Near Flawless Paint/Great Chrome/Upgraded 2.0 Liter 4-Cylinder/Rebuilt 4-Speed

1970 Volvo 1800E

The brand name Volvo was originally registered as a trademark in May 1911 with the intention to be used for a new series of SKF ball bearings. It means "I roll" in Latin, conjugated from "volvere". The idea was short-lived, and SKF decided to simply use its initials as the trademark for all its bearing products.

For consignment, a car not seen every day, but when we do we are happy we did! For consignment a P1800 E with a color change, extensive upgrades to the engine, a Mega Squirt ECU to handle the fuel injection, and the lack of rust in the key areas (body mounts behind front tires, around headlights, and under door panels), make this car is definitely worth a look. It's not a svelte Swedish blonde, however it is a Volvo sports car...and this is Classic Auto Mall after all!

Exterior
A sporty example donning our Hallowed Halls has been bathed in menacing black and it is showing nicely with only a few minor inclusions and imperfections in the paint. The chrome is excellent, all nice and shiny throughout. Looking over the exterior shape carefully, we can see the two cars coming together with the front end being the sedan styling. This being the single headlight mounted to the fender, oval grille (shades of earlier Ferraris) in front of a vertically ribbed air space inside. Two thick bezeled round signal lights below the headlights, and a clean curved bumper below complete with fog lamps attached but not wired into the car. Down the sides, bullet door mirrors have been added and the beltline trimming has been wrapped in black vinyl to blend with the nicely applied paint. OEM Volvo glass created the greenhouse for the passengers and is highlighted all around by new trimmings. Past the B pillar the other car, (the fastback), takes over and becomes distinctly sporty with a low sweeping roofline that melts down into the small trunk lid. Stainless trim highlights the mini fins atop the rear quarter panels that float atop of chrome bezel surrounded oval LED taillights. 16" DBW wheels with polished lips, faux knock off spinners, and chromed lugs are seen on all 4 corners wrapped in like new Bridgestone blackwall rubber.

Interior
Decidedly Swedish with heavily padded red tuck and roll vinyl for the door panels and black padded armrests. The handles are shiny, and an accordion style map pocket resides in the lower front, all in near showroom condition. Inside the pattern continues with tuck and roll inserts in the heavily padded seat inserts, red piping in lieu of the stitching, smooth bolsters, and more clean smooth red vinyl on the sides of these high back integrated headrest chairs. The second row is a bench, but more like a 2 plus 2 bench and is probably more comfy for kids and cargo as it would be for adults, but it works, and has a black padded armrest for the occupants. Racing toward the dash between the front bucket seats is a black vinyl padded consolette with a wood applique insert, storage compartment, and the wood topped Volvo logoed shift knob. Plush red carpeting is covering all floors and is all clean and well kept. An original dash setup is there, and all working inside of a stained wood facing and is made up of a padded black vinyl dash top and padded lower black band with some more wood appliqué being the background for the dash front. Within this applique band that stretches across the dash are more round gauges, a clock and a modern AM/FM stereo. The headliner is plenty of lightly wrinkled vinyl real estate above in red.

Drivetrain
Under the hood a clean well presenting 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engine has been extensively upgraded with a solid lifter camshaft, new pushrods and double valve springs, electronic ignition, a Bosch alternator, and in April of 2021 a Megasquirt Stealth ECU with wideband O2 sensor and all supporting sensors was installed. A Laycock-Normanville OD 4-speed manual transmission is bolted to the back and has been rebuilt along with having a new clutch installed and a lightweight flywheel. All this beauty drives a 4.30 geared rear axle. Nicely detailed with no corrosion seen throughout, just red and black paint.

Undercarriage
Within the lightly patinaed rust free surfaces of the undercarriage is seen a rebuilt with new ball joints and progressive rate springs, independent coil springs upfront, and on back, a rigid axle with trailing arms, panhard rod and coil springs. We also note a new swaybar drop link and Bilstein shocks. Power disc brakes are all around and for the ease of driving a later model power steering system has been fitted on. A single exhaust system snakes its way rearward and handles the removal of spent fossils efficiently and effectively.

Drive-Ability
We definitely got excited about this model as only a touch over 7,500 were built during the two year run. Sadly, Volvo gave up on it after the 1973 model year as it was an older chassis and the new USA regs were killing them on expenses. That said, they produced a true winner with great performance, snappy acceleration, wonderful handling, and quick bias free braking on the panic stop.

So, we have a sporty low slung grocery getter, kid hauler, and fairly rare example of this Ferrari-esque Volvo 1800E. A sports car from the Swedes that are more known for reliability and safety over performance and styling, now gracing our Hallowed Halls and will be a surefire standout in your collection.