Filed under: Coupes, Auction Action, Volvo
eBay Find of the Day: "New" '73 Volvo P1800ES
If a car's been sitting at a dealership for 34 years, you'd expect it to develop a certain amount of vehicular arthritis, in the form of brittle rubber, aged braking components and rodent havens. In the case of this Volvo 1800ES, originally owned by Gordon Turner, proprietor of Turner Volvo, it's recieved regular attention during the 10,000 miles it's accrued during its time as a demo car.
For the uninitiated, 1800s are the "exotic" vintage Volvo and nice examples can trade for several thousand dollars. This one's got a starting bid of $20,000 and the reserve has yet to be met.
More after the jump.
This has got to be the most concours-ready 1800 we've laid eyes on. Every picture reeks of showroom freshness. It must have been some trick to grow metallic blue cows for the leather, but hey, it was the '70s. With only 8,800 miles on the clock, there's virtually no seat wear, heck, there's not even pitted chrome on this baby. Even the undercoating is still brandy-new shiny. It's good to see that there has been regular maintenance, too. We can detect a nice, new oil filter poking out in one of the pictures -- Volvo brand, no less. You'd expect that being owned by a dealer, this car would have undergone rigorous maintenance with blue-box parts, we're just not sure where they found a tech with the patience and understanding to keep this older beast going. We can't get over how clean and brand-new this car looks, right down to an absolutely perfect set of alloy wheels. You never see perfect alloys.
1973 was the end of the road for the Volvo 1800, and the ES was the last model standing. The 2-liter B20 four cylinder was given Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection, not the very first EFI system, but the first one to take hold. D-Jet works quite well when everything's up to snuff, but can be problematic when components go wonky. The car pictured has a 4-speed manual with a Laycock overdrive. The Volvo red-block with manual transmission is a wondrous combo. The rest of the car isn't so bad, either. Based initially on the Amazon running gear and later incorporating bits of 140-series mechanicals, there isn't a whole lot you can easily break. The engine is adequate to cope with the 2,700 or so pounds of Swedish steel, but you won't be winning drag races. The chassis, likewise is quite comfortable, but is by now a vintage driving experience. Remedies to powerplant adequacy and chassis heaving do exist, however. Aftermarket companies like iPd have many years making Volvos zoom. There's a large base of support on the internet and through the Volvo Club of America, and these cars always draw a crowd. Most just want to know what the heck it is. If we were sitting on a pile of money and looking to buy a vintage European coupe, this ES would be hard to beat. The wagony shape makes it relatively useful, and probably aids in reducing aerodynamic drag. The mechanicals are stout, there's tons of resources out there for keeping it going and hey, it's purty! We'd love to slide our backsides into those disco-lookin' seats, twist the key and motor on down the road with this fine Roller.
Thanks to tipster Casey.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DJ 12:17PM (1/05/2007)
Funny thing in the Volvo world, if this car had a million miles or more, it would probably be worth MORE than just having 8800 miles!
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Paul (Bender) 12:45PM (1/05/2007)
wow that car is a beauty... something very special
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djSyndrome 1:01PM (1/05/2007)
I've seen this car a few times (used to get my 240s serviced at Turner). Pictures truly do not do it justice.
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Phelix 1:09PM (1/05/2007)
Man, I'd love to have that car. I'd even put in a bid if I thought I could maintain it.
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Gardiner Westbound 1:16PM (1/05/2007)
Many owners replaced the unreliable fuel injection system with the "S" series sports sedan twin SU carburetor set-up. After the second or third viscous fan coupling assembly failure a standard fan was generally substituted. The fragile selector fork mechanism took many a clutch out with it. Otherwise the car was bulletproof. The cast iron block, for example, will accept five re-bores accounting for legendary early Volvo longevity.
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huis 1:21PM (1/05/2007)
I really like how that rear 3/4 picture shows how the rear window of this car influenced the new C30 hatchback look.
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Thunder7 1:39PM (1/05/2007)
In 1986 (when I was 16), I wrecked into one of those. Completely my fault. Didnt hold up so good.
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HotRod 1:58PM (1/05/2007)
Is it just me or have the reserves gotten out of hand on Ebay? The "Buy it Now" prices are usually even worse. There are no bargains on eBay. It has become a junk version of Barrett-Jackson. As in junk cars at outrageous prices.
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scooter 2:27PM (1/05/2007)
Very cool. This and a C30 as a daily driver would complement each other well.
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Gerry 2:58PM (1/05/2007)
"Is it just me or have the reserves gotten out of hand on Ebay? The "Buy it Now" prices are usually even worse. There are no bargains on eBay. It has become a junk version of Barrett-Jackson. As in junk cars at outrageous prices."
You are correct. Stupid people selling cars on it, stupider people buying the junk. It's called the Bigger Idiot Theory. I do like this Volvo, though I hope the 1,000 Saab fans in the world don't send a link here and thrash it.
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Big Al 3:48PM (1/05/2007)
I don't get it. This car, while obviously in superb condition, neither looks exotic or has any outstanding features that would warrant it being worthy of collector status. Unless of course you really love old Volvos...
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Otto Ingineer 4:15PM (1/05/2007)
Big Al (#11?) - The 1800ES was "semi-exotic" (and I personally like the looks and features) for the era, and only a couple thousand were produced in the early 70s. With Thunder 7 (and others) wrecking them, the supply of this model is quite small and shrinking. Of the early Volvos, it is definitely the "jewel". Agree with other posters that the price seems, um, "steep". Especially with the undercar shot that shows all the overspray (red/black) just to make it look "pretty".
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Bob_Ericson 4:46PM (1/05/2007)
> You'd expect that being owned by a dealer, this car would have undergone rigorous maintenance with blue-box parts, we're just not sure where they found a tech with the patience and understanding to keep this older beast going.
Isn't that just a little dramatic?
I'm sure a tech (or receptionist) at a Volvo store (with full docs and parts) could be found to work on it.
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aaron 7:24PM (1/05/2007)
*wipes drool from chin* i dont think ive ever seen such a clean engine bay on a 1800, for that matter i dont think ive ever seen such a clean 1800. 20K+ is alot of money for this whip, but whoever wants a car like this is someone who REALLY wants it and will pay the cost. neat find, now i just need to find some spare change.
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Frank A 8:05PM (1/05/2007)
I have loved thes cars since I first saw the Saint. If I had the money I would bid on this.
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Larry 10:06PM (1/05/2007)
I owned this cars beautiful exact twin, bought it in Omaha in 1973 as a young Air Force NCO ($4400 wasn't cheap in '73 so all savings went on this one). I installed a jack in the dashboard for my Pioneer (goofy looking white) headphones. I had to filter out the high freq hiss from the ignition but it was a grand cruising thing. Unfortunately the car had a fatal problem. Every moveable door and window in the car leaked when it rained. I fought it for eight months and gave up. The dealer had billed Volvo for $5200 of "work" trying to fix it, even brought in a traveling factory tech. Final verdict was that the car had likely been placed in its jig incorrectly and "got crooked". These cars were built on roll-around jigs at the factory, up on thier sides. Makes me wonder if this 1800ES has the same problem. Been sitting "inside" for 30+ years eh? Caveat emptor, something here may not be right. Beautiful car...blue seats and all.
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damon 7:54AM (1/06/2007)
I really like Volvo P1800ES..im used a post that my blog
http://ebaybid.blogspot.com
thank
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george lee 10:50PM (1/08/2007)
Yeah the saint used one in the TV show, the traitor should have used an Aston or Bentley.
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RON 11:50PM (1/09/2007)
FOR ABOUT THE SAME PRICE YOU CAN GET A 1 YEAR OLD S40 AND THE NEWER CAR WILL OFFER A BETTER SUSPENSION,
BRAKES, HANDLING, PROBABLY PERFORMANCE, ABS, UPDATED STYLING, AND THE REMAINDER OF THE WARRANTY.
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george lee 4:48PM (1/14/2007)
Yeah the saint used one in the TV show, the traitor should have used an Aston or Bentley.
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