Volvo 480 Club Europe

So sorry to post this here!! I'm Anthony who went by the name Tevred Turbo way back almost 20 years now (Holy smoke) and always meant to get back to the club as I never did sell my red 480 Turbo (M43 TEV) I bought in 2002. My hotmail ceased years ago and wasn't sure how to get in so HUGE thanks to Jeff! Anyway Would you believe my red turbo is still on my Mum's driveway after all this time? So the plan now is to fix it up (98% rust free! Crazy!) and get her back on the road. Just searched my name here and realise lot's of stuff I had completely forgotten about! I did have one of the 1st ES's in ireland (1987) but left it at a garage and never went back for it... What an idiot! I also had a white Turbo with a wonderful engine and guess what? I abandoned that too as I was leaving uni in Leeds and had nowhere to put it. Definitely have some BIG 480 regrets! Made worse by seeing values really shoot up...

Now before I go I almost bought a stunning grey Turbo last week (ironically in N.Ireland where my red car is). I just missed it on C&C by a day... Long story short got the details of the buyer (a classic car dealer in Dublin) and they almost doubled the price to €10k. I just lost out as I wouldn't go the extra €200 Euros they wanted as I'd only have to ship it over to England and transport down south. Bit gutted but so sad that classic dealers are jumping on them.

This leads me to another car one mentioned in another post (forgive me, not been on forums for years so feel free to nudge and kick me into the right places) a super clean (and oddly specified red ES H559 OAB). I have been given 1st offer on the car at £6300 but after reading the comments on it I realise yet again the car was bought at a 'sensible' price, cleaned up and flipped with a nice profit.

I'm torn as super clean 480's are getting rare but would so appreciate some advice. I really wanted the grey Turbo but although immaculate and owner before dealer was a gent, I just couldn't bring myself to pay almost £7k for a 75,000 Turbo that had sills replaced. Maybe I was silly but kept telling myself that that damn garage was making about £2k profit for literally buying, driving down to Dublin and taking photos of it. They didn't even do some tiny little touch ups they told the last owner they would do. So now no turbo's are to be found so should I buy the ES? It really is in incredible condition from what I can gather.

Very best wishes and great to be back!

Anthony aka Tevred Turbo

Good to have you onboard and posting!

OAB has been discussed here

I think we're just starting to see the interest in 480's creep up, which means we're going to start to have to deal with the dealers - or, as I refer to them, stealers.

Is OAB a nice car - Yes. Would I pay that much? No, and for the same reasons you list. £2k profit for doing bugger all? Go whistle dixie.

Get your red turbo OFF your mums driveway (now that's a treat for mothers day eh?) and get it back up and running. I've been tracking turbos for some time, and estimate that there's <50 surviving.

Hello and welcome back Anthony. You will see from recent posts that a lot of wedges have reappeared over the last eighteen months or so. Yes values have risen for good examples but there are a few sharks out there hoping for a bite! If as you say your turbo is “%98 rust free”, then spend on that. A good turbo is a rare thing these days. Good luck with it. Norm

@norm57 @jifflemon Thanks so much!

Its painful (also great I guess) to see values go up. The Irish dealer just made all that profit for driving in home. The last owner was such a cool guy and even he was surprised by his greed. Now my Turbo I bought in 2002 for the grand sum of £1695 and it had been used as a company car complete with telephone (very important! haha) but it had 102,000 miles on it. Mainly used on motorways and when I 1st bought it, it was immaculate to the point where the mileage became irrelevant as it always drove just great. Now the mileage is 102,500! I found new rear lamps (as the old ones lost some shine realise now they were fine) but made the mistake of fitting them only to leave the car outside with the rear facing the sun so they too are cracking. The interior seats etc are perfect, headlining drooping and there is water getting in so has it's own eco system in winter. The car did not deserve the treatment so only when I can actually get the car over can I really assess how much it will need. It's sat a very, very long time. The rust is a small area with little hole on top side of rear arch. I had sealed them years ago so it probably helped. Last I looked sills and underbody was perfect apart from the usual steel bar in the rear bumper. Really sad to learn there are now so few which makes me even more annoyed I missed the grey Turbo.

I am really torn with the red ES, he is a nice guy but clearly flipping for profit I saw the discussion thanks @jifflemon and that set some doubt in my mind as it was bought for £4200 in the end, I'm assuming by the guy selling in now. He serviced it (MOT history is immaculate really) and gave it a detail. Now he told me he hadn't done much but when I tried to haggle he said he'd spent too much time on it hence the price so I'm torn. I definitely need to focus on ye old Turbo and see if it forgives me! I'm jump on the OAB discussion! Thanks again !

Hello Anthony, great to have you back here

Indeed it is now the case that the 480 has garnered the attention of more mainstream communities prices have been rising, or rather, what people think they can get for them is rising, it does annoy me that using one daily is now more risky, but it is still worthwhile.

Do you think your abandoned 480s would still be there?

I know how it feels to have let a car down, my immaculate Rover 220GSi now has a couple rust spots

Hey there MisterH!

I know, it's great that the car gets the recognition it deserves. I am lucky to own other cars but the little 480 always speaks to me, I just don't know why. I'd buy all of the good ones if I could!

I do regret abandoning them (I always planned to go back but I did abandon them) the white Turbo had the early black engine and it was turbine smooth more so than any other. The Early 87 car I redid one arch and was solving some little hiccups. Drove it to a garage out in a farm yard to do work and I ended up going back to England and never went back partly as my family had moved. It had lot's of spares and tools inside, I really was stupid. Just realise looking back I definitely wasn't clever. It could very well still be there, how weird would that be! I also left behind an 87 Saab 900i Anniversary - today worth a fortune!

I also had a lovely 480 2.0i I bought very cheap and it cleaned up like new but unlike dealers today I only asked for a £200 premium for my time. It went to a 480 lover so I was happy. Really am fond of old Rovers, got so tempted by a 216 Tomcat (Honda Engine) in immaculate condition but he also was asking around 5k - 6k.

The problem is I own too many cars and none get the attention they deserve...! In the end I should have one great one and cherish it instead of 7 0r 8 and huge lock up bills every month. It's that bad! I'm so glad my wife can't read this haha

Very best wishes

Anthony

Holy account resurrection Batman!

Be sure to start a dedicated thread about TEV, its history, and detail the recommissioning.

Look forward to updates.

JKM

Haha!

You got it!

tevred turbo wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:49 pm

Hey there MisterH!

I know, it's great that the car gets the recognition it deserves. I am lucky to own other cars but the little 480 always speaks to me, I just don't know why. I'd buy all of the good ones if I could!

I do regret abandoning them (I always planned to go back but I did abandon them) the white Turbo had the early black engine and it was turbine smooth more so than any other. The Early 87 car I redid one arch and was solving some little hiccups. Drove it to a garage out in a farm yard to do work and I ended up going back to England and never went back partly as my family had moved. It had lot's of spares and tools inside, I really was stupid. Just realise looking back I definitely wasn't clever. It could very well still be there, how weird would that be! I also left behind an 87 Saab 900i Anniversary - today worth a fortune!

I also had a lovely 480 2.0i I bought very cheap and it cleaned up like new but unlike dealers today I only asked for a £200 premium for my time. It went to a 480 lover so I was happy. Really am fond of old Rovers, got so tempted by a 216 Tomcat (Honda Engine) in immaculate condition but he also was asking around 5k - 6k.

The problem is I own too many cars and none get the attention they deserve...! In the end I should have one great one and cherish it instead of 7 0r 8 and huge lock up bills every month. It's that bad! I'm so glad my wife can't read this haha

Very best wishes

Anthony

Haha, indeed, I am a young car enthusiast but already have plans to accumulate tat. The Rover is lovely even with a few faults, twin cam is very fun. Used it for the school run today as the Volvo isn't feeling ok at the moment, but will hopefully move it on soon to hunt an Isuzu Piazza...

One of my favourite cars! Love the Piazza!

One for sale at moment but been colour changed. Have a soft spot for the Honda Aerodeck also!

Drive safe

tevred turbo wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:25 pm

One of my favourite cars! Love the Piazza!

One for sale at moment but been colour changed. Have a soft spot for the Honda Aerodeck also!

Drive safe

If that is the bright blue one then yes I have seen that one, needs a lot doing to it...

Hi Anthony, and welcome back. Since turbos are a severly endangered species, I'd definitely vote for getting the red one over if the body is that good. You could get it re-commssioned for a lot less than the money being asked by dealers which should pacify your wife. There are a surprising number of members who have sold a 480 and regretted it so much they get another. Now we have someone who has abandoned them and regrets it Personally, I've never sold one, I'm not that brave, hence the collection of four !

Hopefully we will meet you in the not-too-distant future when restrictions allow our fabled convoys again.

[quote=MisterH post_id=223936 time=1615480955 user_id=21363]
[quote="tevred turbo" post_id=223935 time=1615479905 user_id=184]
One of my favourite cars! Love the Piazza!

One for sale at moment but been colour changed. Have a soft spot for the Honda Aerodeck also!

Drive safe
[/quote]

If that is the bright blue one then yes I have seen that one, needs a lot doing to it...
[/quote]

That's the one!

[quote=dragonflyjewels post_id=223937 time=1615482440 user_id=5626]
Hi Anthony, and welcome back. Since turbos are a severly endangered species, I'd definitely vote for getting the red one over if the body is that good. You could get it re-commssioned for a lot less than the money being asked by dealers which should pacify your wife. There are a surprising number of members who have sold a 480 and regretted it so much they get another. Now we have someone who has abandoned them and regrets it Personally, I've never sold one, I'm not that brave, hence the collection of four !

Hopefully we will meet you in the not-too-distant future when restrictions allow our fabled convoys again.
[/quote]

Hey there! Thank you so much! I agree I will definitely get the old girl on the road again... So angry i left it so long and my poor mum has had it on her drive since 2003...It's really awful so got the kick in the butt I deserved!

Sad that many have left the road, when I bought my red Turbo it was cheap (£1695) and there were lot's around and here we are in a flash 19 years later (sounds weird even saying it) and there are barely any good examples left and the UK was the biggest market!

I would LOVE to get involved and go out for a little parade! I am lucky to have great memories in a 480 and really regret selling or 'abandoning' them. Back then I was a 480 diehard, I ever intended to leave the red car there that long but life took over and started buying other cars. I also have a Camaro on the same drive since 2007. SORRY MUM!!!

Thanks for saying hello and I'll stay in the loop!

Best wishes

Anthony

On eBay now: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/volvo-480-tu ... 635-2958-0