Info & Pics of the Japanese market 480s!

[WillC9303]

Evening all,

A while back I made a post asking if anyone had any information on the mysterious Japanese market Volvo 480 models as there seemed to be next to nil information about them online. Martin63 was kind enough to send a PDF of an original brochure, but translating Japanese into English is quite difficult it turns out . However, I'm pleased to say that after coming across an Instagram post by user and 480 owner "markus.lohse" I now have some info on these cars. It turns out they were by far the strangest spec 480s of any market.

• Bizarrely, they were left-hand drive ONLY

• Turbo was the only engine available

• Were only sold for one model year (1991)

• All had velour upholstery with air-conditioning as standard.

• Red rear side markers instead of orange

• No bumper insert stripes

• Stone chip stickers black instead of transparent apparently.

• Side indicators were larger to comply with Japan law.

• Exhaust tip was bent to exit straight out the rear, rather than at an angle like on all other markets.

• Turns out I was correct about the side rubbing strips. They are the thinner unpainted type seen on the earlier ES models.

Japan sales are currently unknown, but it's guessed that only a handful were ever sold. It's unlikely any survive.




Brochure images courtesy of markus.lohse

[Martin63]

Great detective work Will!

I wonder if there's a Japanese equivalent of the DVLA with records that can be accessed?

[MisterH]

Oh
My
Fucking
God

This is undoubtedly a revelation, and now it means that when it comes to finally sorting out my bent exhaust on mine I can bend the tip to straight back and still be able to say its OEM

Would love to track down some of these Japanese spec parts
LHD was a really weird thing to be doing in Japan tho

[Martin63]

LHD was a really weird thing to be doing in Japan tho

Agreed - yet another classic 480 bit of weirdery! Why LHD when surely it was simpler to ship RHD Turbos from Born with the required adaptations for the Japanese market?

[WillC9303]

Great detective work Will!

I wonder if there's a Japanese equivalent of the DVLA with records that can be accessed?

I’ve no idea - If there was I wouldn’t have a clue where to start, language barrier aside!

I’d highly doubt any survive though. My guesstimate is that 480 sales in Japan were probably single figures max. I’ve heard there were some private imports into Japan a number of years ago but I’m not counting those as they were unofficial and after production ceased.

According to the forum member statistics, there have been 6 registered members living in Japan since this forum started in around 2002. Not the most reliable thing to base a prediction off, but it’s probably the best we’ll ever get.

Would love to track down some of these Japanese spec parts
LHD was a really weird thing to be doing in Japan tho

There are reproductions of the red side markers that can be bought, and as you say, the exhaust can easily be fabricated if you so wish.

The hardest part would undoubtedly be the larger Japan spec side repeaters. Forget unobtainium, for all we know the ones in these press photos could have been the only set ever made.

[jamescarruthers]

Very interesting stuff.

There was that one that came up for breaking in Japan. No idea if it was a Japanese original though. Can't seem to find the post but the pictures, if still available, might show the sidemarkers. Had a quick at the parts catalogue I have and no mention of Japanese lights.

[Jay-Kay-Em]

Quite bizarre. Thanks for posting. Many bizarre things in 480 world.

Had a quick at the parts catalogue I have and no mention of Japanese lights.

The red side markers are in the parts catalogue (3402472 & 3402473) but that's not to say they are exclusively Japanese - I think they might of been in preparation for USA. Probably unobtanium from new.

The hardest part would undoubtedly be the larger Japan spec side repeaters. Forget unobtainium, for all we know the ones in these press photos could have been the only set ever made.

Wouldn't surprise me that the "Japanese" side indicators are generic / parts bin from something else rather than the cost of design & tooling.

LHD was a really weird thing to be doing in Japan tho

Agreed - yet another classic 480 bit of weirdery! Why LHD when surely it was simpler to ship RHD Turbos from Born with the required adaptations for the Japanese market?

Japan has a totally different outlook to LHD compared to us. They see LHD as exclusive and directly linked to premium imports. Spot a Jag out there and its often LHD when the RHD equivalent is/was easily available. I'm currently watching a Clio Williams that's fresh off the boat from Japan and that's LHD - no reason for it to be, other than that air of exclusivity in the Japanese mindset.

Porsches out there of my era (944, 928 etc) are the same - all LHD of models that were easily available RHD. I think imports were so expensive due to import taxes, LHD almost became a status symbol.

Totally different here of course. I remember when everyone wanted a Mk1 TT and the first private German imports on X-plates came over in LHD. UK got RHD 6 months later and the LHD cars became unfashionable VERY quickly! Same with "new" beetle at roughly the same time.

I'm not a very travelled man and i'll openly admit that. That's partly by choice of course. The exception to that is Japan. It's a totally unique culture and I would love to go one day.

[AdamG]

There’s some great pics form circa 2005 on Rakuten. A user by the name of Katsu3710

[AdamG]

I don’t know how to post images, so I’ll post links instead

https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/voldog480/d ... 411270000/

Just keep clicking hyperlinks until you find more pics. There’s loads of images which highlight the features and specs you’ve already pointed out, but it’s great to see them out there in real life and not in the brochure.

[jifflemon]

this is the link for all his 480 posts

[AdamG]

^^ thanks, Jeff!🥲

[WillC9303]

Wow Adam, this is fantastic!

I was always sure that at least some pictures existed on the Japanese side on the internet by never knew how to access that side as Google pumps the English web results first.

Great to have a close-ish photo of the side indicators. They don’t look to be generic parts bin either as they have a Volvo emblem on them. Red side markers too!

The only thing I don’t like is the downturned diesel style exhaust. Looks better in the brochure to be honest.

Going to download the photos when I get back in case the links ever break.

From what we know now, there was at least:
2x White Turbos
2x Smoke Silver Turbos
1x Red Turbo
1x Black Turbo (From the original brochure)

I will make an attempt to contact ‘Katsu3710’ on Rakuten, but he hasn’t been active in a long time so maybe a wasted exercise. Still, doesn’t hurt to try though. Unfortunately there is no user going by that name (or anything similar) on this forum.

[jamescarruthers]

Very interesting, thank you!

[WillC9303]

Well, after doing a lot of digging, I have uncovered some more info. It turns out 300 cars were officially imported into Japan from 1989 to 1991, with a price of around 3.5 million yen, which equated to about £20,000 at the time.

Of those 300 cars, 295 were LHD manuals and the remaining 5 were RHD Automatics. They were offered in only 5 colours: Smoke Silver Met, Black, White, Red & Silver Grey Met.

Leather seats were indeed an option, and there is at least 1 confirmed survivor, a red Turbo that unfortunately has a snapped cam belt and has been in storage for 20 years. Last year someone was interested in buying the car and the owner wanted 200,000 yen (just over a grand). I think he still has the car, though. https://muuseo.com/itaba_tokyo/items/44?theme_id=3956

It's very likely there are a handful of survivors with a Silver Grey Met Turbo spotted seemingly quite recently judging by the very modern traffic surrounding it (not the one below, that was taken in 2013). I have an absolute ton of pictures that I've stumbled across, so if anyone is interested then drop me a PM.

There also are recent imports into Japan too, a white richmod GT Turbo imported in 2021, and a 1994 2.0 ES went on sale this March with an asking price of around 4.1 million yen (£22,000)