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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