IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: Volvo 480

Today's video is about Volvo's first FWD, the Volvo 480.

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Volvo 480

The 480 is an interesting car, for if nothing else, completely goes against the safe and vanilla image many non car people have of Volvo as a manufacturer.

It’s not only an interesting car to look at, especially for the time, but is Volvo’s first FWD car in an era where they were still extolling the virtues of RWD motoring to the American audience.

The car took six years to come to fruition and although it was launched to press in 1985, it took nearly nine months to then become available to the buying public

We’ve mentioned the FWD being the first for Volvo, but Volvo also boasted it was the first car, or certainly one of the first, to be sold in Europe with bumpers which met American safety requirements. Sadly due to exchange rates in the late 80s, the car never got to be the success it should’ve been in the American market.

It was also Volvo’s only car ever made with pop up headlights and really, was worlds away from the usual Volvo the buyer would expect with it’s sporty styling and sleek hatch body.

Although it’s a lesser spotted car in the UK, of all the 480s sold, 30% which accounted for 22,000 cars, sold in the UK. The car was sold from 1986 until 1995 and was offered either a 5 speed manual box from Renault or a 4 speed auto. The car we’re testing today has the auto.

At the start the 480s were all fitted with the 1.7 litre Renault engine which gave a fair output of 109 horse power and a top speed of 118 miles per hour; although wasn’t the quickest to get to that top number.

The car we’re testing, as we’ll discuss, has the turbocharger which was an option from 1988 which increased the output to 120 horse power.

Then in 1993, Volvo introduced the 2 litre engine, but this never got the turbocharger which was afforded to the 1.7 Renault engine.

Although the engines were tweaked, the body style was not, and the car you see before us today as the three door hatchback style; but with an underrated amount of legroom for both people in the front of the car and in the back.

It wasn’t just the engine which wasn’t a Volvo creation on these 480s and the suspension was input from Lotus which gave this interesting little car rave reviews on the handling and ride quality - something that even decades later I pick up on during the drive as a big plus point.

The unusual little Volvo with its cutting edge tech and daring for Volvo styling came to a close on the production line in 1995. It’s still massively loved by fans, has one of the most active owners groups I’ve ever seen and is still affordable for classic buyers - but is it worth it?