The Car Spy

The Car Spy does like a Q-car or a so-called ‘sleeper’. Something that looks like it couldn’t peel the skin off a rice pudding but has a discreet morsel of pumped muscle hiding under those family-friendly looks. Enter the Volvo V70R from the 90’s.

Much-loved by antique dealers for its ability to carry the entire contents of a stately-home, the ‘First Generation’ V70 had a somewhat conservative image. However, when Volvo stuck the turbo-charged 2.3 litre engine and an ‘R’ badge on the tailgate the Old Bill and British Touring Car drivers just couldn’t get enough of them. This was a high-performance family estate sporting an old man’s cloth cap. Sleepers didn’t come much better than this.

Phrases like ‘modern classics’ and ‘collectable cars’ are not normally associated with the Volvo brand, although, to be fair, original Amazons and P1800’s have their place in automotive history but the V70R from the 90’s onwards deserves to be taken seriously.

The good news is that if you are in the market for one you don’t need particularly deep pockets. There are normally several on offer in the classifieds for no more than £10k which is less than the annual depreciation on a brand new car from Geely-owned Volvo today.

Cars like the V70R are cool because only real car enthusiasts will appreciate and respect the historical capabilities of a car like this. Even car-mad JK (Jamiroquai) has had one in his impressive collection of desirable cars. And today, 250 BHP, 150 mph and a 0-60 time of just over 7 seconds is not too shabby for a car designed and built when Wham! were at No.1 in the charts.

We found this Laser Blue Metallic example on sale with only 95k miles on the clock at what appears to be a very reasonable £7990. Likely depreciation? Zero and if anything, likely to appreciate, we would bet on it.

Full details on the advertising dealer’s website are as follows: https://www.quickandbig.com/volvo-v70r-awd-1999