After already having been in production since 1961, Volvo introduced the final variation based on its P1800 series in 1972, the 1800ES. The car was styled as a sporty wagon, and for the final year of production in 1973, the ES wagon was the only P1800 variant the company manufactured. It’s somewhat of a rare one too, as fewer than 8,100 examples were made during the two-year run for the 1800ES. If you like the sleek lines and have always wanted to take one of these on as a project, this 1973 Volvo 1800ES might be worth checking out. It’s in Olympia, Washington, and can be seen here on eBay with a current bid of $3,763.
I’ve got to hand it to the seller for providing so many photos. We get the link to a Dropbox account, where no less than 140 pictures of the Volvo can be viewed, leaving little to the imagination about what you’re getting here. The body is described as super straight, which the images seem to back up, with just some surface rust said to be present in areas where the paint has chipped off or cracked. Hopefully, that’s exactly the case, although there are a few small areas where it looks like the metal might be getting at least close to deterioration. If it’s not quite there yet, that’s good news, and in any event, whatever it is all seems fairly minor anyway. I’m guessing this would be a great-looking car with a minimum of bodywork followed by a nice paint job.
Under the hood, things appear to be pretty much complete and in place, but for unknown reasons, the engine is not currently running. The starter engages and the motor turns over, but it won’t start, so there will be some mechanical work ahead for the next owner to get this one back to a driver. The clutch engages and the manual transmission seems to be shifting fine, plus the underside of the Volvo is claimed to be in perfect shape. Kudos again to the seller’s photos, as we do get to see some shots of the south side, including this one, and it does appear to be looking really good down below.
I’d say things inside are in about average condition for an almost 50-year-old vehicle, with a lot of the wear that would be expected from most original interiors of this vintage. The seats could use some attention and there’s a crack or two in the dash, but other than a missing radio it looks to be mostly complete and intact in there. And I’m also liking how much cargo room the rear area has to offer. There’s no reserve price on this one, so the high bidder has bought the car. All in all, this Volvo 1800ES seems like a rather decent project. What do you think?
Always thought these were better looking than the coupe-no tail fins. Doesn’t hurt either that there’s more luggage room if you’re doing a cross country tour. IIRC, though, my friends from the Midwest and northeast tell me these had some rust issues in some hard-to-get-to places and the back windows were crazy expensive.
Regardless, I’d have one of these in a minute for a commuter just for their reputation for being a tough Swede.
ES has the same tail fins with the same chrome fin trim as the coupes. You just don’t see them as much with the hatch/gate/body in between.
There’s a lot of the injection missing and the under dash AC stuff isn’t in the photos.
Pine/spruce needles in the engine bay with no valve cover screws isn’t encouraging.
It looks to be a solid body if it hasn’t had bad previous work. Fuel tank and other spots look like repaint.
Owned a new ’72 for three days until we found out it wasn’t the color we ordered. Never saw the car and another one wasn’t available on the west coast within our time frame. Wound up with a Chevy Blazer. To this day really love the ES cars. Nice example here.
Not to be a contrarian, but IMHO the 1800 was proof that it didn’t need to be a million dollar supercar to have beautiful lines. Slapping a shooting brake rear end on it did no favors to one of my favorite car designs.
Most Volvos had little personality…. dependable yes, style no… but this one has style…. my father-in-law drove one of these as a salesman who traveled Arizona, NM, Colorado, Utah selling telephone equipment to small telephone companies… he loved it. I like the style and the dependability
Old Volvos are ALL personality- I’ve had two 544s and a 122S coupe. They were great, reliable most of the time, and straightforward to fix when necessary.
pretty ideal (good on the twisties, some utility in back). Wasnt the earlier ES a lill less angular, smoother? May B my faded memory or “as compaired to other era designs”. Wish they were just a lill bigger
No early or late ES. ’72 and ’73 only years and they were all the same.
My older sister had one identical to this one (great fun to drive!). Late one evening, leaving our parent’s house, as a family friend watched, she was in the Volvo, and was rear ended by a drunk 16 year old in a 1973 Mustang doing 70mph, totalling both cars. No one was hurt, but my sister cut her hands on the broken glass trying to get out of the drivers door window.