Peter,
You have received some good info and some not so good info about the
1800. I have personally owned 6 different 1800 models. There are many
things to look for. The motor is bulletproof. It weighs a ton, but will
last forever. Swedish Iron is what they used to call the car. The
butterfly windows leak, the front windshield leaks from rust out from
cars that were not taken care of. Volvo used to have a slogan "Drive it
like you hate it". The problem is, they lasted so long, people drove
them without taking the normal care for the car that they should have.
As far as the handling goes, with some small upgrades from IPD
(www.ipdusa.com) you can have the 1800 out handle and perform circles
around the roadster. No offence. Three small changes to the suspension
will make all the difference in the world. Bilstien shocks, IPD
Anti-sway bars and Lowering coils. Tires and wheels are also a must. The
motor can be easily tricked out. There used to be a "big bore" kit for
the motor which brought it to .60 overbore. Now the most you can find is
.30 overbore. Fuel injection was standard on every Volvo from 1971 until
now. The ES model (sportwagon) was only created for 2 years (1972-73).
There are only 8078 of the ES model made, so the price is up there a
bit. The coupe was made from 1962-72. There were about 45,000 total
1800's made. If they made it a factory convertible (only some
aftermarket ones have been made), I would have one of those instead of
the Roadster, but life was not that great. Volvo safety deemed a
convertible was not safe. Oh well. If you want to see a photo of one
that I used to own that was in fairly decent shape (no leaks either),
you can see it at http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/bonos
If you have any other questions about the car, email me and I can go
into a bit more depth. I can also point you in the right direction to
find a good one.
Bo
bonosvolvo@attbi.com
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