I’ve had a soft spot for Volvos for a long time now. I can’t really explain it - for a car nut there are few brands with less cachet than the Swedish marque. I just appreciate the practicality and rock solid reputation for crash safety. I’ve even grown to admire the looks of the large estate. So early in 2006 I took the plunge and bought one. Between February and September I ran a 1997 V70R AWD.
I’d viewed a couple of earlier cars, both of which were designated 850R - the mid 90s homologation special created to permit entry to the BTCC. They were both tatty, with suspect service histories. I was shopping in the £2-3k price bracket before spotting a later V70R locally. I had a good feeling as soon as I saw it and we shook hands at £4900, despite the 123,000 miles showing on the Odometer.
The V70R was Volvo’s flagship model of the era. Powered by a 2.3 litre 5 cylinder turbocharged engine, it produced 250bhp in manual form (slightly less with an autobox). I bought the AWD model (it could also be ordered as a front wheel drive), something which I later found out could be problematic - AWD cars often suffer from transfer box failure - an expensive fix at around £2000. I never had any issues in this respect, however. The car originally listed at over £36,000. Even at 9 years old, it’s a lot of car for under 5 grand, whichever way you look at it.
I did have some issues though. Virtually all the controls are electric, so at that age it was inevitable that something would go wrong. I counted myself lucky that I had only one electrical problem - the front passenger door central locking would engage but not disengage. But worse, the pipe that carries fuel from the tank to the engine sprang a leak. I didn’t think this would be too bad but the parts had to be flown in from Sweden and required disassembly of the entire rear subframe in order to be fitted. £400. :( The only other big expense was the fitment of 4 new Pirelli tyres. I ended up selling the car in September for the same price I paid for it. This is the first (and probably last) time I’ve ever managed that!
The big Swede was quite amusing to drive, in a straight line at least. The turbocharger operates at low pressure, so you don’t get the massive kick in the back that a high pressure turbo would give, but nevertheless the car picked up speed very quickly. Despite it’s age it was very refined on the motorway, able to waft along effortlessly at great pace. The car really showed it’s mettle when we took it to France on holiday. It would cruise at three figure speeds all day, 5 up with a boot full of luggage. Mechanically it never missed a beat.
The only issues I had with the car were the suspension and fuel economy. Volvo’s method of controlling their 250 BHP wagon was crude in the extreme. Hard springs and even harder dampers. Around town it would loosen your fillings. It only really worked on the motorway, seeming to float above any tarmac imperfections once you reached cruising speed. Economy was also fairly awful, it would return no more than 20 mpg around town and only edge up to 25 mpg on a long run, no matter how gentle I was with the throttle.
All in all though, I loved it. I kind of regret selling the car now - at the time we had 4 cars in the household and I just needed to get one off the payroll. 6 months on and 2 of the other 3 are either gone or going and I think I’d be lucky to find another example that’s anywhere near as pristine. Still, better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. Sniff.