15k: Tangerine Thosday: 1973 Volvo 1800ES

Looks like it ended at just under $13k… It looks like the description was pretty accurate, based on the pics. If all as advertised, I would say this was pretty well bought at that price. The big red flags were conspicuously absent but the price reflected that fact. Sure, there are cheaper examples in worse cosmetic shape out there but that really shouldn't scare you off unless you are 1)terrified of earning the wrath of your manicurist, 2)unsure as to which is Phillips and which is Phlat, or 3)have a difficult time understanding written language, spoken word, and pictograms. Dashes are often covered in ill-fitting caps and the wood grain contact paper facia isn't exactly sporty or luxurious but both are pretty easy fixes, if you have a minute or 1000 and the use of at least three fingers. True, the electrics in these can get ratty if they've been "improved" by an ambitious yet impatient hand. Don't be surprised if you find there to be a jumpy tach sometime in your future…But the measure of effort it takes to rectify most any problem you come across ranks well below a triple Lindy in difficulty; actually closer to breathing through the nose while standing upright. Rust fixes are generally straightforward since there are areas that get rotten fairly often and are, thus, easy to identify: I'm looking at you, batt box, jack points, forward frame rails and rocker panels. The recess where the rear glass closes tends to collect a bunch of water, leading to rust, also. Those little drain holes tend to get so full of dirt and crap that you cannot even see them on some cars. They are easy to snake with a section of braided wire, tho. Hmmm…what else? The VDO (Smith??) clock has its own Wikipedia page, as befitting its notoriety as a perpetual slack-ass; the ball joints should be replaced somewhere around the 100k mark, depending on how enjoyably those miles were experienced. Interior cards can get crusty but are available (along with a whole mess of other replacement parts for these) at VP Auto.

B20 will last well past your own personal expiration date, and is actually amenable to some tuning if you are looking for a little more hoof out of your Prancing Moose. The main bearings were direct replacements for the ones used on the USS Nimitz prop shaft so, you know, strong.

There's a bunch more but the best I can say about the ES is that I already own one but I'm constantly looking for another. Reliable while still cool and unusual, it hauls plywood better than it hauls ass, but damn if it doesn't look the part.

This is exactly the answer I was looking for. The ownership experience sounds so easy. I'm sure my wife will eventually disagree.

P.S. If Rodney Dangerfield could execute a near perfect triple lindy how hard can it be? Amirite?