Here’s a piece of automotive trivia for you the next time you get together with your petrolhead friends: what was the first front-wheel drive Volvo? Give up? It was this car, the 480. If you’re unfamiliar with this hatchback, you might be scratching your head at its existence. Every time I see one of these, I’m instantly reminded of the song from the children’s program Sesame Street: “which one of these things is not like the other….which one of these things just doesn’t belong?” So stark is the difference in the 480’s styling from the rest of Volvo’s lineup at the time, it can’t help but intrigue you.
We like to feature the odd Swedish car here at GCFSB, but the 480 was actually designed by Bertone and built in the Netherlands. The end result was a curious car for a manufacturer known for boxy styling and an emphasis on safety. Taking it’s rear hatch styling from the short lived P1800ES, the 480 was supposed to come to North America but was cancelled at the last minute. Introduced with a 1.7 liter inline-4, a turbocharged, 2.0 liter unit was introduced in 1988, which is what is under the hood of this 480 Turbo for sale in Regensburg, Germany.