The Other Woman ...

Parked in the driveway of the previous owner, these are the first photos taken of the 1971 Volvo 1800E as I found it.

The first thing I noticed was that the car was sitting way lower than it's stock height, and it left me wondering if the previous owner had installed lowering springs to decrease the ride's height. Turn's out, the tires just need air ... lot's of it!

Other problems I noticed, were the lack of air-conditioning, missing antenna, missing stereo, disintegrating rearview mirror, fuel-gauge not working, and the missing passenger-side vent-window latch. Minor issues, me thinks. Nothing that some superglue, chicken wire, dental floss, and some well-placed post-it notes won't fix!

Paint job - Aside from some minor chips along the edges of the hood, the paint looked good and still maintained a glossy finish. The odometer read 149K miles, however the engine and transmission were just fresh from a rebuilt. All 4 tires were brand new, and the alternator and voltage regulator had been replaced. The car was also 98% rust-free - a huge plus! There were some minor surface rust along the edges of the trunk, and some on the tail-pipe, but none on the body or under the chassis.

Test drive - The car started up fine (no puff of black smoke), the engine sounded strong & steady, although rather loud, and the ride was comfortable. Even, the overdrive worked - which was another huge plus! This car has an inline 4 engine with a 4-speed manual transmission, so overdrive here means "5th gear" not "turbo boost".

The Volvo 1800's are hard to come by, and to find one in this good of a condition in Fresno, California less than 15 miles from where I live - surely this must be a rare find!