Looks to be a Volvo 143 wagon actually. I like it, but prefer something not quite so 80s-hot-rod-tastic. I think there's just a little too much painted chrome for my tastes.
Edit: I should say, I love the drivetrain; that's really cool. Rover v8 I assume.
You're killing me with the CL postings lately.
Gahhhhhh I want that.
Looks pretty well done though. Lose the bumpers for some slimmer plated ones and it would look fine. The 2-door conversion wouldn't even be noticed by most people. I'd rock it.
Not often you see the old aluminum Buick V8 swapped into anything.
BrokenYugo wrote:
Not often you see the old aluminum Buick V8 swapped into anything.
I have a friend who has one in an NA Miata. Supposedly, it was an NOS engine that some former GM employee had laying around.
Oooh, I have often fantasized about a lowered 145, done up in an 80's tuner car blacked-out chrome style, with a bit more grunt than a B-series four, but not as much grunt and heft as an iron small block! My fantasy had a supercharged six, but the alloy Rover V-8 sounds like a great idea.
This one's on the wrong coast for me, but I really dig it!
I love the thing. It's the perfect home for a Rover V8, too. I think a traditional SBF or SBC would be too much weight up front. If I had the money, I would buy it in a heartbeat, and I'm local to it!
the amount of WANT is pegged!!
I dig that. Quite a bit, actually. And my love of all things Volvo wagon is not strong like some of you loons.
Ian F
MegaDork
12/2/16 8:43 a.m.
Yep. Saw this on a FB Volvo group a few minutes ago. Dangerous levels of "want" here. Curse my lack of room right now.
Teenager in the 80's, yes please.
The interior is the only part I think doesn't work. I love the 2 door conversion, the blacked out trim, the color, and the front end treatment. Very unique and well done.
I'd black out the interior and get rid of the faux wood.
not always a fan of the 140 series... but that is nice. Price seems pretty good too
The world needs more cool station wagons of all kinds. Like this one. Like all of you, I wish I had a very large garage and a very large bank account. If I did, I'd probably get this.
The Buick/Olds 215 aka Rover 3.5 is a somewhat rare and cool little all-aluminum V-8. While not a real powerhouse, its a nice compact and lightweight swap in just about anything that previously housed an iron 4-cylinder at little if any weight penalty. It won't motivate a car down the road like a SBC or SBF, but without a peak under the hood, nobody will know what it is by the pleasant exhaust note.
I can tell you that an MGB with a stock Rover 3.5 will really scoot down the road and make a sound that turns people's heads.
Like the others, this would be fun to have in the garage, but too many projects and not enough cash in the bank.
Man that thing belongs in my stable and its only 2 towns away.
So this car was not a two door wagon to start with? It was converted to a two door? How can you tell, as it looks pretty factory to me, but I'm east to fool.
In reply to Mazdax605:
I don't know for sure, but I don't think there ever was a 2 door 140-series wagon.
SilverFleet wrote:
I love the thing. It's the perfect home for a Rover V8, too. I think a traditional SBF or SBC would be too much weight up front. If I had the money, I would buy it in a heartbeat, and I'm local to it!
I don't have the exact #s in front of me, but I know a SBF is lighter than a SBC and might not be much heavier than this Rover plant. I've toyed with SBF-swapping another old Volvo and found the 302 was not terribly much heavier than a B20. Swap an aluminum intake and some aluminum heads on the SBF and you'd be right in the same ballpark.
Plus, SBF parts are cheap and everywhere.
IIRC, the rule of thumb is that a fully dressed all-iron SBC is about 700 lbs with accessories and manifolds. An SBF with the same stuff is about 100 lbs lighter than the SBC (and noticeably more compact). The Rover is like 75-100 lbs lighter than the SBF.
I guess for comparison's sake, we could use the difference between an iron-block LSx and an aluminum block. Anyone know the difference?
From what I've seen the aluminum vs iron ls difference is between 75-100lbs.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse:
It's definitely a one-off. I can't be certain but it looks to me like they took a 142 and grafted the wagon rear onto it. Appears this car has the longer coupe doors.
As far as I know, they only made the 140-series wagons in a 5-door variant (hence the 145 name). They still had the P1800 ES at the time to scratch the 3-door wagony thing itch.
I've seen 240 builds that have used coupe doors and chopped and welded the rear door shut, and I think that's what they did here.
The number that gets thrown around is 320 pounds for a Buick/Olds/Rover engine. Sounds about right for one with your basic externals bolted on. They are lighter than a MGB 4 cylinder. I have about a dozen of them stored on the second floor of my garage and I carried them up there. They are light, but its hard to get real power out of them. 200HP is fairly easy. Beyond that, it gets into LS money and beyond real quick. I have seen several 300 plus stroker versions run north of $10K. Real hard to justify building a big power Rover engine when complete LS3 Tremec TR6060 packages are in the $9K range. The later Rover engines had increased capacities and can bolt up to anything the 3.5 can. Bell housing pattern is unique and finding ones to mate to a T5 or to a Rover 5 speed can be difficult and expensive.