With a lot of work and help from some on here, Wilhelmina as I called her turned into quite a good car. However, there was always going to be a limit as to how far a 26 year old car with some 145,000 miles on the clock and a serious case of tin-worm was going to get, without spending some serious money in the body-shop that for me was simply not worth it.
Well, following a classic instance of "being in the right place at the right time", there is now a replacement 440 sitting here. At first glance you wouldn't notice, as she's the same colour and same interior. However this one - Philomena as she's been called - is a completely different ball-game. One of the last 440s (registered in February 1997) she has only ever lived in London, where she has clocked up just 38,000 miles. Auto gearbox with the 2.0i engine. And a full Volvo main dealer service history, done yearly regardless of the limited mileage covered.
I have swapped over the best bits from Wilhelmina (who survives locally with a loving new owner, I should add!) including her bumpers, rear spoiler, fog-lights, NOS headlights, electric windows and mirrors, mudflaps and the Cetus wheels that I far prefer to the original spec Canis. And here are a couple of photos of the result:
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