Like Vincent Van Gogh, at present’s Good Value or No Cube Volvo was much less appreciated throughout its manufacturing run than in later years. Let’s see how appreciative we is perhaps about this tidy instance’s value.
With an estimated 48 million gamers and counting, Pickleball is the fastest-growing participation sport in America. I feel most of us, nonetheless, would reasonably spend our off-hours on the autocross or on a observe day. Motorsports, in spite of everything, is way much less taxing on the Achilles tendons and rotator cuffs. The 1985 Porsche 944 we checked out yesterday was touted in its advert as being a turn-key observe automotive. Questions abounded about simply how a lot observe time—and therefore put on—it had already seen, and that made its $12,500 price ticket a bit an excessive amount of to swallow for a lot of. The consequence was a 57 p.c No Cube loss.
Porsche and sports activities automobiles go collectively like COVID and a cough, however if you consider Volvo and sporty coupes, there’s just about just one place you’re thoughts can go: the P1800 and its later iteration, the 1800ES.
Inbuilt each swoopy coupe and remarkably good-looking two-door wagon varieties, the sportiest Volvo hit the market in 1961 and solely went out of manufacturing in 1973 on account of impending security and emissions rules in its greatest market, America. In whole, Volvo constructed about 48,000 of the automobiles, with solely a bit over 8,000 of these being the Swan Music 1800ES wagons. Since then, collectors and Volvo followers alike have coveted these long-roof fashions.
This 1972 1800ES seems nice within the pictures, though its vendor describes it as an excellent 5-10-foot automotive on account of some imperfections in its cherry-red paint. From the manufacturing facility, the two-liter B20 4 beneath the hood made 125 horsepower with its Bosch D-Jetronic gas injection. In accordance with the advert, on this automotive, that old-school injection has been supplanted by a extra trendy Megasquirt system. That ought to enhance each the reliability and driveability so long as it’s dialed in appropriately.
Behind that upgraded engine sits Volvo’s M41 four-speed guide with the fascinating Laycock de Normanville overdrive. Numerous suspension and supporting {hardware} have additionally been changed or upgraded, and the automotive purrs by means of an IPD exhaust. Apparently, the advert touts the set up of recent Michelin tires in 2022 and claims the automotive has solely performed 800 miles since.
In whole, there are 147,500 miles on the automotive, and the inside reveals none of these. The black vinyl upholstery is paired with dusty-red carpet and manufacturing facility fake woodgrain on the sprint. It is a automotive of a sure age, so the whole lot in it’s guide, and people in search of the sweat-reducing joys of A/C ought to look elsewhere. On the plus aspect, there are vent wings in each doorways.
The 1800ES’s chef’s kiss, although, is its all-glass rear hatch. Bracketed by chrome-topped fender fins, that’s simply as dramatic at present as when it first debuted. On this automotive, that hatch seems to be in nice form, though the carpet beneath it seems to have pale on account of an extra of solar.
That’s only a minor quibble and one which’s acceptable if the vendor’s objective of constructing the automotive “the last word driver, not a concours winner” is to be believed. A clear title rounds out the automotive’s bona fides, though the vendor notes that it’s being offered with a invoice of sale since Maine, the place the automotive is situated, exempts automobiles 25 years or older from needing a title for switch.
With that out of the way in which, let’s now contemplate this Volvo’s $21,500 asking value. That will get a brand new proprietor a stable driver and one which could possibly be loved with out requiring any quick aesthetic updates.
However is {that a} honest value for the automotive because it sits? What’s your tackle this Volvo and that $21,500 asking? Is that an on-target value for this taking pictures brake? Or is that an excessive amount of for this wagon to haul?
You resolve!
Portland, Maine, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
Assist me out with NPOND. Hit me up on e-mail and ship me a fixed-price tip. Bear in mind to incorporate your Kinja deal with.
