My 480 life is just beginning!
Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 10:53 am
Hi All,
I thought it was about time I started a thread to document my trials and tribulations as a new 480 owner.
I’ve used the forum to great effect since I joined in Nov’ 2016 (thanks to you all), and have abused the help of dcwalker (thanks David), who has been my chief source of 480 knowledge and advice.
First, a bit of background, so either skip to the good bits or read on to see why I’ve ended up here amongst the few!
I started looking for a 480 approximately 18 months ago. I've always wanted a classic car, and should have bought a P1800 about 10 years ago.
I was offered a really nice P1800 for £8K (around the time Ed China did a lovely white example on Wheeler Dealers), but didn’t have the money, so passed it up. I’ve seen P1800's rise past £25K now, so way past what I'm prepared to spend, especially as SHMBO wants an extension!
The missus has always been a Volvo fan, and won’t drive anything else. She had a 480ES brand new in 1987. I’ll post a picture as soon as I can find it. She said it went back a few times to the dealer because of water leaks, what a surprise!
So as a P1800 was not an option, I looked for alternatives. A C70 Coupe T5 manual in Saffron yellow?, Amazon?, but then I remembered a Black Turbo 480 I nearly bought in the mid-90’s.
Since switching from an Audi A3 a few years ago, I have a few more Volvos than I need, but selling is so difficult. I’ve a C70 coupe convertible which is a pain most of the time, but when the roof is down you forgive it everything. An XC70 which is the world’s best workhorse and my daily driver. Also, the wife has an XC60 which she loves, so adding a 480 seemed logical. I might now have four Volvos which seems excessive, but the value of all my cars combined is less than the price of a new V40. It's a cheaper hobby than golf!
So the search began! Through a friend, I found a local chap about 15 miles away who has a big garden and workshop and half a dozen 480s. He’s currently restoring a turbo shell up, so that will be cool when finished. He also had a Celebration (no. 480) which was in good condition that he wanted to sell. I planned to buy this but when he wanted £4K I politely walked away. As far as I know it’s still for sale.
I ventured around the UK looking at many a 480. A rusted out Celebration in Bristol for £2K was a long wasted trip, plus a look at the GT that Richard Keeble has just bought. A nice red low mileage example owned by lovely Bobbie Prior (a Peugeot 306 fan by the way!) off the Radio 2 Simon Mayo show. She was regrettably selling her father’s beloved 480 as he had recently passed away. I would have bought this but I had just viewed the car I eventually purchased.
You might remember it being on eBay. It is a 37K mile green 480 GT, and was up for £4480!! I remember everyone joking about the price at the time, me included.
Anyway, it was only up the road from me on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, so last July I went and had a look as I had nothing to lose. It was in great condition with a full service history. A real gem I thought, although I’d not seen too many 480’s to compare it with. Original arches, no paintwork and no rust whatsoever.
The brakes didn’t work nor did the windows and mirrors, the splitter had a chunk missing, but everything else was very good. Previous owner had just spent over £2k at Jacksons within the last 700 miles on 4 new Michelins, cambelt and tensioners, starter motor, earth strap, service etc., so mechanically it was very good. Also Jacksons had removed the old immobiliser which was great.
The documentation was immaculate. One owner from new until 2015 with full stamped up service book all at Bells Volvo, Northampton. Itemised listing of every service too! Second owner seemingly didn’t drive it, just spent £2k at Jacksons which made my purchase price justifiable, then it was purchased at auction by the chap I purchased it off. He’s an auctioneer for Manheim, so no surprise he saw it and realised it was worth buying. I guess at auction it made a fraction of its market value.
I told the seller he was being optimistic at £4480 which he did know, and I offered him what I thought was fair and left it at that.
I kept in touch as I always thought I might get a call back, as the queue of people looking for 480’s is not exactly long. One Sunday I got a text asking if I was still interested, and we settled on a sensible price (he wanted £3K and I wanted to pay £2.5k. You can guess where we met), and that was that. I became a 480 owner.
What I hadn’t realised (well I had but excitement got the better of me) is that I had nowhere to put this new 480. My drive was full of Volvos, and the garage was full of junk and had been since we moved in in 1990 something!
So the first job was to renovate the garage into a home fit for a 480. The seller who had a barn full of modern classics, kindly agreed to keep the 480 for me until I was ready to collect, so I started on the garage project.
To cut a long story short you can see the garage renovation project on Detailing World if that’s your bag: -
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=405058
Best now to admit that I just love car detailing. If I was younger I’d make a career out of it. I can’t wait to get the 480 up to standard, so I will be doing a write up as I go. It’s hard to keep on top of the cars, especially the daily drivers, but I try.
I know some see car cleaning as a chore, but for others (me included) it really does hit the spot. Parking my 10 year old C70 next to a brand new car worth 10 times as much, and mine looking much better really makes me feel the effort is worth it.
The garage project took longer than I expected to complete (and cost as much as the 480!), so along with some family issues that took up a lot of time, it wasn’t until April 2018 I could get the 480 back home.
I hired a trailer and picked up the 480 and dropped it straight off at a local mechanic. If you need a Volvo expert and fan (he has a beautiful early 240 estate) and you are in the Suffolk area, then Bugsy’s Autos in Bucklesham is your man. Real old school passion and service.
Bugsy kept it for a few days and checked it over. A few days later I got a call that it had passed the MOT with no advisories. Just need the brakes bleeding, a service, a bulb and a new battery. Great news!
So after a 2 year process, I finally ended up with a 480 in my garage. How easy was that!!
Next thing is to check it over and create a list of jobs that need doing. I’m a Project Engineer by day, so I need a list and a plan otherwise I can’t operate. I'll add this in my next post.
I know this is a much simpler project than what many of you have and are undertaking. I can only look on and admire those that rebuild their cars from scratch, or save an unloved 480 from the breakers. Given the time and facilities, I’d probably do the same.
So being realistic, my plan all along was to find the best 480 I could, and keep it as original as I can. It will be a summer only car, but I will use it, enjoy it and proudly spread the word.
Hope to meet up soon. Marc.
I thought it was about time I started a thread to document my trials and tribulations as a new 480 owner.
I’ve used the forum to great effect since I joined in Nov’ 2016 (thanks to you all), and have abused the help of dcwalker (thanks David), who has been my chief source of 480 knowledge and advice.
First, a bit of background, so either skip to the good bits or read on to see why I’ve ended up here amongst the few!
I started looking for a 480 approximately 18 months ago. I've always wanted a classic car, and should have bought a P1800 about 10 years ago.
I was offered a really nice P1800 for £8K (around the time Ed China did a lovely white example on Wheeler Dealers), but didn’t have the money, so passed it up. I’ve seen P1800's rise past £25K now, so way past what I'm prepared to spend, especially as SHMBO wants an extension!
The missus has always been a Volvo fan, and won’t drive anything else. She had a 480ES brand new in 1987. I’ll post a picture as soon as I can find it. She said it went back a few times to the dealer because of water leaks, what a surprise!
So as a P1800 was not an option, I looked for alternatives. A C70 Coupe T5 manual in Saffron yellow?, Amazon?, but then I remembered a Black Turbo 480 I nearly bought in the mid-90’s.
Since switching from an Audi A3 a few years ago, I have a few more Volvos than I need, but selling is so difficult. I’ve a C70 coupe convertible which is a pain most of the time, but when the roof is down you forgive it everything. An XC70 which is the world’s best workhorse and my daily driver. Also, the wife has an XC60 which she loves, so adding a 480 seemed logical. I might now have four Volvos which seems excessive, but the value of all my cars combined is less than the price of a new V40. It's a cheaper hobby than golf!
So the search began! Through a friend, I found a local chap about 15 miles away who has a big garden and workshop and half a dozen 480s. He’s currently restoring a turbo shell up, so that will be cool when finished. He also had a Celebration (no. 480) which was in good condition that he wanted to sell. I planned to buy this but when he wanted £4K I politely walked away. As far as I know it’s still for sale.
I ventured around the UK looking at many a 480. A rusted out Celebration in Bristol for £2K was a long wasted trip, plus a look at the GT that Richard Keeble has just bought. A nice red low mileage example owned by lovely Bobbie Prior (a Peugeot 306 fan by the way!) off the Radio 2 Simon Mayo show. She was regrettably selling her father’s beloved 480 as he had recently passed away. I would have bought this but I had just viewed the car I eventually purchased.
You might remember it being on eBay. It is a 37K mile green 480 GT, and was up for £4480!! I remember everyone joking about the price at the time, me included.
Anyway, it was only up the road from me on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, so last July I went and had a look as I had nothing to lose. It was in great condition with a full service history. A real gem I thought, although I’d not seen too many 480’s to compare it with. Original arches, no paintwork and no rust whatsoever.
The brakes didn’t work nor did the windows and mirrors, the splitter had a chunk missing, but everything else was very good. Previous owner had just spent over £2k at Jacksons within the last 700 miles on 4 new Michelins, cambelt and tensioners, starter motor, earth strap, service etc., so mechanically it was very good. Also Jacksons had removed the old immobiliser which was great.
The documentation was immaculate. One owner from new until 2015 with full stamped up service book all at Bells Volvo, Northampton. Itemised listing of every service too! Second owner seemingly didn’t drive it, just spent £2k at Jacksons which made my purchase price justifiable, then it was purchased at auction by the chap I purchased it off. He’s an auctioneer for Manheim, so no surprise he saw it and realised it was worth buying. I guess at auction it made a fraction of its market value.
I told the seller he was being optimistic at £4480 which he did know, and I offered him what I thought was fair and left it at that.
I kept in touch as I always thought I might get a call back, as the queue of people looking for 480’s is not exactly long. One Sunday I got a text asking if I was still interested, and we settled on a sensible price (he wanted £3K and I wanted to pay £2.5k. You can guess where we met), and that was that. I became a 480 owner.
What I hadn’t realised (well I had but excitement got the better of me) is that I had nowhere to put this new 480. My drive was full of Volvos, and the garage was full of junk and had been since we moved in in 1990 something!
So the first job was to renovate the garage into a home fit for a 480. The seller who had a barn full of modern classics, kindly agreed to keep the 480 for me until I was ready to collect, so I started on the garage project.
To cut a long story short you can see the garage renovation project on Detailing World if that’s your bag: -
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=405058
Best now to admit that I just love car detailing. If I was younger I’d make a career out of it. I can’t wait to get the 480 up to standard, so I will be doing a write up as I go. It’s hard to keep on top of the cars, especially the daily drivers, but I try.
I know some see car cleaning as a chore, but for others (me included) it really does hit the spot. Parking my 10 year old C70 next to a brand new car worth 10 times as much, and mine looking much better really makes me feel the effort is worth it.
The garage project took longer than I expected to complete (and cost as much as the 480!), so along with some family issues that took up a lot of time, it wasn’t until April 2018 I could get the 480 back home.
I hired a trailer and picked up the 480 and dropped it straight off at a local mechanic. If you need a Volvo expert and fan (he has a beautiful early 240 estate) and you are in the Suffolk area, then Bugsy’s Autos in Bucklesham is your man. Real old school passion and service.
Bugsy kept it for a few days and checked it over. A few days later I got a call that it had passed the MOT with no advisories. Just need the brakes bleeding, a service, a bulb and a new battery. Great news!
So after a 2 year process, I finally ended up with a 480 in my garage. How easy was that!!
Next thing is to check it over and create a list of jobs that need doing. I’m a Project Engineer by day, so I need a list and a plan otherwise I can’t operate. I'll add this in my next post.
I know this is a much simpler project than what many of you have and are undertaking. I can only look on and admire those that rebuild their cars from scratch, or save an unloved 480 from the breakers. Given the time and facilities, I’d probably do the same.
So being realistic, my plan all along was to find the best 480 I could, and keep it as original as I can. It will be a summer only car, but I will use it, enjoy it and proudly spread the word.
Hope to meet up soon. Marc.