Volvo S90 Royal!!

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 03 Nov 2006, 07:21

Here is a website containing photos of a really nice, navy blue Volvo S90 Royale -- even more scarce than the S90 Executive! According to figures on the website, only thirty of these vehicles were ever made. A lot of attention to detail went into the interior upholstry - white leather seats, independent rear seats with center controls for rear air conditioning; fridge, powered sunscreen, and a whole lotta wood decor on the instrument panels.

The web content is in japanese, but many photo links have English captions.

http://volvolife.jp/

Volgrrr · Post by **Volgrrr** » 04 Nov 2006, 22:46

I have seen a Royale in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

I don't know what the asking price for the Royale on the used car market, but I know the ordinary used S90 still costs a fair bit here.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 05 Nov 2006, 00:09

The introduction to the page you linked to says the following:

"The Volvo S90 Royal, Hermes edition embodies the reason and conscience of Northern Europe. This site is here to make Volvo life more pleasurable through the sharing of information and companionship in the classics which we have in common. Furthermore, Volvolife Gino (PEUGEOT Pacific-18 ) has provided the photo collection with his Nikon D-200."

I think I may have met some of these guys in the photos, although they're from the northern island of Hokkaido. When I go to Japan, I usually meet up with my "Volvo friends," also part of the same "Volvolife" group in the Tokyo and Chiba area. Not many of them left though driving cars older than those from the late '90's.

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 05 Nov 2006, 00:37

There's actually a babelfish translator that does a very good job with Japanese to English Translation.....

just feed the index url: http://volvolife.jp/volvo/index.htm

into the translate URL form:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

From the translated page, every page you click will automatically be translated before it is presented. Even the Japanese wordings of auto brand names get reliably translated to English...

The guy does a really good job keeping track of his running records - and I can relate better to his mileage readings.

And be sure to check out the section on restoring the Hermes Leather.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 05 Nov 2006, 01:03

Thanks...yeah, I checked out the leather restoration page...very good job.
Also thanks for the link to the Bablefish. I can read and comprehend the Japanese without it though and find some strange translations sometimes from it. As my name indicates I was "made in Japan." I was born and lived there until until I came to the states for college so I'm bilingual. Currently I work as a principal of a Japanese school here in the states.

If you run across any Japanese that Bablefish doesn't take care of adequately let me know.

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 05 Nov 2006, 03:41

my personal favorite touches are the 12-VOLT cigarette ligher label as seen on current-line S80s, as well as footwell lighting. The headlamp beam pattern is sharp and evident too (referring to the Volvo 940 section). Time to resurface my reflectors! (I now have euro H4/H3 headlight assembly, not pictured below - and a dent on the front door has been added since then)

I also replaced the Goodyear 195/60 tires with Michelin Energy 195/65.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 05 Nov 2006, 10:23

Peter, very nice! Looks like you've bought into the "VolvoLife" approach that the Japanese have. It really seems that they just have so much fun with their cars...they get together often and usually make it an eating fest too! At least that's been my experience. Have as much fun as you can with your car...it really is a beauty!

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 06 Nov 2006, 04:46

Ha!... thanks. Actually I was referring to my favorite touches the guy did to his 940 and S90, NOT that I actually have those. There was a shot at night with the lights on - it looks warm and homey. But I have to say that the volvolife style is so inspiring as to what you can do to the cars.)

As for the things I atually did to my car, which is alreadyt a pleasure to drive, here's a rough list below:

- K&N 33-2526 air filter from Volvo 740 drops right into my new car

- replaced the top shiftlock button gear selector assembly (the brake lockout switch wore out anyway) with one from the 1995 model - front facing button and leather-wrapped.

- while applying window film I replaced the front windshield and installed new wipers to ensure clean wipes during rain (removing the surface imperfections over the last 14 years) - great investment!

- the Michelin Energy tires are really great. They aren't directional but do have an outward-facing and inward-facing side - to note when installing them onto your rims. The outer treadbars are wider than the inside to provide more traction - the inner ones are smaller to reduce drag (where it wouldn't help traction).

- my Pioneer MP3-playing Head unit is connected to a new pair of 4" Hertz speakers on the dash board, stock (paper) cone speakers on the doors, and a 150W, 12" sub that sits perfectly on the "raised" ledge on the trunk.

- US-spec headlights are replaced with Philips SilverVision H4, H3 high beams and H3, yellow (and high-wattage) fog lamps.

- I have a pair of Bosch horns (they sound like the ones applied in the Granny Mercedes Airbag Video). They are mounted behind the grille and quite visible up-close.

- My steering wheel is stock but partially decored with walnut. Good hand feel..

---------------------------

Actually, I get a lot of my parts from a Japanese outlet store, Yellow Hat, operated by President Enterprises (also in charge of 7-11, Starbucks..). Most mod parts are for Japanese cars and Volvo aftermarket parts are hard to come buy. The next thing I need will be a Garmin nuvi 350 GPS..

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 23 Feb 2007, 11:29

Hey... sorry... just moving this to the top to share a video with the new YouTube tag feature..