1986 Volvo 480 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

One of the first 480ES in the UK Having been made redundant from MGA Developments in 1993, and then setting up my own Design Consultancy. i had used my Austin Healey as my company car for the first summer months, but as winter drew in, i needed something a bit warmer as my step daughter complained about the lack of space in the rear of the Healey. I had first worked at Volvo Holland in 1985, at which time the 480 was already well into it's development, although i did get to add some details on the project (such as the grille under the bumper ... a homage to Ferrari) , i later penned the ideas for the convertble version, that only ever was a show car, never unfortunately making it into production. So when an early model appeared in the small ads, at a very reasonable price .... i had to chose it over some of the more mundane cars in my budget at that time. Unfortunately it was in white, and had had a very heavy life already .... so i coaxed it passed 100000 miles, with expensive servicing costs, and rust just starting to show through the matt paintwork, as the car was rarely washed. It had a cool coupe proportion and a very original 4 seater interior, and trip computer etc. But it was rather gutless and had to be really pushed to get even a modicome of pace out of the Renault 1721cc engine. I replaced when i bought my Escort Cosworth, selling it to the works 'handy man', an ex-squaddie, who then drove it to Bosnia, where he was taking up a post as a UN bomb disposal mine clearer. I never heard of him or the car ever again. May 29, 2008