes, an M5 would be nice, but for everyday use, weekend tip runs and picking up things I don’t need from car boot sales🤣, its a perfect car.

I have to correct you on the towing part. They are exellent at towing, especially the ones with a stiff rear axle. They are in fact better at towing than pretty much any new car. It comes down to the stability the stiff rear axle gives, and the increased traction you get from the added weight to the drive wheels

I was very saddened when Volvo announced that they’re scrapping all estate cars in their U.K. lineup (except for emergency services) and going all-SUV/Crossover only. When will this trend end? I recently bought an 04-reg Volvo V70 D5 SE Titanium limited edition in exceptionally good condition for its age with 186k miles on the clock and it only cost me £1.5k (I do all the servicing, oil changes, filter changes etc. myself). It has all the bells and whistles you could ever ask for such as heated full leather seats, huge boot load capacity, yet no dreaded Diesel Particulate Filter etc. It currently averages at about 51.2mpg which is considerably more than the 21-reg SEAT Arona crossover-thing which I had the pleasure of being given on a business trip a few months ago. Oh and nice to see you driving around the Wickham and Portsdown Hill area. I know that area very well and it’s a good place to test drive lots of different cars with every road type you can think of within relatively close proximity. I should know because I learned to drive and passed my driving test around there.

The last real station to me is the first gen v70. But the purists will say the last rear wheel drive is. And i agree, i want this 760 :)

My favourite car that my dad had when I was a kid, he had an F reg 760 GLE in a Green/Blue/Turquoise colour…I was too young to know then but at the time my dad had been made redundant and we had to sell everything we owned just to keep a roof over our heads…my grandad gifted him the Volvo to get him to and from jobs…it was bulletproof and was a fantastic family car that all of us remember fondly, I remember it being pretty fast for the time and ironically the only car my dads ever got pulled over for speeding in lol (by a newer T5).

I have driven one but I definitely prefer my ‘97 850 GLT wagon

I'm 44 and no children yet, although would like kids. My first Volvo that I bought was a 1986 740 GLE estate in 2002 for £425. Then in 2009 bought a 1989 240 GLT auto estate for £350. Added on 72,000 miles in 10 years and sold in late 2018 for £500 with 234,000 miles. All very reliable. 2 years prior to selling the 240 bought a 1996 940 SE LPT auto estate for £250. Use this as my work van. Just rebuilt the front suspension and 2nd waterpump fitted at 209,000 miles. Got the AC working this year. A reliable workhorse. My Dad had a few 244's in the mid 90's One a GL with GLT interior. Blue was lovely. Sold shortly after buying as fuel hungry.

I have a V90 that I got to run alongside my XKR dad car when the kids got too big and I really like it, Swedish cool!

I could never understand why in 1991 the 960 was badged the 940 SE in the US. 🤷🤷

Love an estate !

The newer ones can be a nightmare with problems with all the ecus when they go wrong the newer ones need dealer level laptop to work on them

Come to think of it it was the original dad car

My 1998 V90 is essentially a 960. It is my "collector's car of the future" and normally stays in the garage while my old 940 clocks up the miles. I have done some work on it. Changed the timing belt - that was a big job that needs doing carefully. Some very helpful videos on YT by Robert DIY to show you how. The biggest job was replacing the heater matrix and drying out the carpets - that needed the interior of the car to be pretty well completely dismantled.

You should get a Jensen Interceptor on your channel and review it. As a kid I loved those kind of seats and it meets a lot of the dadcars criterea.

I drove my dads 940 manual when i was just 17 and it was so fast and loud

0:30 it almost looks like the wheels weren't turning. 😂🤷

Not using indicators going round the roundabout is everyone around you just ment to guess where you're going

Nice little car .. i like the fact its old and a volvo .. who doesnt love a @simpsonsclassics sricker as well .. nice to see a parent review on a car .. especially with car seats

Does somebbdy know the colour code for this blue paint ? Thx

The V90 estate (which replaced the 960) was a superb car - one of the best I’ve ever driven. However, I have a massive soft spot for the 240. Both my dad and his brother once owned them - a GL and a GLT (which had the best leather seats I’ve ever sat in!) Fantastic, well built and durable cars. We had ours for 13 years, and it was still immaculate when it was sold on. A great shame that Volvo have exited the estate car market - they really did make the best!

I will always favour the estate for family use . I have a golf mk3 estate 1.9d . That's a proper dad car lol. If you want to do a review you can 😂

Volvo. They're boxy but they're good.

It’s not that surprising I guess, it’s a shame , did they invent the estate car ?

The equivalent is the V90 (yes I know they've just stopped making estates)

All i can say is my Volvo 740 was the cheapest car to own i ever had. very little went wrong, just cost a bomb when it did . but on average over 10 years it was so cheap

I loved my Volvos and I used to have both a -91 and a -98, 940 estate. I also used to have a 240 etc. Now I have abandoned the brand but I will always love the vintage Volvos. Loved both of my 940’s very much, but then I watched the crash between a 940 and a Renault Modus on Fifth Gear (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m9Okf6-nvdjWdqc.htmlsi=Op-oG8VBAbRPayXb) That got me understanding the importance to stay update with the present market for safety… Sold my 940’s for the V70 and now I’m focusing more on safety and always buying cars above the average weight due to safety…

The real letdown was the acceleration. Slow slow slow. Ive owned several, the last a 97 (badged a V90) that went 282k miles. I sold if for more than I purchased it last year to buy a xc70.

I have a BMW e91 330i m sport touring better than many small SUVs

We have been conned by marketing teams to buy SUVs

What about the V90 and V60? They are estate! Anyway the 960 was an amazing car! I drove thousands and thousands km with it!!! The SUVs (or to better say it..their owners) are the ruin of our society, period!!! What about the Subaru Outback 2005-2008? Great cars and really well built!

Thought you could still buy the V60 & V90 ?? New

halo tow is not the problem in this car .. the automatic gerbox dont like it .problem is overheating same goes to ford og mercedes , som hwe same type gear box. manuel no problem at all

Not to mention they would to bring back rwd if they had any sense

For the reatail UK market that is, the emergency services can still get them. They are still selling them in the rest of europe, the SUV craze doesn't seem to have taken hold there fully, seems the UK market is brain damaged. Fact is they are trying to move up market and have been doing so since geely took over and part of that is to increase profit. SUV's allow them to charge top whack and keep charging top whack for them, trying to sell you on a idea (load of bs tbh) that because you pay this much it must be top end (aspirational bs again) They have put all their effort into selling SUV's and downplayed the saloons/estates (again because of profit) so no wonder the market is shrinking; if you don't make a effort no one notices / knows what you have; Volvo are not alone in this, bunch of other auto makers have removed estates from their UK sales too. The fact that normal service on the cars went from 250 odd to just over 400 a pop in 2019 kinda told you the direction they where going in. Prices on cars; needing to have 50% deposit to go get new ?? like really, whos got that kinda cash to drop on a car, not the everyday man / family thats for sure. The whole shift has left me feeling very icky towards the "brand" i like the cars but the games they are playing leave me cold. ( i like the cars in spite of the company) My current 2013 V60 R-Design LUX NAV D5 and 3rd Volvo migth be my last, i carn't afford to replace it and then theres a hughe hole in the estate market to replace it with some thats is as good.

The SUV is the worst thing that ever happened to car design.

Shame

Love an estate !