Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Is a classic wagon more your style, but you want to keep up with modern traffic? The BMW E6 Touring offers a unique look coupled with timeless style that will help to set you apart. They’re a favorite of mine for sure. But this one has ditched the original configuration and gone for a more modern stance with E30-sourced engine, wheels and a modern interior for a different type of resto-mod Touring. Does it stand the test of time?
Just two scant years ago, Volvo killed off it’s C30 hatchback. It wasn’t a huge seller, but this car offered unique styling and competent performance in a tidy, near luxury package. It was also a flattering throwback to this car we see here, the P1800ES. The P1800ES didn’t have a long production span, but it made an impact on an otherwise staid lineup at the time, save for the P1800 coupe that it was based on. This example for sale in New York has the desirable 4-speed manual gearbox and benefitted from a bare metal respray. On Minilite style wheels, this is one attractive shooting brake.
There’s a running joke here at GCFSB regarding Volvos and SAABs. Without exception, every time we post one someone comments either here or on our Facebook page that those two manufacturers aren’t German. It doesn’t really matter that we explain nearly every time that though we know this, we still enjoy to look at a super Swede from time to time since – let’s face it – a majority of people on Facebook don’t actually read the articles that are posted, but rather just react to the headlines. Now, we could actually get into a discussion about how the Swedes are actually a Germanic based tribe if you go back far enough, or how many of their engineering principles fall in line with those of their Southern neighbors. We could mention that many of the newer Volvos and SAABs actually utilized German derived chassis from either Ford Europe or GM’s Opel division. But that would be pointless since those arguments don’t apply to today’s example, the P1800ES. You see, Volvo is mostly regarded as builders of very slow moving, very safe and very conservative boxes – but go back a few generations, and Volvo threw a few curve balls as the plate. None were more curvy than the P1800, a pseudo-sports car with stunning looks available in coupe version or the more rare 2-door wagon:
In case you missed it, Volvo released a stunning concept at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. The Concept Estate is a modern take on what seems like an extinct breed these days: the shooting brake. The estate car is experiencing a little bit of a resurgence amongst enthusiast communities across the US, mainly due to fast five-doors like the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Estate. However, the two-door estate vehicle, or shooting brake, is still a bit too obscure for the mainstream American motoring public. The MINI Clubman is about as close as we’ve seen lately to a two-door estate vehicle, and even that one had a third door on the side.
The Volvo P1800ES was a curiosity, built towards the end of the P1800 run for 1972 and 1973 only, with a little over 8,000 produced. The trademark glass rear hatch would go on to be copied in later Volvo hatchbacks such as the 480ES and C30. This example for sale in New York is a well sorted example in a sharp red orange color that looks idyllic against the autumn backdrop in these photos.
One of my favorite Volkswagens from the 1980s is one that you rarely see on the roads anymore. The Fox Wagon. This was an oddity in the US lineup for only a couple of years, a compact, two-door shooting brake of an estate car that was courtesy of Volkswagen of Brazil, where it was sold as the Gol. These were a bit of a reprisal of the idea of the “people’s car†for VW, a basic, no frills model offering German engineering at a discount. While the wagon was discontinued after the 1990 model year, the model range would get a refresh, carrying on with the two and four door sedan models through 1993. This 1988 Wagon for sale in Florida is a chance to sample an almost forgotten model in recent Volkswagen memory.
