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I've always loved (or actually, loved and liked) the 164's I had. Bought a brand new '73 and we had it for many years. A great highway car (and engine) -- eats up the miles effortlessly -- but less impressive in twisty country back roads, most likely due to the skinny tires on the skinny wheels (relative to today's rubber). Also, the f.i. was somewhat new, and it went through some "teething pains" while Volvo kept making upgrades such as improving the short hoses from the fuel rail to the injectors (which originally had a habit of springing little leaks that sprayed gasoline over the engine compartment, although it never burst into flames, fortunately); and realizing the the EGR system could fail prematurely and cause the engine to stall at inopportune times; and the A/C compressor's mount would keep breaking it's mounting bolts, causing the P/S to fail along with it.
Despite the above, 99% of the time it was a truly great car, and the styling will always draw me to them, so decades later (about eight years ago) I gave in to nostalgia and bought a used (obviously :-) '75, only to discover that for a lot of the body and chassis parts, they were an orphan (model year). That is, the '75 required parts that are not compatible with the earlier 164's years, nor were quite compatible with the 240 cars that the company was transitioning into: bottom line, certain parts that my '75 needed were no longer available, although I still could have gotten the equivalents of them if they for my old, long gone '73. It made for a brief, disappointing ownership.
Bottom line: if you're dying for a 164 (and I can't blame you for the lust you have), get a pre-'75 model year.
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