Friday 5th November 2010

SOTW: Volvo C70

This week it's the turn of the Swedish coupe that swapped 'safe' for 'sexy'

---

The Volvos that normally grace the pixellated universe of Shed of the Week are usually boxy beasts such as the 850 T5 estate or saloon, so the appearance of a muscular Volvo coupe as SOTW represents quite a departure for Shed.

The C70 was born at a time in Volvo's history when it was going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. Tom Walkinshaw had turned the boxy 850 estate and saloon into a successful touring car racer, while the roadgoing 850 T5 was getting a reputation as a proper Tarmac-shredder.

So with the unveiling in 1997 of the sleek-yet-beefy C70 coupe, penned by Volvo's British chief designer Peter Horbury, Volvo's image as a purveyor of capacious Labrador-filled boxes was changed forever.

The headline C70 was the 240bhp 2.3-litre T5, but those tend to remain - for the moment - out of the reach of Shed's bag-of-sand budget, so we'll content ourselves here with the 2435cc light-pressure turbo model and its rather more meagre 193bhp.

That would still have been enough to propel a factory-fresh example to 62mph from rest in a respectable 8.5secs on the way to a 137mph maximum -and without the torque steer histrionics that characterised the T5 version.

Editor Chris-R ran one for a year back when he was a fresh-faced yoof (albeit the T5 version) and reckons they make an excellent and rapid motorway cruiser with really comfy seats and a refined ride, but that the front wheels are indeed 'massively unruly' on the T5. Good thing we've found the slower model then...

Chris-R also offers a word of warning - C70s were effectively coachbuilt by TWR and so small bumps and dings can often result in massive bills, which makes the vendor's admission that the bodywork is 'not brilliant' a little alarming.

Even more concerning is the lack of service history, especially on a 133,000-mile example of a car that has a bit of a rep for its gadgets expiring expensively.

Having said that, it is a lot of car for the money, and who could resist that wonderful metallic burnt orange...?

Advert is reproduced below

Shed for Sale!! 2.5 Turbo (1998)
133,000 miles £995

Volvo c70 2.5 turbo. 133000miles. Mechanically sound. Lots of MOT(till Aug 2011) and 6 months tax. Hpi clear. Bodywork not brilliant and no service history, hence the price. Alloys. 4 good tyres. Elec seats, half leather. Cruise control. Gorgeous looking car. Air Con(just had re-gas) Last 8 yrs MOT certificates.

Join SOTW on Facebook

 

 

[Zooks]

Loving the installed anti theft device, Thatchem K9?

[The Riddler]

Oooooo.. Are these seriously this cheap now?

[BlueMR2]

If they where rwd they would be pretty awesome.

[SDxsi]

That's quite a chunk of car for £995! Me likey

[Carpie]

I'm considering a change soon at this price point and I keep looking at these. They tick every box (except RWD, which isn't too much of an important one) so at the moment it's a bit of a two horse race between this and a 406 coupe V6. Think I'm going to have to go on some test drives!

[Jobbo]

Friend of mine bought a drop-top version a couple of years ago. It's the only Volvo I've been in which doesn't have heated seats. That was a bit of an omission on a convertible!

[Drivebyabuser]

It still looks quite fresh considering its age. No shame in being seen in one, classy and understated erm except its orange! The T5 just ate tyres and i cant imagine this is loads better.

[80s Matchbox]

Echoing the "I didn't know they could be had this cheap"...

Good SOTW!

[911smark]

I had one of these back in 2000, same colour, I kept it for three years,only thing that went wrong was the cd multi changer, replaced under warranty. Still looks good for its age and what a bargain!

[300bhp/ton]

No PH O'Meter??



Lovely shed, I remember seeing one of these when launched, in this colour too. Lovely looking coupes IMO. Had no idea they were this sort of money now though.

[S3K04]

false economy,

service history (cambelt/plugs/filters/oils)

[sidaorb]

Fantastic shed, been looking at one of these for while as I'm still missing my 850 T5R (yep an original yellow one), as said above its a toss up between this and the 406 Coupe. But just also been offered a 406 oil burner for silly money too and with the mileage I do, think I will be going for that.

[y2blade]

sidaorb said:

Fantastic shed, been looking at one of these for while as I'm still missing my 850 T5R (yep an original yellow one), as said above its a toss up between this and the 406 Coupe. But just also been offered a 406 oil burner for silly money too and with the mileage I do, think I will be going for that.

Carl, I never had you down as a Volvo driver

[RicksAlfas]

Very handsome car.

[bob1179]

It's funny isn't it? To me, this is still a modern car and I wouldn't consider it a shed, I remember it being launched and it doesn't seem like that long ago!

To our younger viewers it is an old funny coloured Volvo.

I feel old.

[DannyVTS]

bob1179 said:

It's funny isn't it? To me, this is still a modern car and I wouldn't consider it a shed, I remember it being launched and it doesn't seem like that long ago!

To our younger viewers it is an old funny coloured Volvo.

I feel old.

Still looks modern and nice to me Pretty rare around here tbh

[Gizmo!]

Lovely shed. As said; this or a Pug 406.

Great stereos in them too.

[useyourdellusion]

S3K04 said:

false economy,

service history (cambelt/plugs/filters/oils)

I'd still have a punt for a grand and see to these items myself (the service history and bodywork wouldn't bother me that much, as long as it ran ok with no obvious signs of excessive wear).

Not sure what the access would like on the cambelt (not good I'd imagine) but I'd have a damn good go at it!

Good shed!

[thetwistys]

I remember catching the odd glimpse of one of these back in the late nineties before I knew what it was - quite shocked when I saw the badge. Lovely looking barge, well done (again) riggers :~)

[300bhp/ton]

S3K04 said:

false economy,

service history (cambelt/plugs/filters/oils)

How's that different to most cars in this price bracket?