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A flat-hood: Otherwise known as the US Group-A Special Edition. Sometimes called a flat-nose or flathood due to the euro style front that hadn't been part of the u.s. 240 design since its final appearance in the 1980 242dl, However continued as the standard front over in Europe and other parts of the world. The 83 flathood is a normal 242 turbo, nothing spectacular, no B21ET under the hood, the hoods not aluminum, brakes are the same, no it still has the regular sound dampening, so fourth and so on. The exciting story behind this Volvo is what makes it so interesting and rare.
Brief synopsis:
Although this particular car has its myths, its only "special" additions where the flat euro style hood, as mentioned... and it happened to be the first turbo Volvo with an intercooler to come to the states... where as the main production 240turbos didn't get intercoolers till mid 1984.
The '83 flathoods came "fully loaded" as they say with power windows, doors, mirrors, a/c, manual sunroof, some had leather as well. Original sticker price was something near $18,000 back in 1983 and as many have noted these were by order only through the dealer network.
There were a total of 500 built in order for Volvo Cars to meet the "homologated" status to race in the production ETCC (European touring car championships) with a new model turbo. 30 or so were sent back to Sweden for racing after arriving on the shores of the US.
Please feel free to read though the history section to learn more

As always, the data about this car is mostly based on what we have been told by various sources, from the ol' timer historian, to the Volvo executive. The information that collectively resides here is a constant update as more information is pulled from around the world. Feel free if you know something to add, or you have information that doesn't cohere with whats mentioned here, email me and I will work it in. The more info the better. There has been a large group of participants from the turbobricks.org message board group about this topic, many thanks and im sure there will be more to come.

If you have found one for sale, or own one yourself... here are a few things you can check to help narrow down the question: "Is it a "real" flathood?" (verification)

 

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