Does anybody have any pics of british late model 240’s ■■ By late model i mean N reg onwards , they seem to be really rare after that reg ,or did volvo stop selling them in the uk when the 290 came out ? did they make them with the brown trim even ■■
Hi Boris
The 290 came out in N & no more 240s
We had a F88 240 demo from Crossroads on a “P” plate when I was at Sykes for around 3 months and Sykes did not buy it but Rod one of their contractors did as it had been painted up in Sykes livery
cheers Johnnie
[zb]
anorak:
Just found this ace Aussie site for Volvo nuts. Apologies if it has been posted here before.
hunteroldtrucks.com/HunterAVTHG.shtml
[ZB], you are a winner!!, how many hours do you spend trawling this “electronic filing cabinet”■■
That Australian article is he most concise history of the 290 F88/f89 “debacle”, I have seen in print, and it points out the “lies”, sold to UK operators, that the F89, could not be made in RHD!!
I well remember Phill Ives annoyance with “Saviem”, when I produced an advert for the RHD G89, in Australia, at a Dealer meeting, and asked why can we not have that here in the UK? Answer, engineering “difficulties”, oh dear pull the other one!!!
Keep on trawling [ZB], more feathers in your cap! (nothing to do with Guy), cHEERIO FOR NOW.
tribsa:
Hi Boris
The 290 came out in N & no more 240s
Hiya Tribsa - well explains that then 
If the 290 was unique to the uk , what about the rest of europe ? what 88’s did they have then ?
We had 2 Sreg F88s small plastic grill 240 16 speeds
From what I remember the original F88s sold in Britain was 230 bhp not 240,it was sold as a 260bhp in the European market,later it was blown to 290bhp for the British market.The F89 was originally 330bhp when sold in Britain and 350bhp for the European market.
boris:
tribsa:
Hi Boris
The 290 came out in N & no more 240sHiya Tribsa - well explains that then
My 1974 Volvo brochure quotes the F88 at 260bhp DIN, 270bhp SAE. If these figures are gross, then 240bhp net sounds plausible. “Our” 240 was therefore the same as the European 260 was the same as the Aussie 270. Mr. Taylor mentioned that the original 88 only had 230bhp. Either the things got a bit more powerful at some stage- possible, since the production run was 1965 to 1977- or the 230 figure is BSAu141, which is usually a lower figure than DIN, not least because an Imperial hp is 0.14% bigger than a Metric ps/ch/cv.
mrken:
We had 2 Sreg F88s small plastic grill 240 16 speeds
On the Rust in Greece thread (where an entire history of F88s is lying at the side of the road!), I have posted some scans from the CM archives. One is an article about a proposed 250bhp F88, to plug the “gap” in the range. This suggests that the 240 was indeed discontinued at some point, although your post gives the lie to this. The other is a picture of an R reg FB88 with an F89 grille. It was not a 290, as the grille was not spaced forward, and the lower panel was vertical, rather than inclined. This reinforces my memory of an article I read, that said that Volvo stuck F89 grilles on the last of the 240s, just before the F10 was launched. Unfortunately, I cannot find this article, because the search engine in the CM archives is rubbish. Either that or my memory is playing tricks.
I must confess anorak that I don’t really understand all technical jargon associated with Hp,is it nominal,indicated,brake,shaft,mechanical or metric. Sae, is it gross,net or certified. Din is another term for metric Hp or Ps if you are German.The only way I can quantify it is when I was driving a 230bhp F88 (or 240 if you like),ton for ton any French F88 would leave me in his dust when climbing a hill.So I am sure they were a different spec to ours,whether it was pump settings,(ours were Simms,Theirs were Bosch) or something else I don’t know.It was the same with the F89s any Italian F89 would always beat us up a hill weight for weight.
My 88 was P-reg, 290 with rectangular fuel tank, flat saddle tank, brown trim and full-width plastic grille.
Cold starting was never a problem and, compared to some of the Gardners in our area, not at all smokey when cold.
It was a bit underpowered when I got it, but a set of injectors cured the problem & it went like the clappers (sorry, Bewick- only 6.9 mpg!).
The tin-worm had only managed to get a hold on the air intake stack, so I chopped all the rot away and found that the gauze from an old air filter was the exact size to use as a base to form a new glass fibre section of stack.
And, just to add my two penn’orth to another item, I remember reading an appraisal/road test of an F88 stating that the “16-speed gearbox is configured by using a four-speed main section with a range-change on the front & overdrive/splitter at the rear”.
And I’d come out of retirement tomorrow to drive it again!
Retired Old ■■■■:
I remember reading an appraisal/road test of an F88 stating that the “16-speed gearbox is configured by using a four-speed main section with a range-change on the front & overdrive/splitter at the rear”.
And I’d come out of retirement tomorrow to drive it again!
Almost, but range change at the rear, splitter up front of the box on the SR62.
Ross.
My apologies, Ross. Obviously my knowledge is comparable to that of the journalist!
Retired Old ■■■■:
My apologies, Ross. Obviously my knowledge is comparable to that of the journalist!
No apology required, it’s an easy mistake to make.
Ross.
I wonder if I should write & tell him that?
Tony Taylor:
I must confess anorak that I don’t really understand all technical jargon associated with Hp,is it nominal,indicated,brake,shaft,mechanical or metric. Sae, is it gross,net or certified. Din is another term for metric Hp or Ps if you are German.The only way I can quantify it is when I was driving a 230bhp F88 (or 240 if you like),ton for ton any French F88 would leave me in his dust when climbing a hill.So I am sure they were a different spec to ours,whether it was pump settings,(ours were Simms,Theirs were Bosch) or something else I don’t know.It was the same with the F89s any Italian F89 would always beat us up a hill weight for weight.
Evening all, Tony, yes the French were on Bosch, but I think that the major difference was the gearing on the rear axle. They seemed to be set up for about 90kph max. Either as a tractor, or as a drawbar 19/38tonne outfit. So going up, (and down), was no problem!!
French truck Dealers were not really into the part exchange job, prefering a clean profitable sale. However the lorry market in France in the mid 70s, was to put it mildly, dead in the water. To encourage “my” Dealers to be more active, I used to organise a list of “Target” fleets, for them to sell into. As part of this scheme, I would encourage them to take part exchanges of competitors vehicles, (sort of the Black Country man in France)!!! Then, and only then, sort out how we could sell them on!!
Well sometimes it worked, other times it was a disaster, (which was then down to me to rectify)!! That is how, one dark and rainy night, (yes it does rain in the south of France…sometimes), I was wheeling a rather worn F89, ex La Squadra, of Monaco, back to our SaviFrance branch at Marsailles, and noted that its "flat out " performance was somewhat lower than those that I had sold from Walsall!! Still, it was a good deal, (I suppose)!.. Two years later the whole fleet was Scania!!!
Now the Italian F89s, well every single one we ever took into stock at Milan, or Turin, what can I say,…totally b…, but somehow we sold them on! Those pumps, never, ever, in all the realms of pigs pudding, were they ever on standard “factory” settings…the exhaust note told you so!!
But what they did to the “fat” old 356 Berliet V8s,…well that is another story, but those lorries attacked the mountains like young Goats,…and the exhaust note…sheer music!!
I shall away to the Bollinger, and the happy, “musical” memories, the wet fields are for tommorow!! Cheerio for now.
Hi Saviem,I can understand that the rear axle ratio will alter the top speed and the rate of hill climb,and the pump setting can alter the power output of the truck.The question was though,what were the factory settings output bhp of the original F88s in Britain as opposed the F88s on the continent.Why,if as stated in anorak’s copy of CM did Volvo feel the need to “fill the gap in the market” with a 250bhp engine when they already had a 240bhp(or was it a 230bhp)engine. Why were British models fitted with Simms pumps and the continentals with Bosch.I don’t think the Italian F89s were fitted with a low speed diff because they used to leave us for dead on the flat as well as on the hills.My memory is not as clear as it once was(maybe due to an excess intake of Cabinet Sauvignon)but I seem to remember an Italian garage owner telling me their F89s were a standard 350 bhp whereas ours were only 330.I think that you, once having been “in the business” are probably in better position than most to resolve this.I do hope the Bollinger is cool enough,Salute.
[zb]
anorak:mrken:
We had 2 Sreg F88s small plastic grill 240 16 speedsOn the Rust in Greece thread (where an entire history of F88s is lying at the side of the road!), I have posted some scans from the CM archives. One is an article about a proposed 250bhp F88, to plug the “gap” in the range. This suggests that the 240 was indeed discontinued at some point, although your post gives the lie to this. The other is a picture of an R reg FB88 with an F89 grille. It was not a 290, as the grille was not spaced forward, and the lower panel was vertical, rather than inclined. This reinforces my memory of an article I read, that said that Volvo stuck F89 grilles on the last of the 240s, just before the F10 was launched. Unfortunately, I cannot find this article, because the search engine in the CM archives is rubbish. Either that or my memory is playing tricks.
Hi Anorak I ve just found a pic of one of the S regs OKD853S will send it later and UDL634S both small grill flat bottom flaped although both had the rounder big 290 tanks.
mrken:
[zb]
anorak:mrken:
We had 2 Sreg F88s small plastic grill 240 16 speedsOn the Rust in Greece thread (where an entire history of F88s is lying at the side of the road!), I have posted some scans from the CM archives. One is an article about a proposed 250bhp F88, to plug the “gap” in the range. This suggests that the 240 was indeed discontinued at some point, although your post gives the lie to this. The other is a picture of an R reg FB88 with an F89 grille. It was not a 290, as the grille was not spaced forward, and the lower panel was vertical, rather than inclined. This reinforces my memory of an article I read, that said that Volvo stuck F89 grilles on the last of the 240s, just before the F10 was launched. Unfortunately, I cannot find this article, because the search engine in the CM archives is rubbish. Either that or my memory is playing tricks.
Hi Anorak I ve just found a pic of one of the S regs OKD853S will send it later and UDL634S both small grill flat bottom flaped although both had the rounder big 290 tanks.
One of the problems we have here is that pre-1983 the vehicle reg wasn’t a good way to determine a trucks age. If you imported a two year old F88 in late 1977 it would end up registered on an ‘S’ so a few years on would look like a real late model truck but would have had the older round front side lights (rather than square ones) & the blue, rather than the brown trim that was fitted to the genuine 1977 F88’s.
Ross.
Thats wrong Tony all the Volvos had Bosch pumps Simms pumps were on Rolls Royce etc the only different pumps fitted were Sigma on Italian F89s to give them more BHP.Crow.