Yep, that’s right another one. This time, this one has a story, so of course I had to share it with you!
Right after I sold my 2008 V70, I had really liked how handy the wagon was and wanted to own another one some day. I just did not realize that it would be so soon. One night after I got home from work, I began to search for Volvos again. That is when I found it. At first when I saw the ad, I thought it was a scam because it looked too good. When I finally got in touch with the seller within 10 minutes of him listing it, I was about to be amazed.
The ad did not have a phone number, so I had to shoot an email, which I hate. Within 15 minutes the seller called me, and we began to talk about this unique Volvo. He told me he was stationed in Germany for a few years, and that is how he acquired this car. Nothing unusual about a serviceman bringing a car home, but the interior. It had blood red leather in it. He proceeded to tell me that when he and his wife had a baby, they decided to buy a used Volvo from another American family there. The other family had bought this car new in Germany, and had chosen some wild options for the car. For instance, the interior, the lane departure warning system without blind spot or navigation (usually these are sold together), and DVD system. It also had no roof rails which give it a cleaner look. The buyers also chose to get the active headlights which is rarely seen on this generation V70.
The seller was asking basically trade in on it because he was getting deployed again, and was wanting to buy a new Highlander for his wife that weekend before he left. I told him I was on my way and to please do not sell it to anyone else. He agreed, and we met up that Saturday morning where the car was in STL. When I first laid eyes on it, I was so pleased with the car I would have paid more than he was asking. It was well kept, and presented as described. I loaded it onto the trailer and headed back to Arkansas.
When I got home, my wife looked at it, shrugged, and said “that is definitely red leather”. I did not expect much more from her honestly. The car had 132,000 miles on it, and had a well kept record. Contrary to what we do here, in Germany when a car is serviced they actually use a service book in the car. The service tech would stamp it with his stamp, and list what was done. Most of the writing was in German, but after some translating I was able to figure out almost all of the major service items were done at the dealer. I never had to do one single thing to this car, so that was probably true.
Diving a bit more into these options, I found out that this red interior was an option for the 2008-2010 V70, however I have never ever seen one. This color mostly ended up in the C70, and that was about it. I would guess that you could have gone to any Volvo dealer in 2009 and special ordered a red interior, but it was rarely done. The V70 did not sell well to begin with, so no one really wasted their time on ordering one over here. Basically the first buyers went to the Volvo dealer near their base in Germany that participates in military and diplomatic sales, and picked what options they wanted and what they did not. This would disregard any “packages” like we have over here in the US. I did not see any evidence of Overseas Delivery, which is still an option for European buyers. This is what leads me to believe that it was a special order. However or whoever chose the options on the car, I would like to shake their hand!
While not uncommon for a service car to travel all over Europe, I thought it was cool that the car had been to so many countries. The seller had said it went to Germany, Italy, France, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. This is just something that you do not see here very often, and the seller really did not know what he had. It was a holy grail to a Volvo nut.
In a very foolish way I decided to sell, and move onto something else. I will regret this decision for a long time. I told the buyer that if he ever decides to sell it again to please let me know, and they agreed. When I listed the car, I listed it high in hopes that no one would bite. Well, like the last V70, people went wild. I ended up selling it for full asking price to the first person that saw it. He was a local guy, so I still see the car from time to time, and it makes me sad.
With every car I learn a lesson. This one is a hard one to learn. Be grateful for the rare ones, and appreciate them. Also, don’t be stupid and sell them. Oh well, life goes on, and it’s just a car in the end.
It can’t have zero rear seat knee room, so why does it look like that?
That is about all you get when the rear seats are slid back.
My family’s 122S wagon, which was their only car from 1964 to 1986, from my age seven to almost 30 and of course long after id left home, was also picked up on European delivery. And it was dark gray with a bright red interior. That, and also being a Volvo wagon, we’re about the the only things in common with this one. But it’s nice to see it’s offspring here on CC.
Beautiful Volvo. I purchased my C30 through the diplomatic and military sales program some nine years ago. They give you a full build sheet and you can pick any option – it’s so much better than the packages that only are available at the dealer.
Hope some day yours makes it back to you.