I came from a Volvo family. My grandad had multiple 340 models, my dad had a 240. Our closest family friends had a mk1 760GLE – the early model with the italic 760 boot script.
It all started in 1991 with THIS very brochure that I still have today. I was 12 years old. I went with my father to Pollendines of Frinton; no longer a Volvo main dealer, to look at a Volvo 240. In the middle of the showroom was a black 480 Turbo, illuminated by down-lighters, looking absolutely amazing. All I could do was take a brochure, that very brochure, and pour over it cover to cover, as only an impressionable 12 year old boy can do. I saw it as the coolest car in the world. Pop-up lights, digitalised instruments, a big TURBO badge and door key-holes that lit up. I knew I would have this car one day…
The search properly started in 2012 in conjunction with becoming a member of this Forum. The criteria was ‘simple’. It had to be :
• The Turbo.
• Black, or red. Possibly white.
• Manual transmission.
• Good history / provenance.
• Standard, or at least easily-revertable to standard.
I will make a slight admission and say that the 480 Turbo is a somewhat flawed concept in the advantages it brings. The complexities of turbocharging, additional electric water pumps for the turbo, air cooled injectors, inflexibility of turbo lag, and for what… 10 bhp extra? It’s all rather silly. But I was 12, I had the brochure, the Turbo was always marketed as the range topper and it had that badge on the back…
Given that HowManyLeft lists only 38 taxed manual Turbos, the odds of finding one are tough-enough, let alone narrowing your search criteria like I proposed.
• Shocking decrease in numbers. I turned endless cars down like this, each one making me sad.
I looked at four in four years. I was outbid on ebay for two of them, one I had to let go as the owner was a complete moron and the penultimate Turbo I looked at in Cambridge had no provenance whatsoever – no owners manual, not even one old mot. Shame, because it looked smart. Looking at a few, although painful at the time losing out, did prove valuable. One of the benefits was getting knowledge of brake pedal feel. The braking system has always concerned me on an ABS 480 as it’s not a traditional master cylinder; it’s a modulator, pump and accumulator. Looking back I can now say that one of those early 480 Turbos I looked at had a woefully spongy brake pedal.
February 2016 I had my standard eBay daily notification saying new results found for “Volvo 480”. Most of the time this was just another 6x4 FH480 mid-lift tractor-unit, however, this was a car. It was more than a car, it ticked all the boxes at last! Owned for 9 years, black manual Turbo, with good history, invoice folder and glovebox literature. I sent the owner a message and scheduled to see the car Saturday before bidding closed on the Sunday.
The week dragged by, Saturday came and I drove from St. Neots to Newport in Wales. The car was ideal. It had its faults, sure, but it was a tremendous foundation to build upon. I was in a fortunate position that a week had gone by and the item still had no bids. Bearing in mind four years had passed and I’d lost two already to the eBay bidding farce, I wasn’t loosing another. I had prepared an envelope of cash, waved it under the sellers nose and he took it off the auction site. Sorry if you were going to bid on it, but I was becoming a desperate man!
And so I drove it home, smile from ear to ear, genuinely! The speedo didn’t work which made it interesting. The radio says ‘CODE’, the sunroof is broken, the passenger heated seat isn’t working and the info-centre is so dark its barely readable. The driver’s seat is torn, a front fog light is cracked and the paint is orange-peely in places. The rear lights, predictably, are absolutely awful. The front daytime running lights are cracked, held together with tape and of the incorrect brightness when illuminated. The tyres are of a dubious brand and the alloy wheels are getting pretty scabby. The spare wheel well is full of water, obviously. The high level brakelight is falling off, the roof lining is sagging and the combined boot/fuel cap release lever broke in my hand. However, if you overlook all that, I was driving a car that pulled well, drove really nicely, stopped well and felt, you know, genuine.
• A pit stop on the way home in the pouring rain at Slough McDonalds. She’s looking good… in the dark!
It’s a car I plan to keep for many years. In fact, it’s something I don’t ever plan to sell, just like my Mk2 Golf. The values of these vehicles are only going one way. Up. Modification wise, I don’t plan anything for it other than saying that I am not keen the late airbag steering wheel and I shall seek a pre-93 two spoke leather item. I also prefer the full leather interior option (black/grey) and I also think the suspension sits a bit tall. So, I know it divides opinion, but I will investigate lowering it with a high quality suspension package if such a thing still exists. Turbo Taurus wheels are my favourite, so nothing to change there. Regardless of whatever I do, I am mindful of residual values being greater ‘standard’ and will retain any standard parts removed.
I am sourcing some of these replacement parts already. Luckily I live close to Lakes Volvo – Wyboston, Bedfordshire. They have five 480’s there and I have already got a collection of parts / trims etc. Two 480’s are buried so deep in brambles I struggled to get to them. It’s a proper old fashioned breakers yard that reminds me crawling around breakers with my father 20 years ago! They have a Celebration there and quite amazingly it had my favourite full leather option. However, with no doors or boot fitted, they were soaking wet and covered in mould and bird-poo! Nothing that can’t be rejuvenated…
• Don’t worry Celebration N480FLC, you shall not die in vain. Your mouldy damp seats will live on. Yes, the dash plaque had gone…
Of all the cars I have ever owned, and there have been a few nice ones, I feel a stronger sense of duty with this one than any of them, a sense that it has to be preserved. There are plenty of people saving fast Fords, Beetles, Astons blah blah blah. This is in total contrast to the 480 scene. There just aren’t the numbers of people and the cars are not financially viable to restore and sell. It takes a true enthusiast of the marque and I feel that is reflected in the community here.
Thanks for reading and I promise some updates + pretty pictures when I get on top of the snagging list!
