February 25, 2023
#464
Gentle reader,
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to read this article. When I decided to give blogging a try, I had no idea that anyone would actually read it. Let alone that so many of you would. And that some of you have become real friends with me!
My first encounter with a Volvo was a new friend (one of many who were) into foreign cars in the mid-1970's. He drove what is called an Amazon in some countries, I can't recall if it was a wagon or not. But, the front passenger seatbelt did not latch. Since we had been trained to ALWAYS wear a seatbelt, I was hesitant to go with him. Well, we did get in a minor accident, hitting the massive (5 MPH) rear bumper of a Ford Torino. That car suffered no damage, the grille of Chris' car was caved in, but he was able to straighten it out.
When, MANY years later, I learned about turbocharged Volvos, (even wagons with manual transmissions!) I was intrigued, but still did not buy one. Finally, in 2014, my wife said to me, "I would feel much more comfortable knowing that you are driving something from THIS century." At the time, I was driving this:
I used the opportunity to test drive all kinds of cars, the first Volvo I tried was a V70 (wagon, "V" is for Versatile) with the T5 (five cylinder high-pressure turbocharged engine) with a five speed manual transmission. It was nice, but after driving the tiny Capri for six years, it seemed huge. That and the seller would not come down on the price. Eventually, the V50 T5 M66, seen above, popped up on Cars.com. One test drive and I was hooked. The T5 combined with the manual six-speed transmission makes for a torque monster. And, believe it or not, that unassuming looking wagon's tested top speed is 149 MPH!
That is, until yesterday, when the gorgeous NOREV Volvo 1800 ES model arrived. I found a US seller wanting only $89.99 for it. Quite a bargain, especially since (at that moment) he was the only US seller offering them on eBay.
Many have said, including myself, that the Volvo 1800 ES is one of THE most beautiful cars ever made. I would LOVE to own a real one.
Aside from it's utter beauty (look at all those tiny chrome pieces!), the details are superb. The only opening part is the glass hatchback. And that is OK because opening pieces, while cool, add complexity and they also make panel gaps wider.Speaking of complexity, NOREV installed tiny gas struts for the rear hatch/glass! Also called gas springs or gas lift support struts, I am not certain when they were invented, but certainly European cars would have had them before US ones did. Sadly, they are two pieces and, at least with this model, they will not stay together. The silver shafts stay hanging straight down while the black bodies are firmly attached to the "glass". Also, the glass will not close completely, they had small clear plastic stickers to hold it closed from the factory. But, they had come loose in transit and are not sticky enough.Despite that little flaw, this model is extremely well designed and built. I have examined it closely and am well pleased. An engine would be nice to see, but that is not to be at this price point. So, I looked for images on the Internet of an 1800 ES engine bay, chose a red one and here you go. As you can see, they stuffed a lot of things under the hood. I also saw photos of several 1800 models which have had engines swapped into them, later model Volvo Turbo engines as well as some (sacrilege!) Japanese engines.
Photographing shiny objects, and especially diecast cars, can be difficult. To achieve complete focus front-to-rear, requires using a small aperture. And getting images without obvious overhead lights requires using indirect diffused flash. Using a small aperture and flash sometimes makes for dark images. So, some of these are not my best work.Just look at those sleek sexy lines! Volvo's designer really nailed the transformation from coupe to shooting brake perfectly. The model's tires fill the wheel wells perfectly too. I especially like that they put on accent stripes on the lower body and added rubber Volvo mud flaps and New Hampshire (USA) license plates.The chassis is nicely detailed as well. Adding exhaust, fuel and brake lines and more details. Well done, NOREV! As is always the case when adding something new to a collection, I have to decide what to remove first. This is the 1:18th scale collection before. A mix of favorite race and street cars along with two Pontiac GTOs, the gold 1964, (I test drove a ten-year-old convertible when I was seventeen), and the blue 2004 one (bottom row, right) of which I would love to own a real one. Plus cars representative of ones I have owned and driven. I settled on pulling the white 1996 Camaro Z28 which is actually a 1:20th scale plastic model. I traded the Porsche for the Z28, having always wanted to own a Camaro.
So, that's it for this time. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read this article. Feel free to leave a comment below or on Facebook.
Scott Robb
February 25, 2023
#464
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