Sunroof's in 245's must rare, right? I hear so many people considering changing to a 700 wagon because of the sunroof. Anyways, there's a '83 245 for sale near my girlfriend's with an ELECTRIC sunroof. Wierd huh? Must've been put in by a dealer later on in it's life. Anyways, is this pretty rare? I'll bet it's expensive to have done too right? Maybe I should pick it up so I can annoy everyone who mentions their 245 sunroof deficiency! ;)
-Kenny

Here my $0.02:

240 wagons were not available with a factory sunroof. Volvo believed (in their conservative, play-it-safe manner) that because the wagon structure was weaker with respect to the sedan, the roof crossmember (roughly across the tops of the B-pillars) was too important to cut/remove for a sunroof installation. A sedan has the banefit of the bulkhead behind the rear seat, the panel under the hatshelf, and the shorter cabin area which makes for better torsional stiffness. There is some debate as to whether or not a sunroof actually weakens the structure - IMHO, it does, but not so much that you'd notice - unless you're pushing the car all the way on a track.

Aftermarket sunroofs have a really bad reputation as far as developing leaks - but I can't confirm that as being fact.

No 240 was ever offered from the factory with a power sunroof to my knowledge. BUT, there was a little-known accessory/option to make the sunroof power operated. It came with a rocker switch that mounted in the center console, and it had a pictogram of a car with an opening sunroof on it.

There were no sunroof equipped 145/245/265 cars anywhere - not here in Sweden/Europe, nor in the US. One of the really important features of the 745/765 was the sunroof option - Volvo calculated with a good sales rise thanks to it.

I've however seen a few custom cars where the sunroof part was cut out of a sedan roof and welded into the wagon roof, but they've all lacked a good portion of finish. Modifying plain sheet metal like that btw has got to be one of the most difficult operations you could try.

The problem with structure weakening is widely discussed but most of the times, I hear the explanation that the sunroof assembly itself adds some strength to the structure, making a sr equipped car as strong as one without it. As for the beam in the wagon roof, you should remember that sedans without sr also have got a similar beam which doesn't exist on sr cars.

/Martin
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65 121, 73 165

I'm not certain, but I dont' think any 245 came with a sunroof as standard. I think they were a dealer fitted option.
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This is a 245 Volvo...d'ya feel lucky Punk?

I also had an ASC roof in an 83 245. Well worth the bucks.
--
Chris Herbst, near Chicago, IL. 93 940, 91 240, 90 240, 88 740, 87 240

Hey Kenny,
My brother and I used to share ownership of an electric sunroof equiped 82
245 turbo. This was an aftermarket install done at the time the car was new.
It's an AutoSunroof Corp. product. Never seemed to affect the structure of
the car. It did leak a bit of water. No US model 245s ever had factory sunroofs
and I've never seen one. For Europe it makes perfect sense that they may have
had the roof available because they got other things that the US never received.
Stuff like better halogen headlights, two color turn signal/ parking lights.
Of course the motors themselves. B21ET, B21E,B23E, etc.

From what I have heard many people say, no 240 wagon came with a sunroof, because there is a roof beam right in the way. I wouldn't mess with an aftermarket unit in there, aside from weakening the car, I hear they can be troublesome with leaks and such.

Greg

Hmm. I could see the leak issues for sure, I'd better be wary. Not so sure about the roof beam thing, I can't see how the roof is much different from any of the other cars. But it could be- that'd explain why they didn't have them. Anyways, I'm thinking about buying it as it was originally a california car and is in great shape. Would like to sort out if the sunroof IS significantly detrimental to the structural integrity of the car.
Thanks for the input,
-Kenny

I think something like this was debated at length on the sbricks mailing list. IIRC the structural integrity isn't comprimised. I believe that one of the reasons no sunroof was offered in the 240 wagons was the shape of the roof. It's not (as) curved like the sedans/coupes.

However, I'd be wary of leaks, electrical problems, and such. This is one of the reasons why I really wanted a 245 turbo. No sunroof.

- alex

Yeah, I searched on usenet and this question was asked several times. Always a couple responses from North Americans saying "No, they never had them ever." And then several europeans saying "Really, mine has one, and I bought it new". So, it must not be a structural thing. I will definitely be paranoid about the electrics of it all and any leaks as this one must be aftermarket.
-Kenny

Maybe its a european car that wa imported to CA?

If its just a glass sunroof its not factory, you should be able to tell what a factory one looks like you have one yourself.

Jordan

I'm pretty much sure it's not factory because it's electric. If it was factory 240 equipment it'd be manual I'd think- I don't think there were volvo electric sunroofs in '83, especially not for the 240. My main concern mow is if it was a good install or not.
-Kenny

I've never seen a 245 equipped with any kind of sunroof whatsover, much less a power-operated one. Now, here's something funny....my 1984 244GL has the crank open sunroof, which was apparently the only standard roof offered up until the discontinuation of the 200 series in 1993. Yet, my 89' 244GL has a power sunroof. This option must be extremely rare, since the owner's manual doesn't even make a mention of it (though Volvo Cars USA DO admit that there was a power option offered in 88 and 89).