Harbinger of Corolla Liftbacks to Come – 1973 Volvo 1800 ES
The Volvo 1800 series of cars have been flying off the shelves on ebay and Craigslist recently. We’ve seen some record prices and some great deals over the past few months on the P1800, 1800S, 1800E and of course the ES. This 1973 Volvo 1800ES is just the latest find, here on ebay in Gladstone, OR with bids approaching $6k and just 2 days left to run. The seller has posted tons of Ansel Adams quality pictures, by which one can gauge its bid-worthiness. This particular photo reminds us how much Toyota borrowed from the 1800ES when they copied it with launched their Corolla Liftback.
~ exceptionally nice 1800ES driver.
Seeing these new in the Fresno showroom along with the 164s and the 145s, my 14 year old mind thought these were pretty cool. My 54 year old mind still thinks so.
Bids over 8k and still no reserve met. There is a lot
Left out of the picture here. The exterior pics look great but that's not what the prospective buyer needs to be focusing on. Bring a flashlight, screwdriver and magnet. Check the door jams, floorboards, under the trim around that gorgeous backlight, battery tray, just to name a few. Ball joints and axle straps, too.
Seems pricy unless its as pretty underneath as it is up top.
This is one car where on-lift pictures of the underside will really help tell the whole story, but of course lots of hidden areas for tinworm won't show anything wrong until you start poking and the "metal" crumbles away. This one has a slick, shiny repaint which is a bit suspect, but thankfully Oregon is a fairly safe climate with no salt in the winter and tons of old Volvos still on the road. Still it would help inspire confidence if the seller showed closeups of the common trouble spots.
The lack of under-body shots is definitely a bit worrying. I wouldn't bid without an in-person inspection.
Reserve not met and unsold, last I looked the bids were around 9k. This seller may want to reexamine their situation. This seller, however, needs to have their head examined:
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-Volvo-ES-1800-Sport-Wagon-4-speed-manual-transmission-with-overdrive-/321135136935?_trksid=p4340.m748&ViewItem=&_trkparms=clkid=8186588994279876791&item=321135136935&forcev4exp=true#ht_578wt_1167