Volvo 740 Trivia.

[Laird Scooby]

I don't think i've seen a 765 with roof bars either Jon.

If you're going on total production figures that would be worldwide and not just the UK then?

Like you i have a certain cynicism about howmanyleft.co.uk but as it's the only real resource we have for finding out errrrr........... how many are left in the UK............. it's what we've got and what we're stuck with.

Allegedly they get the data direct from the "Divvy-Laa-Laa" as i heard someone refer to the DVLA as recently - quite apt considering they were discussing yet another DVLA foul-up.

Granted they don't make many considering the number of cars and drivers they have on "their books" but they still do. Given their position of responsibility, one mistake is too many.

That still doesn't help us much as enthusiasts though!

[Prufrock]

I've seen a few 7X5s with roof bars.

The figures I've quoted are Volvo's and they are production volumes. The only place howmanyleft could get data is from the DVLA. In a previous life I worked for an automotive intelligence provider that used to buy DVLA data, and we used to have do do a great deal of what we called smoothing before presenting our work to clients - network planning, that kind of thing.

Part of the DVLA problem is accuracy of information given to them by dealers when registering cars.

Jon.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

I've seen a few 7X5s with roof bars.

The figures I've quoted are Volvo's and they are production volumes. The only place howmanyleft could get data is from the DVLA. In a previous life I worked for an automotive intelligence provider that used to buy DVLA data, and we used to have do do a great deal of what we called smoothing before presenting our work to clients - network planning, that kind of thing.

Part of the DVLA problem is accuracy of information given to them by dealers when registering cars.

Jon.

I think the only 7x5s i've seen with roof bars have been 745s, don't think i've ever seen a 765 with roof bars. Having said that, i'll probably see about a million of them this week!

I know over on the Rover forum there is a constant problem with one particular model due to the fact for a short time Rover added the "16v" badge to the back end for a period of time. Dealers, thinking this made it a separate model, registered them as 820i/Si/SLi 16v which in turn, created a whole new listing at the DVLA for what appeared to be a separate model.
All of them were 16v (except the short-lived "economy" base model which was an 8v carb-fed engine) so the badge was just that - a badge, it was the same model.

I've also seen similar because of how Volvo describe the cars eg 745 S/R auto which is how most dealers registered them. As most cars came with a sunroof, some dealers didn't bother and simply registered them as 745 GLE auto - this was on the V5 of my first 745GLE and only came to my attention when i got my second which had 745 S/R GLE auto. Same model, two separate listings on DVLA, one of which also included the original non-sunroof models.

I've also had problems with cars that were originally registered as automatic but were made as and still were manual and vice versa, again, dealer error. That has given me problems getting insurance and i've had to take the original handbook in that stated it was manual (or auto if it was the other way round) to show it was an original dealer registration error and not a modification.

In short, howmanyleft.co.uk and to a point, even the DVLA is still only a guide, "Continuous Registration" is still catching up with things like "Barn Finds", cars bought before the 2001 watershed and the owner has only just moved so needs a new V5 as a result, cars bought as a retirement present and the owner hasn't moved and is still extant or has been passed to offspring (without changing the registered keeper) who still live in the same address and so on.

[Prufrock]

We 700/900 owners could get together for a little informal meet, if we could find a venue (pub/restaurant/KFC with a large car park - whatever). If it's not too far for most of us it might work.

Thoughts ?

Jon.

[Laird Scooby]

What kind of area do you see this as covering Jon? Obviously some people will be further away than others so we need to look at the logistics and find a place that is suitable for if not all concerned, at least most.

If the first meet goes well, perhaps it could become a monthly/bi-monthly thing.

[Prufrock]

Good question Dave, I don't have much idea of where owners are...I assume, rightly or wrongly, owners might be happy to travel up to 90 minutes for a meet at a decent location.

I'm at the thinking out loud stage at the moment !!!

J.

N.B bi-monthly would be the way ahead I think.

[Laird Scooby]

I think a 90 minute journey might be a bit much Jon. Something more like 40-60 minutes each way would be more like it.

If you think about it, a 90 minute journey each way is 3 hours travel time. Assume the meet lasts 2 hours, that's a total of 5 hours out of peoples' days for a 2 hour meet.

Also bear in mind that pubs, restaurants, KFC, BurgerKing, McDonalds etc won't want us staging a sit-in during their busiest times so we'd be looking at a start time of about 2pm on a saturday or sunday - weekdays wouldn't really be an option for most people. Granted there might well be some of us "partaking of the hospitality" but say for example 10 people attend, only 3 or 4 at the most might be eating. As such that wouldn't pay our "parking fee" so to speak.

That means whatever venue was chosen would have to be amenable to us landing there, not spending a great deal and taking up their car park for a couple of hours.

As a one-off if we all had something to eat and drink, that wouldn't be a problem, doing it at a regular venue at regular times for example the second saturday of each/every other month would make it less likely that everyone wanted to eat which means the venue might "invite" us to eat or relocate.

I'm not being negative, just trying to point out the pitfalls so we can sort them before the meets start - nothing would be worse than starting them with a good venue only to have that pulled from under our feet by circumstance and having to find somewhere different at fairly short notice.

[Prufrock]

Some good points raised, perhaps if there was a good picnic area not far from a town where food & drink could be picked up before meeting ? However, will still need to guage the appetite for a meet and and some idea of where.

J.

[Laird Scooby]

Nice idea about the picnic area but that would be weather dependent and if the weather was good, there's a fair chance the picnic area would be packed.

Rock and hard place come to mind - it's not as easy to arrange these things as it first seems!

I think a pub would be favourite, especially one that does food.

There's always a New Years Day meet at a pub in Hartley Wintney near Hook in Hampshire, they apparently lay on food for that (BBQ and Hog Roast i think) because it is regular and successful.

Obviously that's an all-makes event but most licensees see the "long game" in allowing car clubs and similar space for regular meets.

This is the knock-on effect where people that wouldn't normally have gone there through the month/intervening period between meets take a detour when they're out and about to go there for a meal or a drink so they gain extra custom that way.

That gives us a bit of an advantage.

[bob12]

As to roof bars .... I looked at the Jan 1990 'Accessories' booklet for the 740/760 and see you could have 'Roof Styling Rails' and a 'Styling Roofrack'. The pictures show both on an estate.

If you are into Hampshire for a meet there is a place just outside Alton on the Basingstoke road there is a cafe called 'The Departure Lounge' which is licensed. They have a very large field where the 'The Crotch Coolers' meet during the Summer months. https://www.facebook.com/crotchcooler/