When deciding how far to take a project car, you have to be careful to not exceed the limits of what others will appreciate when you’re done. This is not to say you only improve or upgrade a car for the next guy, but you do want to have some guardrails in place in case you someday tire of the project or otherwise need to sell it. In the case of this 1976 Volvo 245 wagon, a previous caretaker resprayed the exterior, refreshed the interior, and left the car in “mechanically sorted” condition. It’s not perfect but the seller considers it “show worthy.” Find it here on eBay for $16,000.
The Volvo is now located in Ithaca, New York, but apparently spent most of its life in California. That’s good news, because Ithaca is likely one of the worst areas you can imagine when looking for a vintage car. Months of snow and sleet, coupled with tons (literally) of road salt, means sensitive sheet metal doesn’t stand a chance. The Volvo presents well with deep red paint and massive safety bumpers that honestly shock me – I hadn’t realized they were this massive, but of all the brands making cars in the 70s and 80s, Volvo took safety the most seriously.
The seller notes this Volvo originally had a cloth interior that likely matched the carpeting and door panels. The reupholstered seats don’t quite match the original shade, but I suppose most anyone would prefer to see this material than ripped up cloth. Still, if I was going through all that work, I might have opted to find the interior from a parts car that matched the original material. That’s the one upside to finding a rusty parts rig from the snow belt: there’s usually very little sun damage to deal with inside. This Volvo is equipped with a 3-speed automatic transmission and manual controls. The odometer no longer works and the next owner will need to hook up the speakers if they want tunes.
Under the hood is the classic overbuilt 2.1-liter “Red Block” engine. In naturally aspirated form, it produced 107 horsepower and 112 lb-ft of torque. While hardly fast, it is virtually unkillable. I’d like to know more about the car’s mechanical history to ensure the previous owner spent as much time keeping the oily bits in check as they did the cosmetics. Overall, this Volvo is in an interesting spot: you could continue to perfect it, or simply use it as-is and escape the cost penalty of the cosmetic work that the previous owner absorbed. There is an option to make a lower offer, which I would opt for if I was in the market.
Back in the 70s my boss then had a 4 dr 5 speed it had a overdrive switch on the knob. It was fun and it can handle the turns real well. I was more into American Muscle cars. I was surprised by the 245. That motor you can’t kill. Now I understand then why they make great Rallye cars. I have one negative thing about this one…its a slushbox trans. If this was manual I bet it would be gone. Its in great shape and a very fair price to start. So good luck to the seller. 🇺🇸🐻