Although it was forever overshadowed by its P1800 coupe brother, every cool dad from Sweden wanted a Volvo 1800ES in the 1970s. The 1973 three-door wagon you can admire in our photo gallery changed hands recently for $92,400 at an auction event in the U.S., which is “a new world record for a classic Volvo” according to a Bonhams representative.
The seller claims that the featured 1973 Volvo 1800ES Sport Wagon has spent most of its life in Keene, New Hampshire, and was driven less than 13,000 miles by its three previous owners.
The first owner kept it for a whopping 27 years. Both the red paintwork and black leather upholstery are said to be completely original, as is the factory fitted air conditioning system.
“The car was nicely presented, well preserved and totally original. It was key for a high price like this, a restorer would struggle to match the build quality of the factory in Gothenburg,” said a Bonhams specialist.
Even though the presale estimate didn’t surpass the $40,000 mark, a number of current and former Volvo dealers bidded like crazy for the Swedish wagon, which was ultimately sold to an overseas enthusiast.
A naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline-four engine lies underneath that beautifully sculpted bodywork, which churns out 125 horsepower thanks to fuel injection which was a big thing in the ’70s.
The mill is coupled to a four-speed manual transmission with Laycock overdrive, while stopping power is provided by disk brakes on all four corners. When it was new, this Swedish sports estate was capable of cracking 105 mph (169 km/h).
From 1961 through 1973, Volvo managed to sell 39,407 units of the P1800 coupe and 8,077 sport wagons.
