VIN: VC26265LD003520
I am selling my house and I have come to terms with the fact that I’m not the one who’s going to get this car going again.
The original 6 cylinder B27 V6 PRV engine was swapped for a B230f from a 1987 240 when I purchased it in 2004. I do not know what the mileage was on this new engine, but the car was my daily driver from 2004-2007 and nearly all functions worked at the time, including the power windows and power mirrors (but never did manage to get the power antenna feature working for the radio). I put about 50k on the car over the years. The odometer in the car currently reads 281k miles.
Cosmetically the car is in reasonably good condition for its age. The vinyl roof is in great condition and will really pop after a bit of detailing. Some of the rubber trim is pretty dried out and cracking, and a few smaller detail trim parts are missing. The car was re-painted by the seller when I purchased it in 2004 and the close observer will see that the paint job was decent, but not stellar. One of the crown logos was vandalized from the vinyl roof, but I sourced another one (along with a whole set of 262c badges) from eBay many years ago and the emblems come with the car, along with a lot of other parts I culled from eBay over the years. All of the window glass is original with Volvo markings. The passenger side rear view mirror internals are missing, but I think I have a replacement in the trunk. The car comes with Volvo Corona wheels. I’m not sure these were original on the ’78, but they were definitely featured on later models of the 262c. As you can see from the photos, the car currently has some other Volvo hubcaps, but I also have a set of the nice steel ones that go with the Coronas—the wheel bolts need to be changed out to use those. It has a set of Yokohoma Avid Touring tires that have a lot of tread left on them, but since the car has been sitting for many years, I’m not sure how they will perform.
The interior has all of the original burl wood inlays, leather trim and the headliner and other details as designed by Bertone. The passenger front seat and rear seats have the original Bertone leather, but need some repair and conditioning. Part of the driver front seat was redone before I got it, in the same style, but the repair and modification were not top notch. The rear seats are in much nicer shape, but will need a repair above the rear center fold-down armrest. The black leather in this car really makes it feel luxurious. All of the original carpeting is in good shape, and I have added after market carpet floor mats for additional protection. There is a crack in the dashboard.
As far as I know, the vehicle has never been in an accident. After 2008 it was driven only occasionally until 2015, when it was parked in my garage in San Francisco. There are stickers in the engine compartment showing a timing belt replacement in December 2005, the AC upgrade in July 2006, and the engine swap being certified compliant to California Emission Standards in 2010 by the Bureau of Automotive Repair. At one point I had all of the service records since 2004, but the earlier ones seem to have been lost in one of my moves and currently I only have oil change and smog check records starting with the 2010 BAR records. The last smog check was in 2014 and I have had the car registered as Planned Non Operation since 2016, since I was no longer driving it.
Since the car has been sitting in my garage for almost 10 years, and not started in that time it will need to be towed away. You are welcome to come inspect it before purchasing. My garage is at the bottom of a short but steep driveway with concrete walls on both sides. Therefore the car may need to be pulled out of the garage with a winch.
This is a car that should be fairly easy to get back on the road after it is given a thorough maintenance review, and it has the potential to be restored to excellent condition. The car was fun to drive around town and cruised nicely on the freeway as well. It’s definitely got a unique look that turns heads, but obviously not for everyone. I mean David Bowie had one…so there’s that, and his did not even have the vinyl roof!
Extra bonus:
- The original inflatable spare – and original jack and tire irons are in a bag that matches the interior trunk carpeting.
- An assortment of alternative Volvo dash dials.
- 12v 300 psi compressor for the original inflatable spare
- A set of unused chains for the tires
- A high quality car cover
- Jumper cables
- A die hard 6v/12v battery charger/maintainer
- A Haynes 240 manual
- A parking club (still looking for the keys though)
- A few repair records. If I find the others while packing up my house I will include those as well.
I’m open to reasonable offers on the car from serious parties. Local pick-up only, unless the buyer wants to arrange transport. My primary concern is that it goes to a passionate owner who wishes to get it running and show it around.
If this doesn’t go in the next couple weeks, I plan to list it on eBay and will post a link as a follow-up.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions. I have more photos that I can share with those who are seriously interested.