Hi Doug. I am an expert in diplomatic vehicles. Although it is possible that this vehicle was used by Swedish diplomats, Volvo is universally the most popular vehicle for use by ambassadors, diplomatic and non-diplomatic consular staff. This is because of two reasons. Firstly, Volvo is not seen as an expensive brand compared to Mercedes, BMW, Audi, so it is not perceived as a show off car or a waste of tax money. Secondly, Sweden is a historically politically neutral country and regularly brokers peace deals between countries that do not have bilateral relations, so buying a Volvo is not seen as a political statement. The visiting Swedish prime minister is also unlikely to have used a standard, non-armoured diplomatic vehicle. Very interesting car, thanks for showing.
@@JulezWinnfield It's nothing to be ashamed of though. There are experts about many different things that are niché. Often they're just very passionate people who fell in love with something. Could even be busses and stuff.
@@paulie-Gualtieri. I figure they would fall in to the more normal daily driver videos. Sunday. However, a sports or weird EV could be in the other videos.
THIS is why I stay subbed to this channel! I do not care at all about all those boring SUV lumps, or dumb oversized 4X4's - weird, stretched Volvos are what I care about. Thanks for getting back to your roots of why I fell in love with this channel to begin with all those years ago.
Yes, that's why you, I, and other longtime subscribers watch Doug. But by reviewing new cars he can make money, because people search for these new cars' reviews and they see Doug's videos and watch them.
The 960 Executive and the 960 Royal are actually different trim levels. The Royal was even more luxurious with a center console in the back with phone and a cooler compartment and an upgraded audio system.
That's not necessarily a hard fact. Some of these came with interchangeable badging and that would be the "Tier 3" option. This is a Tier 2. Also, there's Royal badging on the chrome trim in the front, from 1995, before many remember the Tier 3 Royal even being an option. Many people confuse that, as most people think in terms of packages, but these were customizable to a point.
@@ramadhanisme7 A Tier 1 Executive doesn't have the fancy rear seats. It remains a 5-seater, but still has the extra leg room and some of the electronic options...a more understated take than this.
That's because newer cars look rubbish, but then in years time we will say the same about the cars now look better than the space ships we will be driving in the future.
These types of videos before ridiculous super cars any day of the week. Not to rob Doug of the satisfaction, but just a tad more of these would be much appreciated!🎉
A quite interesting fact is that Nilsson Special Vehicles made and still make a lot of different vehicles based on Volvo models. Here in Sweden their ambulances and hearses are a common sight on our streets. They also produce and outfit special vehicles for fire departments.
Hey Doug! Previous 3rd owner of this car, here. You're absolutely right- the car gives a very stately feel- you are just absolutely guaranteed to arrive fashionably late! I'm glad you finally reviewed the car, and keep up the awesome work!
The normal 960 Volvos are super common here in Germany and you still see them regularly on the Autobahn, shows how reliable these are! Also would love to see more 80s and 90s Cars, even re-watched most of your Reviews recently, they're all rewatchable, can recommend! Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
Super common? I remember a neighbour in my last flat in Wiesbaden having one ... but that's about it. "super common" feels a bit exaggerated ;-) I see 850s and 940s, even 740s and 240s way more regularly.
Growing up my dad bought a white 960 from Germany and drove it all the way back to Finland with me. He kept that car for 12 years and when it finally died he said he liked it so much that he just went and bought another one. 20 years later and my dad is still driving a 960
@@zloychechen5150 neglect, problems kept piling up and he didn't feel like dealing with them. I don't really know why but he has been taking better care of the new one
The Stop button on the seat is where the memory button would be in cars equipped with the feature. In this car is for locking the position of the seat, so it won’t move by accident. The cel phone antenna was a popular accessorie sold everywhere in the 90s meant to boost the cel signal. It use to cost 5/10 dollars at Walmart.
The antenna could have been for a built in car phone. My parents had a car phone in their 1995 Toyota Camry. You had the handset next to the center console from the passenger footwell, then it was wired into the car for power and the antenna in the back window.
Some of our Audis had a stop button as well. You could configure the memory seat into some weird positions (use your imagination), and the 'stop' button cancelled this sequence when pressed if someone inadvertantly hit 'memory 2' while driving and then found themselves being propelled into a position not really conducive to driving.....
@@joeseeking3572 I could certainly have used that feature in a Lexus I sat in during an auto show once. I pressed one of the memory buttons, which was apparently set for someone about four feet tall. I eventually stopped the system by pressing on the "manually move the seat back" button, but a "stop" button would have been way more intuitive.
As you probably know, the 960/940 was effectively a major facelift of the earlier 760/740 models that was originally lauched in 1982. Both the 900-cars and the 700-cars are still not uncommon to see here in Sweden, however the top versions (960/760) are getting rare these days. You do see a lot of Nilsson-converted Volvos too, mainly XC90 ambulances and the odd V90 hearse. The wheels on this car was actually the standard launch wheel for the regular 960 here in Sweden, which all the cars in press photos had back in the day.
what a pleasant surprise! I have an italian market 1991 960 Turbo (16v, 2.0, 190hp), absolutely love it! BTW, the "stop" button on the seat control is there to block the position, so you don't accidentally change it.
If you go into the Car Talk archives back in the mid 90's there's a call from someone living near the Swedish Embassy in DC complaining about a Volvo limo with an alarm going off middle of the night - asking Click and Clack the best way to covertly silence it - I kid you not. THIS COULD BE THAT CAR!
My dad had the S90 version of this car. He loved it but the couldnt drive it anymore. His work payed for the petrol but the 6 cylinder drank a bit too much for their liking. So he leased a vw up for free from them. I want to buy a volvo myself now and everytime I see a 960/S90 I show him the ad he always says" oh Jan, that car drove so great". Beautiful car
@@BL-yj2wp yes, but back when there were few speed cameras on the russian m4 highway that goes south from moscow, i used to floor it for hours (210 kph downhill, 180 uphill), and it did about 14l/100km, which is quite good. At anything else involving fuel consumption it did suck. I had a friend with a 4.6 FCV, which drank about the same (and went about the same).
@@BL-yj2wp 204 hp and 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds is quite normal for that kind of European car in 1995. I don't know what this host is comparing with? A Tesla?
My grandpa had a 960 Exlusive model. Same color. It was low kilometers and only serviced in Volvo dealership here in Finland. He said it was the best car he ever had. Smooth 3.0 litre engine and the ride was sublime. Best RWD car Volvo ever made. EDIT. I had a 1996 model 850 SE. It had the same dome light and someone picked heated rear seats. Otherwise it was a stock car (manual transmission, no aircon).
I had a 89 Volvo 780 Bertone that I bought from the original owner. It had a car phone already installed- yes, with the old school brick phone. I drove it for years and with it’s turbo and sunroof and all leather heated interior seats, it was a delightful experience. It was the 5th Volvo I had owned and by far the highest interior package I ever had. I ended up selling it because my significant other was using it for a daily commute of over 120 miles per day. The fuel bill was just too high to justify keeping it as a daily driver. 😢 There have been many days when I wished that I had kept it, but that’s just how life works.
I liked the mention of the Infiniti J30. A 90s car that's mostly forgotten. But it kind of lives on with the Hyundai Ioniq 6. I think the J30 was the inspiration for the Ioniq 6's rear.
There is also 960 and S90 Royal -models. Those are also 15cm longer and has all the luxuries and 2 or 3 people back seats. C-pillar is like normal 960/S90 but with crown emblem.
My dad have had 4 of those, one after another, after two 760s, since 1996. And I must admit that although it's an old car now, it offers a superb driving comfort level of the S-class Mercedes vehicle for much less money. Actually, for 2-4 thousand of USD (UA prices nowdays) it is the best in terms of comfort. Sadly, those cars are sooo old now, so you spend more time repairing it then actually driving. He drives one even nowdays, yet it's kind of costly for him, as we're from Kyiv, Ukraine and he's 78 yrs old, while his income is like $120/month state pension which complicate things a LOT. Yet, a car like this is somewhat affordable for him even now, while being 1994 make, still more or less "roadworthy", so to say, which says much by itself, I guess.
I owned a ‘95 960 sedan for a while. It was a great car; that era of Volvos were my favorite. One thing you didn’t point out was the hood struts. Flip the red rocker on each strut and you could open the hood 90 degrees which made it a breeze to work on. Those wheels were very common on the wagon variants, especially the later V90 models. The front suspension is actually based on the 850 model. The rear differential was also a self-locking unit that provided much better traction when thing got slippery. One other design quirk was the transversely mounted fiberglass leaf spring for the rear suspension - similar to what the Chevy Corvette of the era used. 😎
Volvos where also very popular in the Russia and Eastern Europe due to sweden being neutral in during the cold war period. There are also lots of volvos in North Korea that were technically stolen by the NK government
I had one for about 12 years. But just over 300.000 miles the repairs started to get to expensive for what the car was worth so it was time to get a new car. I really loved that car!
The dashboard of the 960 predates the 850 by a while. The 1989 Volvo 760 facelift had that dashboard, so Volvo had the newer style interior before others did ;) Aaaalso... That isn't the full Nilson stretch. My dealership here in Germany has one up for sale. I took a few pics yesterday... Actually rented it back in 2009 for my brothers wedding. Former Belgian minister vehicle, though not bulletproof....
You're absolutely right about the dashboard. Volvo doesn't really have dates when they do a full face lift at once but rather introduce newer parts years before a face lift. I remember having a late 2003 V70 D5 SE and it had facelifted rearview mirrors and a facelift rear wiper resting to the left of the car rather than to the right and other bits here and there so the same with the 760 and the 900 series.
Denmark here. Friend of mine drove a 3 row 960 for a while, using it as a family car. Before he took ownership it had been used by a limo service and before that, it was used a long with whole bunch of identical cars for some big international VIP event like a big UN meet or similar. Something that took place in either Sweden or Denmark.
@@Future-Classic-Cars I am of course referring to posting from the country of Denmark, it is simply providing context and nothing like suggesting I am the country - that would be silly.
I've got a 2004 S80 with only FWD. It has a "W" mode for the transmission that also starts me in 2nd gear, and allows slightly more wheelspin than normal it feels like. I live in the Midwest so we get lots of snow. It works fantastic, however it adds extra stress to the Torque converter starting in 2nd and caused a shudder to develop around 85k miles.
Never thought of extra load on torque converter. I had 2008 lincoln mkz, ugly car but driving experience was very nice. In Manual mode it allowed to start even from the 3rd gear. Was always doing it. Glad it didnt brake.
Amazing car!!! In Europe it was named Royal! I owned the same 960 but with the 2.5 liter manual and…not Executive/Royal! Great car!!! The interior was update with the restyling of the 760. The 960 first generation took over exactly the same, while the 960 restyling (the one we are looking at) had small changes like the door-panels…but the rest was exactly the same. In Europe 3.0 liter had 204cv, the 2.5 170cv
Kind of out of context but would you consider reviewing an ls430? It’s the only of the ls lineage you haven’t reviewed, and I think they’re great cars with many advanced features for the time (especially the UL). Its my dream to buy a low-mileage example and would love to see a review
I had a V70 from the first model year, when it was really just a rebadged 850, so I appreciate Volvos of this era. Thanks for showing us this one, Doug. Also I had that exact same Alpine 6-disc CD changer in my '92 Civic EX.
My wife's first car was a used 760 GLE. Comfortable for the two of us and typically Volvo safe, but oddly for a car built in Sweden, it was *horrible* in the snow. This 960 brings back some fond memories. Thanks, Doug.
This car was the last of the old school Volvo layout. Longitudinally mounted engine and rear wheel drive. Its contemporary, the 850, was the first to depart. End of an era and an interesting car to any Volvo fan, especially those of us who have had 240s and 740s etc etc
When mentioning the Volvo line-up of the early 90's, Doug neglected the 940, which is the 4-cylinder version of this same car. My friend's dad had one when we were in high school and it felt like a special occasion when we got our hands on it for the evening. In the down on power days of the early 90s it didn't really feel quite as weak as the numbers would indicate.
Very nice to see! I'm one of the Nilssons. My father and uncle owned the company and I worked may summers at the factory during my school years. I estimate over 500 similar Executives were built in the 80-90s. They also built 80, 90cm, 6doors and 113cm 4 doors with full limo interior. My dad had a specific "non-standard" one made for him compared to this one you show. It was extended 20cm instead of 15cm, had red metallic paint, begie leather interior and the "folded pankake" standard wheels.
Swedish ambasador around year 2000. That was Jan Eliasson who was born in the city of Gothenburg where the Volvo 960 was conceived and built. He later became minister of foreign affairs. That car has interesting prominence 🙂
Growing up my mother had a 960 3.0l 1993 station wagon. I think my family bought it when it was 2 years old. Not a common car in Sweden where we live. But what made it even more special was that it was built for export to USA but was never sent there. So it had some things other 960 did not have in Sweden, 740/940 was common. models It was a great car, so luxurious and comfortable. I’m still dreaming of owning one myself. It also had seven seats with the to rear facing pop up seat.
I have a 95 Volvo 940 in factory amethyst purple with the euro headlights. My favorite car ever and I paid $100 for it. These cars are reliable awesome and I’ll probably keep mine forever
my best friend's dad had a 960 back in taiwan and later sold to my uncle (they were friends also). I drove it every other year whenever I visit back home. It was comfortable and smooth.
My first car was a Volvo 850. I loved it. It was such a quirky, fun and sporty car. Very under estimated since it was a Volvo. Mine had the winter package which included the wipers on the headlights, and people loved it. It had a lot of features which spoiled me as a teenager. Had it for years.
The Nilsson Volvos were usually here in Europe as ambulances, but like this one, a Limo, the Norwegian Royal Family also had one, but in an even longer version. Those who don't know Nilsson, they were the ones who sold Volvo and Citroen to the GDR, they also extended them, but I don't think they got paid for them.
This car has not been a Swedish embassy car, but many other countries used these in diplomacy. A Swedish embassy car was delivered with the Swedish krone somewhere.
In the mid 90’s this was actually perceived as one of the better options for Ambassadors. Volvos attention to safety made these cars very desirable for important cargo. Also the inline 6 was designed to be smooth… that’s it. In the same year you could get an 850 T5-R with 247 hp if you wanted to get where you were headed faster. Great review! More Volvos please!
It suprises me that this volvo wasn't mass produced at all. Like it had the actual potential of being a huge success. Hell it would have given AB Volvo more time to be able to survive for the matter
@andyleo8418 I'm sorry since when is volvo not a successful brand? Saab? sure, they were always struggling. but volvo has never really struggled fnancially, they always sold well, and are, in fact, selling massively well nowadays...
@turbobricked5969 "The deal signed on March 28, 2020 ended more than a decade of Volvo ownership by Ford Motor Co., which saw the upmarket Swedish carmaker become a loss-making thorn in the side of Ford." - IndustryWeek
@andyleo8418 yes like ford wasn't terrible at managing other brands and had to sell 4 of them and kill another one to stay alive.. the moment ford sold them volvo started becoming themselves again, thus sales started to soar. example: "2022 Volvo worldwide sales reached 615,000 vehicles for $31.7 billion USD revenue" for comparison: "Lexus sold 625,365 vehicles worldwide in 2022," also, from when volvo was acquired by a brand who knew what they were doing: "The Swedish company's sales increased 8.9 per cent in 2014 to a new record of 465,866 cars sold"
For the past two decades, my father and I have owned a minimum of 10 Volvo 960s. These cars were excellent value for their price range. Prior to the Covid pandemic, one could acquire a decent one in the UK for anywhere between £1,000 and £4,000. Moreover, they were affordable and uncomplicated to fix. Whenever one of them developed a major fault (which was always the head gasket), it was cheaper to buy a new one rather than fix the old one, which is why we have gone through so many of them. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to find parts for them. We have had to resort to cannibalising the non-runners to keep the best ones running. Now that they are approaching 30 years of age, they are starting to show some pretty expensive faults. Our last two running Volvos were a sedan 960 that developed a hairpin gasket leak into the coolant while we were driving on the motorway, causing the radiator to detonate, and a silver estate that we recently managed to part exchange for a 2000 Honda Legend to replace the green sedan. The silver estate was a beast, but the exhaust was severely rust-damaged, which meant it needed a rebuild, and it had skimmed brakes because we could not source new ones. The 3-litre inline engine sounds amazing when the exhaust ends at the manifold, but it's not sustainable for one's hearing! As much as I love these cars, finding parts for them is becoming increasingly difficult. Unless you have a garage, time or a lot of money, getting newer Volvos seems more future-proof. While these cars are amazing to drive, fun, comfy, and head-turners, it might be better to look at something newer. For the price, you can pay to get one of these fixed if it goes wrong; you could get something much nicer.
Clicked on the video so fast. Lol love these types of vehicle reviews. Hope he does the aptera solar powered car soon. That thing looks like its from back to the future.
Volvo has a department called Tourist and Diplomat sales, especially for this kind of customers. Talking about Swedish quirkiness, from 1979 until 1986 you could order Saab 99 and 900 with streched wheel base directly from Saab, they were built by Saab Valmet in Finland and were also used by the Finnish government. Volvo were very popular with the Dutch royals, they have an entire fleet of S80, both regular and stretched Nilsson variants, though they seem to have switched to Audi now and the king's private vehicle is currently a Tesla Model Y.
Had a 940 estate, fully loaded, a lot of features like in this car. Despite it just being a regular pleb 940, it could be the best car I’ve ever had. The turbo was so much fun, and the automatic gearbox was among the most smooth automatics I’ve ever driven. Much better than many modern automatics.
Something about the humor and presentation of this video was really enjoyable for me. I think it's just getting to see Soug get to genuinely geek out and enjoy an interesting and quirky vehicle that others wouldn't even think twice about. This is why we love you, man! Still loving the videos on older cars like this one!
I had a '93 Volvo 960 and it was an absolute pleasure to drive. a few things however, is that the early 90s 960s motor had a 30k timing belt interval change. The motor was designed by Porsche and they designed it with a thinner timing belt that would snap right at 30k. The saddest day was when I pushed that interval a little over and the timing belt snapped, and it being an interference motor did damage to the valves and pistons. By 1995 they finally changed the timing belt and the service interval went to 70k. The other thing my 960 had was the Nivomats air ride rear suspension that worked. I miss cruising that car on the backroads, it wasn't fast but super comfortable.
What @DougDeMuro seemingly fails to notice is that the rear side window is actually just gone. The 960, as Doug shows, has a window beyond the door. This one does not, but only has a stretched door, which has two windows in it, as would the regular 960. In fact, without the extra window in the C-pillar, the limousine looks a lot like the 960's predecessor, the 760. THAT is no co-incidence, since Nilsson would already have developed a 760 limousine and then, when the 960 replaced the 760, it would have been cheaper as well as structurally stronger to base the new limo on what they had for the old 760. So that is probably why it lacks the window a 960 would normally have had.
I loved the 850 from this era, but the 960 had pretty good lines. However, going earlier a few years, the 780 was my favorite of any of them. By the late 90s, seeing those was pretty rare even in New England. It would be great to see Doug review one of those, if any ever came up on the auction.
Fun fact: Our glorious Swedish king Carl Gustav is a BMW enthusiast who has crashed several times with his BMW's, including his E46 M3. And there is not a single thing anyone can do about it, because he is THE King and can actually do whatever he wants. No limitations whatsoever
My father used to own 960 2.9 (the exact same color scheme outside and inside). I was a kid then, but we still think it was a very friendly car. Simply nice to live with.
You missed a quirk and/or feature. The 960 has probably the best stock steering angle of just about anything ever built. If you crank the wheel to the stops it looks like a a drift car. It goes almost 90 degrees.
I love this, the interior including colors is the same as my first gen v90 I love that thing, I could have bought a more modern car but I wanted a 740 ish car with the best equipment possible at the time. Rwd, big engine, nice seats and a set of suspension which can take speedbumps at 120kph without problems.
So nice to see a classic Volvo, really excited about this video. Especially because this car might have the very same colour my 02 S40 has, code 343. Would you make a video of that first gen S40? I think it's kind of a historically significant vehicle, since it was the very first non-boxy Volvo after many decades and the first vehicle to wear the naming scheme used to this day, although it was originally intended to be called S4 (but I guess you know why that got scrapped), designed by Peter Horbury who sadly passed away a few months ago.
@@leo.f.v.andersson I mean kind of fair, and a similarly radical change in design, but not as big as after this in the 90s. Plus the 480 is a quirk in itself :D
3.0 180 hp was for the last year manual only. All the automatic 3.0 had 204 hp. It also shared its automatic transmission(a340e) with a legendary car, the Supra Mk4 (but only N/A). The Executive had 3 different levels. Level 1: Standard 960 Rearseat ( 3 person) Level 2: Shown in this video, has 2 bucket seats Level 3: 2 Bucketseats with a centerconsole going all the way trough the middle.
Those motors were amazingly durable but they were no rockets. The most interesting version of this car is the S90 (produced in 96-98) with the interior by Hermes.
Hi Doug. I am an expert in diplomatic vehicles. Although it is possible that this vehicle was used by Swedish diplomats, Volvo is universally the most popular vehicle for use by ambassadors, diplomatic and non-diplomatic consular staff. This is because of two reasons. Firstly, Volvo is not seen as an expensive brand compared to Mercedes, BMW, Audi, so it is not perceived as a show off car or a waste of tax money. Secondly, Sweden is a historically politically neutral country and regularly brokers peace deals between countries that do not have bilateral relations, so buying a Volvo is not seen as a political statement. The visiting Swedish prime minister is also unlikely to have used a standard, non-armoured diplomatic vehicle. Very interesting car, thanks for showing.
Feels weird to see Doug speculate so much
makes sense, thanks for explaining.
How does someone become an expert in diplomatic vehicles? Seems like a very niche area of knowledge.
@@JulezWinnfield It's nothing to be ashamed of though. There are experts about many different things that are niché. Often they're just very passionate people who fell in love with something. Could even be busses and stuff.
🧢🧢🧢
I swear we need a specific day of the week for cars like these to look forward to
New boring SUV Sunday, Supercar Tuesday, and Quirky Car Thursday.
@KartKing4ever
Where would you pitch electric cars since viewing figures are low
@@paulie-Gualtieri. I figure they would fall in to the more normal daily driver videos. Sunday. However, a sports or weird EV could be in the other videos.
Tuesday and thursday for
THIIIS
I propose Weird Car Wednesday!
My father had a 960... for 24 years.. it reach 800.000km . Never had a major problem. just the yearly garage check. Incredible car.
THIS is why I stay subbed to this channel! I do not care at all about all those boring SUV lumps, or dumb oversized 4X4's - weird, stretched Volvos are what I care about. Thanks for getting back to your roots of why I fell in love with this channel to begin with all those years ago.
Same. generic SUV's do not interest me at all. modern or old. quirky cars like this are great.
Agree.
Word to your Swedish mama
Yes, that's why you, I, and other longtime subscribers watch Doug. But by reviewing new cars he can make money, because people search for these new cars' reviews and they see Doug's videos and watch them.
The 960 Executive and the 960 Royal are actually different trim levels. The Royal was even more luxurious with a center console in the back with phone and a cooler compartment and an upgraded audio system.
That's not necessarily a hard fact. Some of these came with interchangeable badging and that would be the "Tier 3" option. This is a Tier 2. Also, there's Royal badging on the chrome trim in the front, from 1995, before many remember the Tier 3 Royal even being an option.
Many people confuse that, as most people think in terms of packages, but these were customizable to a point.
@@chrisbcrust so what is the tier 1 options like?
@@ramadhanisme7 A Tier 1 Executive doesn't have the fancy rear seats. It remains a 5-seater, but still has the extra leg room and some of the electronic options...a more understated take than this.
@@chrisbcrust it is a little bit unusual for a tier 1 is less fancy than a tier 2 in my opinion
Nicest is the "Hermes" variants (Royal III)
This car is way cooler than 99% of the new cars he reviews
When all new cars try to look edgy and cool, these older boxy looking cars are becoming more special
I have the 1996 960
I think that is what most of us watch for.
I only watch when he reviews something weird. I can go to a showroom to see a modern car.
That's because newer cars look rubbish, but then in years time we will say the same about the cars now look better than the space ships we will be driving in the future.
These types of videos before ridiculous super cars any day of the week. Not to rob Doug of the satisfaction, but just a tad more of these would be much appreciated!🎉
Super cars are cool to see too. What's boring is the shower of new Mercedes and BMWs and crap like that... I don't even watch those anymore...
@@WatanabeNoTsuna.lol it's the opposite for me 😂
@@WatanabeNoTsuna.supercars also are gorgeous to drive imo.
Jag håller med dig Olle. 👍
A quite interesting fact is that Nilsson Special Vehicles made and still make a lot of different vehicles based on Volvo models. Here in Sweden their ambulances and hearses are a common sight on our streets. They also produce and outfit special vehicles for fire departments.
Nilsson Special Vehicles imo has 305bhp like 1966 Ford GT40.
Hey Doug! Previous 3rd owner of this car, here. You're absolutely right- the car gives a very stately feel- you are just absolutely guaranteed to arrive fashionably late!
I'm glad you finally reviewed the car, and keep up the awesome work!
The normal 960 Volvos are super common here in Germany and you still see them regularly on the Autobahn, shows how reliable these are!
Also would love to see more 80s and 90s Cars, even re-watched most of your Reviews recently, they're all rewatchable, can recommend!
Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
You still see 850s, 940s and 960s all over the roads here in Seattle all the time
@@diablocls55 In Finland too😁 especially during winters
Super common? I remember a neighbour in my last flat in Wiesbaden having one ... but that's about it. "super common" feels a bit exaggerated ;-) I see 850s and 940s, even 740s and 240s way more regularly.
man sieht ab und zu mal einen kombi aber oft wäre schon übertrieben
@@diablocls55Volvo 850 and 960 both driven better than you may think.
Growing up my dad bought a white 960 from Germany and drove it all the way back to Finland with me. He kept that car for 12 years and when it finally died he said he liked it so much that he just went and bought another one. 20 years later and my dad is still driving a 960
Katohan, nättiä 😄 Mikäs sen ekan tappo? Itellä kokemusta manuaali 960:lla luisuttelusta 😂 3kpl 740 oon omistanu talvihassuttelua varten
How did he manage to kill an rwd volvo in just 12 years?))
hehe
might be a used one @@zloychechen5150
@@zloychechen5150 neglect, problems kept piling up and he didn't feel like dealing with them. I don't really know why but he has been taking better care of the new one
1:40 that kitty in the bottom left hand corner passing by was adorable!!!
The Stop button on the seat is where the memory button would be in cars equipped with the feature. In this car is for locking the position of the seat, so it won’t move by accident. The cel phone antenna was a popular accessorie sold everywhere in the 90s meant to boost the cel signal. It use to cost 5/10 dollars at Walmart.
Came here for stop button info. Thx
The antenna could have been for a built in car phone. My parents had a car phone in their 1995 Toyota Camry. You had the handset next to the center console from the passenger footwell, then it was wired into the car for power and the antenna in the back window.
Some of our Audis had a stop button as well. You could configure the memory seat into some weird positions (use your imagination), and the 'stop' button cancelled this sequence when pressed if someone inadvertantly hit 'memory 2' while driving and then found themselves being propelled into a position not really conducive to driving.....
@@mpc1milor perhaps super stop button.
@@joeseeking3572 I could certainly have used that feature in a Lexus I sat in during an auto show once. I pressed one of the memory buttons, which was apparently set for someone about four feet tall. I eventually stopped the system by pressing on the "manually move the seat back" button, but a "stop" button would have been way more intuitive.
As you probably know, the 960/940 was effectively a major facelift of the earlier 760/740 models that was originally lauched in 1982. Both the 900-cars and the 700-cars are still not uncommon to see here in Sweden, however the top versions (960/760) are getting rare these days. You do see a lot of Nilsson-converted Volvos too, mainly XC90 ambulances and the odd V90 hearse. The wheels on this car was actually the standard launch wheel for the regular 960 here in Sweden, which all the cars in press photos had back in the day.
what a pleasant surprise! I have an italian market 1991 960 Turbo (16v, 2.0, 190hp), absolutely love it! BTW, the "stop" button on the seat control is there to block the position, so you don't accidentally change it.
If you go into the Car Talk archives back in the mid 90's there's a call from someone living near the Swedish Embassy in DC complaining about a Volvo limo with an alarm going off middle of the night - asking Click and Clack the best way to covertly silence it - I kid you not. THIS COULD BE THAT CAR!
I remember that episode!
My dad had the S90 version of this car. He loved it but the couldnt drive it anymore. His work payed for the petrol but the 6 cylinder drank a bit too much for their liking. So he leased a vw up for free from them. I want to buy a volvo myself now and everytime I see a 960/S90 I show him the ad he always says" oh Jan, that car drove so great". Beautiful car
Paid 😊. Cool comment.
They are thirsty and slow indeed.
@@BL-yj2wp"slow" yes, but oh so buttery smooth, their place is cruising on the highway.
@@BL-yj2wp yes, but back when there were few speed cameras on the russian m4 highway that goes south from moscow, i used to floor it for hours (210 kph downhill, 180 uphill), and it did about 14l/100km, which is quite good. At anything else involving fuel consumption it did suck. I had a friend with a 4.6 FCV, which drank about the same (and went about the same).
@@BL-yj2wp 204 hp and 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds is quite normal for that kind of European car in 1995. I don't know what this host is comparing with? A Tesla?
My grandpa had a 960 Exlusive model. Same color. It was low kilometers and only serviced in Volvo dealership here in Finland. He said it was the best car he ever had. Smooth 3.0 litre engine and the ride was sublime. Best RWD car Volvo ever made.
EDIT. I had a 1996 model 850 SE. It had the same dome light and someone picked heated rear seats. Otherwise it was a stock car (manual transmission, no aircon).
I had a 89 Volvo 780 Bertone that I bought from the original owner. It had a car phone already installed- yes, with the old school brick phone. I drove it for years and with it’s turbo and sunroof and all leather heated interior seats, it was a delightful experience. It was the 5th Volvo I had owned and by far the highest interior package I ever had. I ended up selling it because my significant other was using it for a daily commute of over 120 miles per day. The fuel bill was just too high to justify keeping it as a daily driver. 😢 There have been many days when I wished that I had kept it, but that’s just how life works.
I bought a used Bertone badge once from a Volvo parts shack.
a 780 is a delight for the eye of a brick enthusiast.
I liked the mention of the Infiniti J30. A 90s car that's mostly forgotten. But it kind of lives on with the Hyundai Ioniq 6. I think the J30 was the inspiration for the Ioniq 6's rear.
Such an ugly design, it's nice to forget about it
There is also 960 and S90 Royal -models. Those are also 15cm longer and has all the luxuries and 2 or 3 people back seats. C-pillar is like normal 960/S90 but with crown emblem.
these are my favorite types of episodes!
Doug the kind of guy to get jacked and have a "Doug Life" tattoo on his abs.
Doug is jacked, he’s got a 17 pack under that shirt
You mean "Cars and Bids" tatoo? 🤣🤣
So good
My dad have had 4 of those, one after another, after two 760s, since 1996. And I must admit that although it's an old car now, it offers a superb driving comfort level of the S-class Mercedes vehicle for much less money. Actually, for 2-4 thousand of USD (UA prices nowdays) it is the best in terms of comfort. Sadly, those cars are sooo old now, so you spend more time repairing it then actually driving. He drives one even nowdays, yet it's kind of costly for him, as we're from Kyiv, Ukraine and he's 78 yrs old, while his income is like $120/month state pension which complicate things a LOT. Yet, a car like this is somewhat affordable for him even now, while being 1994 make, still more or less "roadworthy", so to say, which says much by itself, I guess.
I owned a ‘95 960 sedan for a while. It was a great car; that era of Volvos were my favorite. One thing you didn’t point out was the hood struts. Flip the red rocker on each strut and you could open the hood 90 degrees which made it a breeze to work on. Those wheels were very common on the wagon variants, especially the later V90 models. The front suspension is actually based on the 850 model. The rear differential was also a self-locking unit that provided much better traction when thing got slippery. One other design quirk was the transversely mounted fiberglass leaf spring for the rear suspension - similar to what the Chevy Corvette of the era used. 😎
yeh, i've always wondered what that leaf spring design was about.
It was a cool party trick.
Volvos where also very popular in the Russia and Eastern Europe due to sweden being neutral in during the cold war period. There are also lots of volvos in North Korea that were technically stolen by the NK government
I had one for about 12 years. But just over 300.000 miles the repairs started to get to expensive for what the car was worth so it was time to get a new car. I really loved that car!
That's why old Volvos enthusiasts like me usually do all the car's maintenance themselves.
@@jean-francoispouliot7265 it is the way
@@jean-francoispouliot7265but at 300,000 miles things are probably just going to start wearing out. And I don't mean normal maintenance.
Not really. This is perception. It is all routine and fixable. These vehicles were engineered to be million mile vehicles.
@@mountaincat23True! 👍
The dashboard of the 960 predates the 850 by a while. The 1989 Volvo 760 facelift had that dashboard, so Volvo had the newer style interior before others did ;) Aaaalso... That isn't the full Nilson stretch. My dealership here in Germany has one up for sale. I took a few pics yesterday... Actually rented it back in 2009 for my brothers wedding. Former Belgian minister vehicle, though not bulletproof....
You're absolutely right about the dashboard. Volvo doesn't really have dates when they do a full face lift at once but rather introduce newer parts years before a face lift. I remember having a late 2003 V70 D5 SE and it had facelifted rearview mirrors and a facelift rear wiper resting to the left of the car rather than to the right and other bits here and there so the same with the 760 and the 900 series.
Denmark here. Friend of mine drove a 3 row 960 for a while, using it as a family car. Before he took ownership it had been used by a limo service and before that, it was used a long with whole bunch of identical cars for some big international VIP event like a big UN meet or similar. Something that took place in either Sweden or Denmark.
You are the country? Of Denmark?
@@Future-Classic-Cars I am of course referring to posting from the country of Denmark, it is simply providing context and nothing like suggesting I am the country - that would be silly.
I've got a 2004 S80 with only FWD. It has a "W" mode for the transmission that also starts me in 2nd gear, and allows slightly more wheelspin than normal it feels like. I live in the Midwest so we get lots of snow. It works fantastic, however it adds extra stress to the Torque converter starting in 2nd and caused a shudder to develop around 85k miles.
Never thought of extra load on torque converter. I had 2008 lincoln mkz, ugly car but driving experience was very nice. In Manual mode it allowed to start even from the 3rd gear. Was always doing it. Glad it didnt brake.
Amazing car!!! In Europe it was named Royal! I owned the same 960 but with the 2.5 liter manual and…not Executive/Royal! Great car!!! The interior was update with the restyling of the 760. The 960 first generation took over exactly the same, while the 960 restyling (the one we are looking at) had small changes like the door-panels…but the rest was exactly the same. In Europe 3.0 liter had 204cv, the 2.5 170cv
We need more videos of 1990's and early 2000's cars, especially Volvos.
Kind of out of context but would you consider reviewing an ls430? It’s the only of the ls lineage you haven’t reviewed, and I think they’re great cars with many advanced features for the time (especially the UL). Its my dream to buy a low-mileage example and would love to see a review
I had a V70 from the first model year, when it was really just a rebadged 850, so I appreciate Volvos of this era. Thanks for showing us this one, Doug.
Also I had that exact same Alpine 6-disc CD changer in my '92 Civic EX.
YES! My dad had a normal 93 960 sedan, and I still have a 740 sedan!
i have a 86 240 GLT with an T5 angine. god dam tanks
Inline 6 cars hold up well because they dont have to worry about vibrations loosening every bolt in the cabin.
My wife's first car was a used 760 GLE. Comfortable for the two of us and typically Volvo safe, but oddly for a car built in Sweden, it was *horrible* in the snow. This 960 brings back some fond memories. Thanks, Doug.
They were terrible in the snow, and not even that safe.
Yes, but with a 20Kg sandbag in the back and a full tank it was much better. Sand used for going uphill
@@heidelbergaren5054 Most cars don't need that. I really don't like them, never have. Thirsty, poor to drive, not that safe.
I had 740 while living in Arctic regions and it was awesome in the snow and on ice. I guess Finnish winter tyres played their part as well.
@@Barbarian75 Winter tyres are essential. I have always used them on my V70.
This car was the last of the old school Volvo layout. Longitudinally mounted engine and rear wheel drive. Its contemporary, the 850, was the first to depart. End of an era and an interesting car to any Volvo fan, especially those of us who have had 240s and 740s etc etc
When mentioning the Volvo line-up of the early 90's, Doug neglected the 940, which is the 4-cylinder version of this same car.
My friend's dad had one when we were in high school and it felt like a special occasion when we got our hands on it for the evening. In the down on power days of the early 90s it didn't really feel quite as weak as the numbers would indicate.
I doubt the 940 was sold in the US, which is probably why he didn't mention it.
Old Volvos has a great styling! I love my 850 model but i want to have a 960 so much! It's already a classic which will never be out of fashion.
new doug volvo vid just dropped everyone. gonna be a good day
Very nice to see! I'm one of the Nilssons. My father and uncle owned the company and I worked may summers at the factory during my school years. I estimate over 500 similar Executives were built in the 80-90s. They also built 80, 90cm, 6doors and 113cm 4 doors with full limo interior. My dad had a specific "non-standard" one made for him compared to this one you show. It was extended 20cm instead of 15cm, had red metallic paint, begie leather interior and the "folded pankake" standard wheels.
Beautiful car. Very classy and the colour is gorgeous. Back when Volvo were truly astonishing cars. Thanks, Doug. I admire your work very much.
I love these kind of car videos so much more than a modern stuff because all the morning stuff is cool, but this is so much more unique and special
Swedish ambasador around year 2000. That was Jan Eliasson who was born in the city of Gothenburg where the Volvo 960 was conceived and built. He later became minister of foreign affairs.
That car has interesting prominence 🙂
Growing up my mother had a 960 3.0l 1993 station wagon. I think my family bought it when it was 2 years old. Not a common car in Sweden where we live. But what made it even more special was that it was built for export to USA but was never sent there. So it had some things other 960 did not have in Sweden, 740/940 was common. models It was a great car, so luxurious and comfortable. I’m still dreaming of owning one myself. It also had seven seats with the to rear facing pop up seat.
1:41 love how the cat just casually walk by the Volvo 960 EXECUTIVE
Never saw an engine mounted that way in a Volvo, because I owned an 850, S70, V70 and now XC70
Did anyone else notice the yellow T5R you can see in the reflection of the 960? Now that is a car I would like to see reviewed.
I have a 95 Volvo 940 in factory amethyst purple with the euro headlights. My favorite car ever and I paid $100 for it. These cars are reliable awesome and I’ll probably keep mine forever
1:39 the kitty in the bottom left corner 😂
Nice to see I’m not the only one that enjoys these type of reviews vs the newer ones in the garage.
Now THIS is a true quirk you are featuring!
my best friend's dad had a 960 back in taiwan and later sold to my uncle (they were friends also). I drove it every other year whenever I visit back home. It was comfortable and smooth.
I seen that kitty @ 1:42 poking around at the bottom left corner 😻
Just picked up a 2004 Volvo S80 Executive, amazing car, amazing features and a 3 liter straight 6 bi turbo. Absolutely love the car
Bid placed! I'd be shocked if I have a chance in hell of getting it but if I did that thing will be well loved.
I wish you luck! She'd be a great catch!
@@Aleiza_49 I previously had a '93 940. Absolutely love Volvos.
My first car was a Volvo 850. I loved it. It was such a quirky, fun and sporty car. Very under estimated since it was a Volvo. Mine had the winter package which included the wipers on the headlights, and people loved it. It had a lot of features which spoiled me as a teenager. Had it for years.
I got 850 T5, fun and reliable car's and actually pretty fast car's too for it's age.
@@mohis5664that’s awesome. Mine was a GLT. It was peppy but on the heavy side. I loved seeing the red or yellow R or T5.
The Nilsson Volvos were usually here in Europe as ambulances, but like this one, a Limo, the Norwegian Royal Family also had one, but in an even longer version. Those who don't know Nilsson, they were the ones who sold Volvo and Citroen to the GDR, they also extended them, but I don't think they got paid for them.
This car has not been a Swedish embassy car, but many other countries used these in diplomacy. A Swedish embassy car was delivered with the Swedish krone somewhere.
My Dad had one of these he bought off the mayor 😊 Fantastic car! But ours had cloth interior, which was strange considering the spec.
In the mid 90’s this was actually perceived as one of the better options for Ambassadors. Volvos attention to safety made these cars very desirable for important cargo. Also the inline 6 was designed to be smooth… that’s it. In the same year you could get an 850 T5-R with 247 hp if you wanted to get where you were headed faster. Great review! More Volvos please!
A state Volvo 960 is my everyday driver with 282.000 km an still going smooth!
It suprises me that this volvo wasn't mass produced at all. Like it had the actual potential of being a huge success. Hell it would have given AB Volvo more time to be able to survive for the matter
"Huge success" and Volvo do not belong together 😂
@andyleo8418 I'm sorry since when is volvo not a successful brand?
Saab? sure, they were always struggling. but volvo has never really struggled fnancially, they always sold well, and are, in fact, selling massively well nowadays...
940 exists.
@turbobricked5969 "The deal signed on March 28, 2020 ended more than a decade of Volvo ownership by Ford Motor Co., which saw the upmarket Swedish carmaker become a loss-making thorn in the side of Ford."
- IndustryWeek
@andyleo8418 yes like ford wasn't terrible at managing other brands and had to sell 4 of them and kill another one to stay alive..
the moment ford sold them volvo started becoming themselves again, thus sales started to soar.
example: "2022 Volvo worldwide sales reached 615,000 vehicles for $31.7 billion USD revenue"
for comparison: "Lexus sold 625,365 vehicles worldwide in 2022,"
also, from when volvo was acquired by a brand who knew what they were doing:
"The Swedish company's sales increased 8.9 per cent in 2014 to a new record of 465,866 cars sold"
For the past two decades, my father and I have owned a minimum of 10 Volvo 960s. These cars were excellent value for their price range. Prior to the Covid pandemic, one could acquire a decent one in the UK for anywhere between £1,000 and £4,000. Moreover, they were affordable and uncomplicated to fix. Whenever one of them developed a major fault (which was always the head gasket), it was cheaper to buy a new one rather than fix the old one, which is why we have gone through so many of them. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to find parts for them. We have had to resort to cannibalising the non-runners to keep the best ones running.
Now that they are approaching 30 years of age, they are starting to show some pretty expensive faults. Our last two running Volvos were a sedan 960 that developed a hairpin gasket leak into the coolant while we were driving on the motorway, causing the radiator to detonate, and a silver estate that we recently managed to part exchange for a 2000 Honda Legend to replace the green sedan. The silver estate was a beast, but the exhaust was severely rust-damaged, which meant it needed a rebuild, and it had skimmed brakes because we could not source new ones. The 3-litre inline engine sounds amazing when the exhaust ends at the manifold, but it's not sustainable for one's hearing!
As much as I love these cars, finding parts for them is becoming increasingly difficult. Unless you have a garage, time or a lot of money, getting newer Volvos seems more future-proof. While these cars are amazing to drive, fun, comfy, and head-turners, it might be better to look at something newer. For the price, you can pay to get one of these fixed if it goes wrong; you could get something much nicer.
The Volvo S90 Royal same shape was even more luxurious
My father used to drive that for the embassy. We have pictures of it growing up.
Clicked on the video so fast. Lol love these types of vehicle reviews. Hope he does the aptera solar powered car soon. That thing looks like its from back to the future.
Volvo has a department called Tourist and Diplomat sales, especially for this kind of customers.
Talking about Swedish quirkiness, from 1979 until 1986 you could order Saab 99 and 900 with streched wheel base directly from Saab, they were built by Saab Valmet in Finland and were also used by the Finnish government.
Volvo were very popular with the Dutch royals, they have an entire fleet of S80, both regular and stretched Nilsson variants, though they seem to have switched to Audi now and the king's private vehicle is currently a Tesla Model Y.
Yeay! Doug is out of the bunker, and with an awesome Volvo!
Had a 940 estate, fully loaded, a lot of features like in this car.
Despite it just being a regular pleb 940, it could be the best car I’ve ever had. The turbo was so much fun, and the automatic gearbox was among the most smooth automatics I’ve ever driven. Much better than many modern automatics.
Something about the humor and presentation of this video was really enjoyable for me. I think it's just getting to see Soug get to genuinely geek out and enjoy an interesting and quirky vehicle that others wouldn't even think twice about. This is why we love you, man! Still loving the videos on older cars like this one!
As an owner of 1997 S90 Royal Executive I approve this video
Ive been waiting for an old volvo video, classic
My first car was a Volvo 850 T5R. Totally bonkers as a first car but I really liked it.
SORRY for the cat cameo! His name is Kevin haha. Glad you enjoyed the Volvo Doug!
I saw that
Really want to see Doug review an 850R/T-5R wagon, one of the coolest estates I know of
Just saw this and I’m so so so excited!! One of my favorite cars of all time!!
I had a '93 Volvo 960 and it was an absolute pleasure to drive. a few things however, is that the early 90s 960s motor had a 30k timing belt interval change. The motor was designed by Porsche and they designed it with a thinner timing belt that would snap right at 30k. The saddest day was when I pushed that interval a little over and the timing belt snapped, and it being an interference motor did damage to the valves and pistons. By 1995 they finally changed the timing belt and the service interval went to 70k. The other thing my 960 had was the Nivomats air ride rear suspension that worked. I miss cruising that car on the backroads, it wasn't fast but super comfortable.
Hell ya I’ll watch this! Please no more electric crap.
What @DougDeMuro seemingly fails to notice is that the rear side window is actually just gone. The 960, as Doug shows, has a window beyond the door. This one does not, but only has a stretched door, which has two windows in it, as would the regular 960. In fact, without the extra window in the C-pillar, the limousine looks a lot like the 960's predecessor, the 760. THAT is no co-incidence, since Nilsson would already have developed a 760 limousine and then, when the 960 replaced the 760, it would have been cheaper as well as structurally stronger to base the new limo on what they had for the old 760. So that is probably why it lacks the window a 960 would normally have had.
Doug gotta be the first person to refer to something in a Volvo as "edgy and cool"
@Doug DeMuro: Thank you so much for this one. As a Swedish German young man it makes me happy seeing Volvo reviewed.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Doug reviewed The Beast or the Presidential Suburban
Omg, it's my car!!! Well sorta at least, mine is a later normal version, the S90. I literally just woke up and saw this on my notifications!
Doug is the type of guy gets giddy over an old Volvo (me too)
By "Ambassador" Doug means the Swedish Chef from The Muppet Show, the stereo plays "popcorn" on a loop!
I loved the 850 from this era, but the 960 had pretty good lines. However, going earlier a few years, the 780 was my favorite of any of them. By the late 90s, seeing those was pretty rare even in New England. It would be great to see Doug review one of those, if any ever came up on the auction.
I have one
780? Sweet!
Fun fact: Our glorious Swedish king Carl Gustav is a BMW enthusiast who has crashed several times with his BMW's, including his E46 M3. And there is not a single thing anyone can do about it, because he is THE King and can actually do whatever he wants. No limitations whatsoever
The rear sunshade was a dealer-installed option on the contemporaneous 850. I suspect the case was the same for the 940/960.
Oh man so cool! I love these cars and have been collecting them for years. I have 33 of them now. I will buy this one for sure !
Love the weird and and quirky and unusual cars
My father used to own 960 2.9 (the exact same color scheme outside and inside). I was a kid then, but we still think it was a very friendly car. Simply nice to live with.
Doug you have to do a video on the 940 now
and the 240!
@@eisbr5482and the 740 of course
You missed a quirk and/or feature. The 960 has probably the best stock steering angle of just about anything ever built. If you crank the wheel to the stops it looks like a a drift car. It goes almost 90 degrees.
My neighbor had the 960 wagon for 21 years before getting rid of it
I love this, the interior including colors is the same as my first gen v90
I love that thing, I could have bought a more modern car but I wanted a 740 ish car with the best equipment possible at the time.
Rwd, big engine, nice seats and a set of suspension which can take speedbumps at 120kph without problems.
So nice to see a classic Volvo, really excited about this video. Especially because this car might have the very same colour my 02 S40 has, code 343. Would you make a video of that first gen S40? I think it's kind of a historically significant vehicle, since it was the very first non-boxy Volvo after many decades and the first vehicle to wear the naming scheme used to this day, although it was originally intended to be called S4 (but I guess you know why that got scrapped), designed by Peter Horbury who sadly passed away a few months ago.
The 480 wasnt that boxy either :)
@@leo.f.v.andersson I mean kind of fair, and a similarly radical change in design, but not as big as after this in the 90s. Plus the 480 is a quirk in itself :D
3.0 180 hp was for the last year manual only. All the automatic 3.0 had 204 hp. It also shared its automatic transmission(a340e) with a legendary car, the Supra Mk4 (but only N/A).
The Executive had 3 different levels.
Level 1: Standard 960 Rearseat ( 3 person)
Level 2: Shown in this video, has 2 bucket seats
Level 3: 2 Bucketseats with a centerconsole going all the way trough the middle.
We’re officially knocking door to door asking to review their car
Those motors were amazingly durable but they were no rockets. The most interesting version of this car is the S90 (produced in 96-98) with the interior by Hermes.
Not safe today, but tough mechanicals