Buying a new car...

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Buying a new car...

...and I need some advice on which of the two I'm looking at would be better in a few ways.

Call me crazy but I'm going to be buying a mid to late-80s Volvo, either a 240GLE or 760GLE(has to be top of the range, of course;)) to replace my dangerously small and sluggish 9-year-old Mazda 121.

I like the look and feel of the 240, but I also like the space and refinement of the 760(a 740 is out of the question because all of the 740s around here are much lower specced than 760s). What I want to know is whether or not the V6 in the 760 uses a lot more petrol than the 4 cylinder in the 240. I think it's only 500cc or so larger than the lump in the 240, but do the extra 2 cylinders and slight added weight have an adverse effect on fuel economy?

Also, anyone know if there are any issues with reliability or safety in either of these models? A quick Google search didn't produce and comparisons of the two, only one or the other compared to other makes of car.

One last thing that I'm not sure of the relevance of is the proportions of the radio/tape decks in these old tanks. Can you easily swap them out with a new system? I want to be able to install an MP3 CD player and replace the 4 speakers with new ones in whichever machine I buy, nothing overly elaborate, but I don't want to be stuck with a crappy old radio(I don't even own a tape recorder, so I have no chance of getting my tunes onto a cassette) and probably 'rotten' speakers.