[All photos by the author. Luckily, the internet saved them for me.]
By 2002, I was a Certified Volvo 240 Nut™. As people often do when they become enamored with a particular make and model, I felt compelled to explore the history of the marque. Allow me to tell you the sad story of a brief and bitter fling with what many consider to be the most beautiful Volvo ever sold.
I was married at the time. My (then) wife encouraged my Volvo madness, and in some ways was the source of it. I had stumbled across an estate sale happening about a hundred miles away, featuring a 1973 Volvo 1800ES. It piqued my interest – maybe I could get an interesting car at a good deal!
The day before the auction, my wife and I went to the pre-sale inspection. I took a good look at the car. It was a great “10-foot” car, but closer inspection proved more concerning. Quite a few areas needed attention, but it would be a good candidate for a “rolling restoration”. Unfortunately, I could not attend the auction myself. I sent my wife to the auction, with instructions to “spend $2000, $2200 if you have to.”
I was at work the day of the auction. My phone rang.
“I bought the car!”
“Great! How much did you pay?”
“I’m not telling you.”
I finally got it out of her. Including fees, she paid SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS!
The car, I felt, wasn’t worth that. In addition, $6000 was more than I had ever spent on a car in my entire life. It easily needed a couple thousand in parts alone, never mind labor. At that time, a perfectly mint 1800ES was worth about 10 grand, tops.
All sales are final at an auction, so I was stuck. I was quite crabby the next day as I hitched up the trailer to pick it up. I got the car home, but I could scarcely even look at it. The car made me mad, the deal made me mad, and the fact that she had completely ignored my knowledge and opinion made me mad. In fact, it was one of the nails in the coffin of our marriage.
I drove the car around a few times, hoping that I would fall in love with it, hoping that love would overwhelm my anger. It never did. I knew I couldn’t keep the car, but I didn’t think I could come close to breaking even if I sold it.
Then I realized that she had a counter-bidder at the auction, so maybe it WAS worth that much. At least it was worth a shot. I posted a few ads online, listing the price at an even $6000, hoping I wouldn’t have to take too big of a loss. I waited. And waited. And gave up hope when there were no responses in a few weeks.
Then out of the blue, I got a call from a young man. He had always wanted an 1800ES, he was fresh out of college with a good job, and he told me, “If not now, when?”
He drove across the state for a test drive. I actually had to do the driving, because his manual transmission skills were weak and he politely did not want to risk my clutch. Within a mile or two, he turned to me and said, “I’ll take it!”. No haggling, full price! My heart leapt with joy as I realized that I would be able to get this albatross from around my neck without simultaneously losing my shirt!
The deal was done, money and keys were exchanged. I gave him a brief lesson in clutch operation, and sent him and the car on their way. I’ve never been happier to sell a car.
Unless your wife was planning on purchasing the car for you, how exactly did she think she would be able to withhold how much was to be paid?!? That is some seriously messed up stuff right there. I can see why you would hate the car under those circumstances, too.
This is the problem with the spouse-buying-you-a-car thing as exemplified by those Lexus holiday ads…either your spouse is really saying, “Honey, I’ve loaded us with a serious debt obligation! Isn’t it beautiful?”, or he/she has cash you didn’t know about. Or (as in this case) she has a reality distortion field that causes overspending.
When my wife bought our Z3 (which needed work), at least it was her money, and she had a clear understanding of what it mean to buy a work in progress–and we agreed, “OK, this is where your bonus this year is going, no turning back, right?”
(Still have it, still enjoy it.)
A very sad story. Something that you thought would bring you pleasure bringing so much pain and anger instead. My heart broke as I read this.
This is a pretty car. The potential is very obvious. Too bad the circumstances messed it up for you. I can imagine every time you see a vintage Volvo this memory comes up.
At least the next owner was o.k., maybe even happy, with the deal and hopefully he fixed it up the right way.
What are they worth nowadays?
If this had been me, I think she would have been an ex-wife….eventually, too. And a story like this makes me shake my head whenever some woman says she was ripped off by a car salesman.
OTOH, I once bought a Volvo PV 544 that I overpaid for. Looking at the interior pictures posted here, reminded me of the water stained floor mat that I thought came from wet shoes when it turned out to be from a windshield that leaked….BADLY around it’s seal. And the consensus from a dealer tech after I took the car to get a new freeze plug installed: not worth whatever I paid for it.
BTW, THE best looking Volvo to date is a 740/780 Bertone Coupe.
So this “outrageous” current design: http://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-1200-675/public/525009999-1.jpg?itok=AJJ2rFl5 has a precedent.
Volvo c30
I recall meeting the former Mrs. Reisner once, years ago. This story reminds me of that, ah, encounter. I…am not sure what more to say. I’m not sure more needs saying, except perhaps “Dayum!”.
Evan, I agree with you that the 1800ES is a beauty. Especially a red one.
I’d love to have one of those, a PV544, and an Amazon 122 station wagon. That would be a dream classic Volvo garage.
Did you know that General Colin Powell is a classic Volvo aficionado?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/automobiles/collectibles/04VOLVO.html?_r=0
After two failed marriages, many failed dating experiences, and now one great committed relationship going on 11 years, I can say that dealing with any type of automobile issue, problem, lemon, bad buy, overpay, slipping clutch, or leaking radiator is much easier to resolve than any issue with another human being, especially one with whom you are intimately involved.
That’s why Jay Leno has 100s of cars but only one wife.
I dunno, if my wife brought home a fully functional vintage car for $6,000 I wouldn’t be angry. If she’d overpaid that would just increase my resolve to get my money’s worth in seat time.
Anyway, life’s too short for anger. When Mrs DougD nailed a concrete flowerpot and scuffed up our car’s bumper I just said “well, don’t do THAT again…”
Yes. In my mind, it could have been worse, say if I agreed to buy a car for $2200 and then came home to tell the Mrs. That I spent $6k instead. I like your real life version better. At least you got the car and didn’t ignore the deal with your spouse.
I think we’ve all had the experience of getting something like this, expecting great things, then being disappointed.
That being said, the 1800 IS a beautiful car, either the wagon or the coupe.
I tried to find a decent 240 last time I needed another vehicle, but had no luck.
And I’d love to own a 544.
My (still-current) wife bought a Honda Acty to putter around the farm with while I was overseas. Had to have it, it runs, the price is good, really nice guy selling it, blah, blah, blah.
So, of course, she never test drove it (Why would she, right? It was just too cute to pass up….), and it turns out that nice guy she bought it from had it running just long enough for him to get it on the trailer.
I’d come home and work on it, get mad, and then it would sit until I came home the next year. When I came home for good it continued to enrage me every time I looked at it, so it finally had to go.
Unlike you, I lost my ass on that piece of crap, though if you count the benefits to my blood pressure of having it gone… maybe I can rationalize that deal as a net plus.
Hey, I’ve done that! Bought waaaay too early (oh alright, paid way too much).
But it was part of a pattern. Almost 5 years ago I was fixated with a car an evil friend alerted me to. The 280S. I’m in Melbourne, it was in Adelaide, no matter that’s why they have planes. So I arranged for a local specialist to look at it, had a knowledgable friend here talk to him before going over (said specialist would not write a report…of course now we know why). Well, off I went in a rush to grab it, Mrs Jim just rolling eyes, and drove it back. That was the fun part.
Got it into a shop here and found out just what can be omitted in describing a car…LHS rail replaced from b pillar forward. Head skimmed below minimum thickness an packed off block with an artful spacer. Of course there was a myriad of other stuff.
Paid 8K, took about 6K straight away to get it on the road, and almost 5 years later there’s easily been another 10K in keeping it on the road. Not divorced over the issue but Mrs Jim refuses to drive the thing and all car buying privileges have been revoked and such matters are only to be conducted by a responsible adult, ie not me.
As a footnote, when the thing arrived at work a colleague wondered why I’d go all that way for a white 4 door, especially as there was one coming up at a a house and contents auction auction. That was a 280SE, one owner, 52K miles and everything but air and sunroof. Showed that to evil friend, he wins it, not cheap by any means and so far it’s taken something close to my total to get it running OK. Payback, hah!
So Evan, I’d have bought that ES first time round or the second, sorry it cost you more than the money. PS, I have a factory ES workshop manual sitting here in the hope of having one someday. And Gem, if you’re reading this, there’s a BL manual for a Stag here too – taupe hardcover with extravagant gold graphics Too scared to remove the shrink wrap after all else I’ve read. That plan may not be pursued. See? Learning, finally?
*cough* type 34 *cough*
Whatever could you mean? The one sitting in long term (20+ years) storage less than 15 minutes from here? Oh, as a means of making amends, I get it now. Yeah I’ll get right on that with all the resources freed up in the “no cost changeover” from the Mazda 6. Hahahahaha!
hehehe. What you have failed to account for in the W108 cost benefit analysis is the inestimably high value of adding to Melbourne’s greatness in having a DD like this being driven around in public view every day. Inestimable I tell you. From my POV, you should be getting a subsidy from Vic Tourism.
Hey at least it’s a beautiful car. People have paid way more for cars that were much uglier and in worse shape.
I can relate to this, different circumstances, but still ending in tears.
She would have thought she was doing the right thing, as in wanting you to have the car, and got carried away in the excitement of bidding.
I thought these were one of the prettiest cars I’d ever seen –it didn’t look as dated as the coupe. That was the appeal of this style of the Geo Storm. All the ones at local dealers seemed to be this one, which I found highly resistible.I wound up at the Dodge dealer.
David – I remember that Geo too. I couldn’t wait to see one in the flesh but when I did that was enough.
The 1800ES is the paragon in the accessible shooting brake category. That Isuzu/Geo was completely wanting; the C30 was intriguing enough but never quite got me into the Volvo showroom. An earlier potential successor to the 1800ES slot was the Volvo 480 but that car never made it to the USA. And I always liked the looks of the Mitsubishi Mirage three door from around 1990 (see Dodge/Plymouth Colt and maybe even Eagle too).
I simply can’t imagine any proper shooting brake not having a V-8 and rear wheel drive but that is never going to be sold here in my lifetime.
I always kinda wanted a Volvo 480 (having seen one on the Autobahn when I visited Germany in 1990). Now it’s old enough that one could be imported legally… hmmm…
I don’t mind the looks of the C30 myself.
“6100? 6100? Do I hear 6100? Sold for 6000 to the lady with the bad judgment, whose husband will be very angry.”
Would you want an 1800ES in good condition at the right price now, or did this one poison the well?
I still think they’re beautiful cars, but owning that sort of car isn’t viable in my life at this point. Even if it was, I’d want something else, just because I have already owned one.