Today’s Nice Price or No Dice V70 R is claimed to be “enthusiast-owned” but is said to get little enthusiastic exercise these days. Let’s see how enthusiastic we can all get about this rare performance wagon’s price.
I think the era of the off-road rally look, “Safari Sports Car,” might be over. Porsche released the Safari style 911 Dakar a couple of years back, which was quickly answered by Lamborghini with the Huracán Sterrato. Even our good buddy, Tyler Hoover, sought to get in on the action with a 911 Turbo Safari build. That, however, seems to have gone nowhere, and the factory knobby-tired Porsches and Lambos don’t seem to be crowd-pleasers either. Even here, the general consensus in the comments on yesterday’s lifted and rally-aspiring 2005 Mazda Miata was that it, too, wasn’t floating many boats. That was even more obvious in the voting as the jacked-up Miata’s $14,000 price tag found no favor and an 82 percent No Dice loss.
Thankfully, today’s 2004 Volvo V70 R brings us back down to earth—and out on the road. Perhaps one of the best cars Volvo has released in the past 20 years, the V70 R offers outstanding performance wrapped in the trappings of luxury, a cool Swedish aesthetic, matched with capable utility, all in an easy-to-park package.
For the performance, the R gets a 296 horsepower edition of Volvo’s 2.5-liter DOHC five-cylinder, puffed up by a BorgWarner K25 turbocharger and air-to-air intercooler. For transmission duties, Volvo offered the choice of an Aisin five-speed automatic or, as is fitted to this car, an M66 six-speed manual with the crazy space ball shifter. A Haldex AWD system helps ensure that the car’s nearly 300 ponies don’t automatically slam it into nearby trees with every aggressive stab at the accelerator pedal, while big discs at each corner rein in the fun when needed.
This is all in a handsome mid-sized wagon body with a comfy leather-lined interior and a big load area, making it one of the quickest ways to go antiquing you’ll ever find.
According to its ad, this R started life in New Jersey, then moved to Texas, and now calls Seattle home. During those moves, it apparently never encountered a pet or a smoker—or a smoked pet. It did accumulate 96,000 miles over that time, not a large number, and the car doesn’t show excess wear for its age.
The Passion Red paint still pops and is accented nicely by the simple five-spoke Pegasus alloys. Those wear Michelin Pilot Sport tires, but if the date code of 0415 in the pictures is accurate, they will soon need to be replaced. The seller does note that the car isn’t being used all that much any longer—hence the sale—and that would explain why tires haven’t been a priority. Or maybe the photos in the ad are all just old. The one of the rear hatch does show the car wearing 2015 registration tags. Another telling picture is that of the gauges, which shows a “Bulb Failure Position Light” message. That means one or more side marker lights have burnt out, something else to potentially put on the honeydew list if it hasn’t been fixed already.
Other work on the car has been undertaken, including the expensive job of a timing belt refresh and the replacement of the front struts. The seller also notes “some IPD suspension upgrades” and a Momo shift knob that matches the ball below. Of course, there’s the blue-faced gauges and sport buckets up front along with Volvo’s clever dual kid-seat bench behind those. All are covered in leather, and that shows some apparent use but no actual wear and tear. There is no third row.
The title is clean and, while the car is advertised on the Vancouver, BC Craigslist, it carries Washington plates and is priced in U.S. dollars at $22,000.
Would you scramble to the Pacific Northwest to pay that much for this rare (one of only 1,565 sold in 2004) and well-kitted sporty wagon? Or does that price tag quell all your space ball fantasies?
You Decide!
Vancouver, BC Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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