Thanks Sylvia, and as you point out, sadly it's not a special edition - it's got the standard black and grey leather interior and the black (rather than green) pinstripe.
I'll try and take/upload some pics - i'd intended to once it got to 200,000 miles as a celebration of its longevity!
But here's a bit of info about the car, to flesh out the pic above (which, incidentally, i didn't take and found on a Danish 480 webpage - fame!):
I bought it for £400 in 2008 at 110,000 miles and became its fourth owner. It has - if you're willing to accept records and receipts for work i've done myself - a pretty much full service history. I still have the original stamped service record (up to 80,000 miles i think) and piles of receipts from the two owners after that. It's never been off the road, but it appears to have been partially resprayed on its nearside, so must have been in a scrape at some point... (i don't have a receipt for that, so i'm speculating).
The front of the car is in great shape - i treated it to a bumper claimed from a garaged write-off and it has crystal clear clusters (i've insulated the connectors on the DRL bulbs so they only ever operate at the lower output). Subframe is pretty much rust free and the pop ups have always popped up. All the major stuff has been done and redone - 3x cam belts in my ownership, 2x clutch, water pump, alternator, ABS accumulator, radiator, thermostat (x2) and hoses, PAS pump, starter, front and rear main oil seals, cam shaft seals, dizzy, gearbox radial seals, nearside driveshaft replaced, both wishbones, linkages, tie-rod ends etc. It currently doesn't lose fluid apart from a bit of oil which i think is coming from around the sump seal. The best thing i ever did was get the replacement driveshaft (SKF), which solved my gear oil woes once and for all!
The back of the car is not so good. But this informs my general perception of the 480 - the front was well-designed, the rear not so much. Must have had four back-boxes in my ownership and both rear arches are messy - not rusting at present, but not pretty either... Both rear sills have been welded, as has the offside rear seatbelt mount (this will need to be done
again for next MOT). Rear bumper looks very ropey, 'catalyser' badge has decided to start to peel off. Rear clusters are ok and only let in a bit of water in monsoon conditions (we have those in London now), wiring to tailgate has been redone by me (again not pretty) but all the electrics work as they should.
And on that note - touch wood - i've never had any electrical problems. The info centre has always worked perfectly, as i say the pop-ups have always worked, the sunroof works (new pins
) as do windows, mirrors, aerial, wipers, fans etc etc etc (i've no doubt jinxed it all by writing this!). Idle issues have been fixed by adjusting the idle screw and keeping plugs fresh, control valve and EGR system clean.
On the inside it's got its original instrument cluster showing 193,000 miles, hardly any peel (just a bit on the rev counter), auxiliary gauges, original radio cassette, digital clock, intact seatbelt arms, soft-touch ashtray. Driver's seat is a bit tatty (that's the one I mostly sit in to drive), but the others are excellent. I replaced the ignition barrel and switch to solve an intermittent starting issue.
The car - aside from overheating just after i bought it (bad hose) - has never let me down. I've taken it all over the country and it's never broken down and never left me stranded. The biggest problem i had was the intermittent starting and that was just worn out ignition barrel parts - by 180,000 miles it had clearly been started many many times
It's still on its original fuel pump, which occasionally worries me, but not enough to do anything about it. The Teves MK2 ABS once saved the car (and me) from a write-off on the M25. It was wet and i was convinced we weren't going to stop, but with a god-awful report from the nearside front wheel, the car came to a halt centimetres from the bumper in front. Whatever that ancient ABS did, it didn't sound good, and it consumed most of the break pad, but it worked!
All in all, it's a fantastic and weirdly reliable car. A money/time pit, yes, but a very rewarding one. And i've only ever replaced old worn out stuff, to be fair - totally standard for a car of this age. This is why i'm so reluctant to get rid of it - it would quite happily carry on going for many more miles as far as i'm concerned, especially as so many of the running gear essentials have been renewed.
oh we've had some good times
I'm crossing my fingers for the emissions data! Supposedly Volvo were always ahead of the curve on this...