This month we have Peter’s totally-unexpected tribute to the Volvo estate car…
► As most of you know, I’m a fan of Volvo estates. I’ve run examples of most of the big ones – 240, 740, 940 and V70 – as everyday cars over the years, and the current Simpson car collection includes a rather nice 240 estate which, basically, I intend keeping for as long as I’m able to drive.
Away from personal ownership, I’ve also earned a fair amount of money from buying and selling Volvo estates over the years; I was often referred to as ‘the Volvo man’ at British Car Auctions Peterborough because of the number that I bought.
You therefore won’t be surprised that I was slightly sad to hear that Volvo have stopped supplying saloons and estate cars to the UK market.
Though sad to traditionalists like me, this is unfortunately yet another reflection of changing demand from buyers, the same trend towards SUVs and similar which caused Ford to end the Mondeo product line last year. A line which can be traced right back to 1962 and the original Ford Cortina.
To clarify what’s happening; UK imports of the standard S60, V60 and V90 have ended already, though these cars are still being made for some overseas markets. Emergencyservice spec saloons and estates are, however still going to be available. This will certainly come as a relief to police fleet buyers, as BMW announced in January that it was going to stop supplying police-spec cars, gifting Volvo pretty-much a clear run in the traffic and other fast police car sectors.
Volvo police cars aren’t just modified for their special role. They are built specifically as emergency service vehicles, in a dedicated emergency service vehicle production facility, starting from an especially strengthened shell. Other changes include policespecific trim and wiring looms, bigger brakes and deletion of the 112mph speed limiter. Some claim that the engine management is changed to improve performance; I’ve seen no evidence for this and strongly suspect it’s just an urban myth… I don’t think this applies now, but at one point as bespoke vehicles, police Volvos were exempt from UK Type Approval. This meant the emissions weren’t recorded on the V5s. So instead of being subject to the very top rate of VED, ex-police V70s reverted to the old PLG rate, which was less than half as much!
Anyway, for now at least police-spec RHD Volvo saloons and estates are remaining; my guess is that when the existing models are finally phased out worldwide, Volvo will offer police-spec versions of their SUVs.
But getting back to the good old Volvo estate, the thing I loved about them over and above the legendary durability was the way in which they were almost totally classless. Suburban families loved them as did antique dealers and hard-use tradesmen such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians.
But the
