While taking a walk down the memory lane, talking about Ferraris or Maseratis, we are reminded of smooth, curvaceous, and dramatic cars. But when we think of classic Volvos, indestructible 'tanks' are what comes to mind. Think of a car that is as immortal as the Volvo 850, we'll wait! Classic Volvos are known for their boxy design, serious safety, and reliability characteristics. Safety was always a prime focus for Volvos, but there have been instances of fun-to-drive Volvos!
Most Volvos of the 80s and 90s were not very great driver cars. But the Swedish automaker wanted to change all this, and in the late 1980s came up with a very radical car - the Volvo 480. This was unlike any other Volvo out there during the time with a form factor that had fused a coupe, a wagon, and a hatchback rather tastefully. With pop-up headlamps and a large rear windshield, the 480 has a Japanese sports car vibe to it.
In fact, that's what Volvo had in mind for the US audience and the pop-ups were solely added to amplify its sporty appeal. The Volvo 480 was truly an 'international' car because it was built in the Netherlands, sketched by a Dutchman, interior designed by a Brit, and French-automaker Renault supplied the mechanical bits. This remains an oddity in the otherwise 'boxy' history of Volvo.
The Volvo 480 is the first-ever FWD car produced by the Swedish automaker and is considered to be the spiritual successor of the beautiful-looking Volvo 1800ES of the early 1970s.
First-Ever Wedgy Volvo: An Oddity Among 'Tanks'
Lame boxy-looking cars are what comes to mind when a commoner thinks of classic Volvos. But there have been instances of beautiful Volvos produced over time. One very notable one is the iconic Volvo P1800 that is arguably the most beautiful Volvos of all time.
Likewise, there are quite a few instances of curvy Volvos, but only one of a wedgy one. Between the likes of the indestructible 240- and 850-Series, Volvo leaped faith with the wedgy 480. It was unlike any other Volvo made, and that turned a lot of heads.
First-Ever FWD Volvo Had Lotus And Porsche Helping With The Mechanicals
Volvo 480 was their first-ever FWD model and came with an inline-4 motor in various iterations during its lifetime. Initially, all 480s were equipped with a Renault-sourced 1.7-liter engine which was a humble performer, pumping out 109 HP and having a top speed of 118 MPH. To make things interesting, Volvo turned to Lotus for suspension tuning and made it a rather impressive handling machine.
The ride quality was impressive and it often showed RWD characteristics! Things got even better in 1988 when Volvo added a turbocharger and dialed up the performance to 120 HP. This engine was co-developed with Porsche which made the radical 480 look even cooler.
Quite The Sporty 2+2 Interior With A 2-Spoke Steering
The interior layout was done by Peter Horbury who managed to make a spacious 2+2 layout for this 2-door coupe. Getting into the second row was still a hassle but the comfy and ergonomic seats made it worthwhile. The second row was split in between with a hand-rest cum storage area. And technically all 4 seats were captain seats.
As for the dashboard layout, it was quite tech-savvy for the time but would be tagged as being too clumsy now. The two-spoke steering wheel was a Volvo-specific feature are looked quite well with the driver-centric dashboard layout. The 480 also packed quite a few innovative features for the time like illuminated door locks and a trip computer mounted on the dashboard.
Pop-Up Headlamps And Large Rear Windshield Gave It A JDM Vibe
The shooting brake design was the brainchild of John de Vries and it made this hatchback look a lot sportier than it was. Also, the station-wagon-ish vibe was retained to help it not feel like a black sheep in the Volvo herd. The wedgy front fascia, pop-up headlamps, and fastback rear with a huge windshield clearly gave it a strong JDM vibe.
The Volvo 480 surely looked sporty and they even didn't have to add a spoiler! The huge rear window was an ode to the beautiful 1800ES and the pop-up headlamps were solely added with the USA in mind. On the outside, it also came with Follow Me Home function which was sci-fi level stuff back then. The taillights were shaped in such a way to mimic a single strip of light across the rear and the oddly placed grab handle became an iconic design cue.
FUN FACT: The Volvo grille up front was a last-minute addition, which is why it had to be integrated into the bumper.
480 Was Neither Sensible Nor Sporty: The Volvo Unlike A Volvo
While the Volvo 480 was a very bold move from the Swedish automaker to defy conventional ideas and think out of the box, it was still a confusing car. Neither was its performance as sporty as it looked and the design robbed of comfort and practicality which is also unlike any other Volvo! It was an oddball of a car that decided to be the scapegoat to pave a fresh new way for future Volvos.
This is the car that helped us view Volvos beyond its boxy and boring appeal. It bought FWD to the table and showed that sharp-looking Volvos are not so bad either. Apart from the Volvo P1800ES and the very recent Volvo V30, the wedgy 480 from the late 80s was the only other car in the Swedish stable to come in this coupe-cum-station wagon layout with a rather large rear windshield.
Sources: Volvocars.com, Dyler.com, Thetruthaboutcars.com, Restromotor.co.uk