Paul Newman once partook in a famous interview with David Letterman where he discussed needing a V8 in his Volvo wagon. Look it up, as it’s pretty entertaining and describes how Newman was eager to “…chew anybody’s ass” in traffic with a supercharged station wagon. The full context makes it worth searching for, but it’s always stuck in my head that if Paul Newman thought having a Volvo wagon with a meaty eight-cylinder swapped in (oh, and his car was supercharged – the “puffer”, as he called it), then that’s got to make it a pretty worthwhile pursuit. The 1982 Volvo 240 wagon seen here on eBay began life as a homely diesel but now has an LT1 and six-speed manual swapped in.
The brown exterior is just what the doctor ordered on a sleeper like this, and the fact that it appears to be in mint condition makes a car like this even more desirable. The panels are laser straight, almost to the point of being somewhat unbelievable – how does a car meant for daily driving survive in such pristine condition? The wheels are lifted from a turbocharged model and are the perfect OEM+ upgrade for a car like this. Even more impressive is the fact that chassis mileage is listed as being 439,000, so it’s not like this car was found as a low-mileage time capsule. The seller does note, however, that it has been in California since new – that always helps.
Volvos of this generation have long been favorites of the engine swap community, for a few important reasons. One, the engine swap itself isn’t a total nightmare, with a variety of V8 engine options dropping right into the 240’s generous engine bay. And two – perhaps most importantly – it’s just a riot to see the ultimate family hauler with smoke pouring out of its wheel arches and ripping off a 12-second quarter-mile pass (or better) at the local strip. The engine bay is downright tidy on this 240, and I always feel like it’s a strong indication as to who you’re buying the car from if the space under the hood looks this good – especially after an engine swap.
The interior looks good too, albeit with a few more cosmetic flaws than seen on the outside. The T56 six-speed and LTI engine have a mere 30,000 miles on them since being rebuilt, so this drivetrain has plenty of life left in it for the next owner. Even the air conditioning was redone, so you have a perfect classic daily driver that is comfortable and can haul everything you need, all while driving around in air-conditioned comfort. It’s hard to top that for a classic you can enjoy on a daily basis, and that’s why bidding is far too light at the moment as it’s sitting at $3,250 with the reserve unmet. It deserves far more, and hopefully, bidders will wake up to this in the days ahead.
This has to be the ultimate Volvo grocery getter, kids limo and cool as heck sleeper that looks like a hoot to drive.
Does that read as: Four Hundred Thirty Nine Thousand Miles?
439000
Ouch
Yes. You must not be familiar with Volvo 240’s or old Volvo’s in general. No ouch. It’s gone for a leisurely stroll thus far.
Should be almost broken in by now.
I wish I would have thought of one of these when our
Fairmont wagon got totaled in the early ’90’s.
A Volvette! Now we are talking! Great chassis to handle V8 power and a seriously fun car to own and drive. Whoever get this will be grinning from ear to ear.
Smelling salts,,get your smelling salts here, for Volvo freaks that just passed out. A “Brick” with a,,what now? Okay, back up a bit. Vintage Volvos have a certain,,,following, as it were. Volvos, especially this vintage, were engineered by top people. They were simply the best, AS IS! ( gaining composure) There was no need for something like this, and to see this, being one of those vintage Volvo freaks, this only shows, the builder was more concerned with good old, tire smoking American V8 power, than what a car like this was made for. Just the opposite, save the planet, cars for people who think,,and such, not burn rubber and pollute the air. I guarantee, most “tree huggers” back then, drove Volvos like this, without a V8 motor,,,just my kooky take on this.
Howard, you do realise that this was originally a diesel and that diesels produce far more pollution than any petrol engine?
Well sir, I’d challenge you on that. I’m no expert, but I believe diesels emit less carbon dioxide than gas motors, but produce like 400 times the soot, or something, so it’s a horse apiece. I think you missed my point about the people that drove Volvos during this period.
And factor into the equation the mpg’s it was originally getting compared to now.
Howard, this conversion actually happens quite a bit, only with Ford small blocks typically.
It’s a shame in a way because the red block engine that most had (I didn’t know there were any with diesels) are some of the longest lasting, most reliable engines ever made. But, you have to admit, they’re probably a lot of silly fun with a small block.
But the poor, pitiful PRV6 that ended up in some of these was supposed to be a V8. Along came the fuel crisis and two of those cylinders pretty much just got lopped off.
Nice looking wagon. Thought it was a GLT at first. Forgot about these in gold. I had a good looking “redwood” Turbo wagon the same year as this one.
I for one agree. You are a tree hugging joy killing kook! Volvo purists??? Soccer mom NPR believing dumber than a bag of hammers the lot of them.
Are you okay?
no
Don’t know about smoking expensive tires these days but being one of the folks who’d put a bigger motor in a washing machine I love the street car swaps, especially this one with the swap from a diesel.
This is a jewel. Needs a good detailing to quickly hit the reserve — the dirt is not doing it any favors.
How do you change spark plugs?
You change the plugs at every overhaul
Rather than a sleeper, I would refer to it as a Q-ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship
Yes !! And a very cool Q ship at that . Love it.
what else R ‘sleepers’ for?. Oh, OK, yeah – daily-ing…
I did none a that, stock 240 waggy, nota flyin brick BUT it out lasted any other car I’ve run regularly (no junk yard parts available, they didn’t seem to go there).
I was not the smelling salt guys of Howard’s. I enjoyed it when IT came to me (down to Chad’s price/age) as it had redundant breaks, where panels over laid triple, european fog light in back’n allsorta goodies. Car gave me 30 good years (so lasted 40).
That stock LT-1 will not be ripping off 12 second 1/4 mile times, but it will smoke the tires pretty good.
The implication that the Volvo should remain “unmolested” to stay in the the category that the car was originally designed for is amusing at best. MY SIL was enamored of older Volvos: 544, then 122 and a similar 240, and onward. I had to continually encourage her to upgrade to get better braking and reliability. We don’t live in the 80’s any more.
This mod created a nice performer and it appears to be done carefully and creates the sleeper ride that can be continual fun when out prowling the boulevard. Fun times.
When I was a kid I was fascinated with a magazine article about the first “sleeper” I had ever seen or heard of: they took an old Nash station wagon and dropped in a Corvette drivetrain. This had great appear to a 12 YO car obsession and this Volvo matches it with a step up in choice of body and drivetrain. worthy of any Cars and Coffee meetup, or perhaps a grudge match at Sears Point.
Man this thing looks fun as hell… My first car was a ’90 240 DL sedan and I actually love these cars.
I had a love hate relationship with my ’94 Camaro with the LT1. Spark plugs a PITA and oh boy, Opti-spark brings back bad memories. Looks like fun for sure though!
I saw one of the garage shows on tv, might have been Leno, but Newman had 2 built, and gave one to Letterman.
It was on Comedians in cars getting coffee with Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman. They cruised around in the V8 Ford version. Cool episode…
That’s it, quite the ride. Apparently the guy in Connecticut, Wayne (name escapes me) bought the one Newman owned?
No mention of the differential getting upgraded to handle the output of the LT1…how long will the Volvo dif hold up??
Can’t say with any certainty Ric, but if I am not mistaken these cars came with a Dana 30 differential. Perhaps one of the other commenters could verify this.
Not sure which rear end was in the18000ES race car I co-drove for two or three years but the center section gear ratios were changed and a limited slip added and it ran with no problems, and there were 3 of us driving it in two different classes. The differential was the one that came with the car and it got lots of rough, fast track time.
Some had 8.8 ford rear
Located in:
Rio Linda, California
Agree w bobhess was curious about the rear diff assembly and gear. But whatever she must fly. Be a very fun track car. These cars are well liked by racers. I know a guy who raced an automatic 240 and he was shocked how the transmission held up.
And why does this not require smog in California?
If the engine is newer than the car, it must have emissions controls of the later model. So if everything emissions wise from the LT1 engine was there, it would pass
I’ve seen a lot of these with small Ford v-8’s installed which is more my cup of tea. First On Race Day?
Either way those 240 wagons were the bomb for me for a good 20 years or so. Went thru 3 of them. My favorite being a late 80’s 4 cylinder with a stock 5 speed. Would never boil the hides but could drive it hard and fast on a regular basis.
Ended: Jan 30, 2022 , 6:34PM
Winning bid:US $12,600.00
[ 60 bids ]