The best looking interior

It had some initial problems the first year, the subcontractor who provided most of the car's sensors was horrible. My family has a 1999 S80 with the inline 6. Once the sensors were replaced (under warranty) the car was rock solid. Both my parents love it and I really enjoy driving it on those rare occasions when I am in town. It's very comfortable and one of the most ergonomically designed cars I have ever seen. They have changed the interior a bit, but not much since 1999. The new ones are of course available with the new V8 and the AWD. I would love to own one.

Older Volvos had tons of electrical problems. My friend's mid '90's 850, which he bought used, had seat heaters that eventually malfunctioned. The passenger seat started putting out smoke while his mom was driving and she pulled over and jumped out of the car. It caught on fire and burned to a crisp! There was a recall on 850's because of the seat heaters, but they weren't aware of it. Funny thing is that he now drives another 850 which was his brother's :lol:

However, I've heard that Volvos have gotten past electrical disasters and are decently reliable. Our S60 2.5T has 10,000 or so miles on it now and I noticed two problems: A small rattle that made itself known on certain bumpy roads when going below 25mph. (Took it to the dealership and got this fixed) And the steering wheel looks/feels like it's 2 degrees to the left. We took it to the dealership and they tinkered around with it. It's almost nonexistant, except I can feel it at stoplights wanting to go left a tad bit. This only happens when going less than 10mph so it's not anything that would cause me to worry.

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it. I'm planning on going to the dealers sometime soon, and I think I've narrowed down to two cars: Lexus GS350AWD and Volvo S80. I've tried sitting in the Lexus before, and headroom was kind of tight; the rear seat headroom wasn't too good as well, but I rarely get chauffeured around, so not really my problem :mrgreen: . As for the Volvo, I hear the car is not very refined in terms of handling. Not too sure about that, as the S80 is no sports sedan anyway. Once again, thanks for the advice!! :D
 
chevrolet_corvette_zo6_interior.jpg

:twisted:

Seriously though, my pick would be the 300ZX:
cockpit.JPG

Interior.jpg

215390412_679d23aecc_m.jpg

It's brilliant: because the HVAC controls have been moved to around the steering wheel, the sloping center console is clean and uncluttered and the driver has easy access to heating and cooling without taking his hands away from the wheel. Later models draped the bottom half in badass suede, and pretty much all models came with automatic climate control and leather seats.

Also, I've seen this in person and it is just as mad as it looks.
am000831.jpg

Aston Martin Lagonda...the one I saw was for sale in pristine condition at $40,000. Hell, it's worth every penny.
 
I like the 300ZX layout - i really do. I like that cockpit thing.

They do it a little in the LF-A concept
2005-Lexus-LF-A-Concept-Interior-1024x768.jpg


I dunno about the Corvette interior though.....
 
OK, how about this? It's a bit dirty, but it should address your two concerns:

HPIM0561.sized.jpg

YES !! Now we're in business. I still prefer the newer steering wheels in Jaguars, but yes, that is exactly what I think is the perfect place to drive a car. I am so jealous...I have been thinking of buying a used XJ myself in about 1?-2 years time, when I get ou from my military service. I would love to have one, I want an XJ so badly. They are just so nice. There are just a couple of concerns:

1. How reliable are XJs around 1995 models, those are the ones that excite me the most, plainly because of the looks.

2. The electrics....I live in Finland, so the winter is an actual winter here and I can't afford to have two cars, so how will these things hold up to -20C ?
 
YES !! Now we're in business. I still prefer the newer steering wheels in Jaguars, but yes, that is exactly what I think is the perfect place to drive a car. I am so jealous...I have been thinking of buying a used XJ myself in about 1?-2 years time, when I get ou from my military service. I would love to have one, I want an XJ so badly. They are just so nice. There are just a couple of concerns:

1. How reliable are XJs around 1995 models, those are the ones that excite me the most, plainly because of the looks.

2. The electrics....I live in Finland, so the winter is an actual winter here and I can't afford to have two cars, so how will these things hold up to -20C ?

For your info, that pic is of the interior of my 1987 XJ6 Vanden Plas, with a 1989 XJS "sport" steering wheel and a modified 1994-1996 XJS gearshift lever.

I'm going to be using the US model year designations here; I understand that Europe sometimes was a year or so earlier to get a particular version.

The X300 version of the XJ (95-97) came in three basic variants - XJ6 (only 4.0L I6 in the US, everywhere else had the 4L as the optional engine with the 3.2L I6 as the base), XJR (with the supercharger) and the XJ12 (6.0L V12). The X300 is an evolution of the ill-fated and unloved XJ40 (XJ from 1986 Euro/1988 US to 1994) - same chassis, revised interior, completely different exterior body panels. The dashboard/instrument cluster is a carryover from the earlier car and is not the same as the one on the 1998-2003 XJ8 series (X308).

The X300 was widely considered to be one of the best cars Jaguar had ever built; IMHO, it was also one of the most reliable they ever made. Certainly their consumer scoring seems to have borne that out - the X300's scored higher on the J.D. Powers reliability survey than did Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, etc., etc. They were/are probably the most reliable cars of their time for that class. The X308 successor was not so good, as the early versions tend to have major engine problems and the transmission is difficult to have repaired on any continent.

Assuming that you can locate a rust free example, a 95-97 X300 would be an excellent choice from a cost and reliability perspective. The electrics are Bosch, Philips, Siemens and a *lot* of Denso (i.e., Nippon Denso, i.e., Japanese) with very few Ford components - and are rarely a problem at all. The major problem areas that I can think of off the top of my head is that high mileage examples typically need a new water pump by about 150-170,000 miles and around that time you will need to replace the ABS accumulator and one or both of the engine cooling fans' motors. They also sometimes have a problem with the door check strap on the driver's door, where it breaks if the driver flings the door open repeatedly and it cracks the actual door panel where it mounts - not a huge repair, but annoying. Other than that, they're very solid cars; fully the equal or superior of anything in their class. The later X308 (the V8 cars) switched a lot of things around and the electrics are *not* your friend - I would stay away from them if you don't want to have electrical gremlins on par with the 745Li or Merc S-class.

I'm afraid I can't answer how well the things hold up in -20C, but they do very well everywhere on the North American continent that I've heard of. I have anecdotal evidence of one in Tr?mso Norway that doesn't seem to have any problems... I would expect a good contition X300 to have no problems handling your winters.
 
Last edited:
How about the phantom? The gearbox just has drive, neutral and reverse. The radio is just one button/knob. I believe less is more. I think Apple should design a car interior. Every picture I see here, from the perspective of someone trying to look into the future, looks really old fashioned and boring.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it. I'm planning on going to the dealers sometime soon, and I think I've narrowed down to two cars: Lexus GS350AWD and Volvo S80. I've tried sitting in the Lexus before, and headroom was kind of tight; the rear seat headroom wasn't too good as well, but I rarely get chauffeured around, so not really my problem :mrgreen: . As for the Volvo, I hear the car is not very refined in terms of handling. Not too sure about that, as the S80 is no sports sedan anyway. Once again, thanks for the advice!! :D

Our FWD S80 is no BMW, but it handles nicely. There is little body roll and it grips very well. If you look at the AWD model I'm sure the handling will be even better.

The Volvo's strong point is that it is a very comfortable car to be in. It's the ideal road trip car.


Ok, this one is the winner for me. My god, what a work of art!
 
I have a clear winner:
2005-Pagani-Zonda-F-n-Interior-1920x1440.jpg
 
Aston Martin Lagonda...the one I saw was for sale in pristine condition at $40,000. Hell, it's worth every penny.

Until you get outside and look at it or drive it or try to park....
 
Lagonda doesn't look good, I'll give you that, but it's got charm, and it looks interesting.
 
You guys are crazy, it's gorgeous! :mrgreen:

It's weird. I like it.

Come to think of it, the Lagonda is the James May of cars.
 
Top