The Volvo 480, the company’s first front-drive car, was a big departure from the brand’s past in both design and function. It marked the start of a new era for the company. The Dutch-made 480 was supposed to be sold in the U.S., but its dream was dashed when the value of the dollar dropped, and it was out of bounds for many years. Only 250 480 GTs were made for the U.K., and only about 100 are still around. This was a special edition late-model car. This is being auctioned off right now at Bring a Trailer. The Volvo 480 was made with the United States in mind from the start. Its pop-up headlights were even made to meet hood and lighting standards in the U.S. If everything had gone as planned, this beautiful shooting brake would have helped the company get over its bad image in 1987 for making safe but boring rolling boxes. To Volvo’s disappointment, falling exchange rates from 1986 to 1987 pushed the 480’s expected base price into the area of the Nissan 300ZX before it even came out. Volvo put off launching its cars in the U.S. several times before shutting down totally in the first half of 1988. But that was back then, and this is now. Since the 480 was made from 1986 to 1995, all types can now be brought into the country under the 25-year rule. Another website run by Hearst Autos and invoice pricing is auctioning off this 1994 Volvo 480 GT that was just brought into the country. The G.T. is the strangest car in the country, even though only 250 are made. The U.S. part of the company was sad that the 480 was no longer being made, but people in Europe were very interested in it. The sleek lines, which were the idea of Dutch designer John de Vries, were a big change from the past, but they paid respect to the beautiful 1800s glass hatch and wagon shape. It was Volvo’s first clearly fast car in more than ten years. The interior styling was done by Peter Horbury, who was hired on a temporary basis and later returned to Volvo as design head. Subtly, it was just as powerful. A huge project called Project Galaxy ran from 1978 to 1991, and its goal was to make new, more fuel-efficient Volvo platforms. The 480 was the first result of this project. The bigger Galaxy was changed to the 850, and the smaller one was turned into the Dutch-built 480 and its sedan cousins, the 440 and 460. The first car ever made, the 480, looked and felt sporty, but it was used as a model for the rather dull 440/460. The 2.0-liter and 1.7-liter turbocharged engines, which could make up to 122 horsepower, came from Renault and were tweaked by Porsche starting in 1992. They were paired with either an automatic transmission with four speeds or, in this case, a manual transmission from Renault with five speeds. People said the car handled very well, even though it weighed only about 2200 pounds, which may not sound like much power these days. The car had a fully automated information center and headlights that turned off 30 seconds after the door was locked, among many other cutting-edge features. Unfortunately, coupes that are in style don’t stay that way for long. As sales dropped after 1990, plans for a mid-cycle makeover and a convertible were shelved. For Volvo, on the other hand, they stuck with the car and tried to boost sales with unique limited versions. The G.T., which was only sold in the U.K., was the most unusual of these. It was popular in the U.K. in the 1990s for cosmetics to come in limited editions. The G.T. stood out from the other 480s. You could only get it in racing green or burgundy pearl, and it came with 15-inch Vesa metal wheels and a 2.0-liter engine. It also had a unique leather interior with designs that were unique to each car. Four hundred buyers on the continent could choose the outside parts but not the inside. This is the only G.T. in all of North America. The 480 could have had a better reputation for reliability, but most of its problems were fixed long before 1994, and this example looks to be in great shape. The test certificate from the U.K. Ministry of Transit (MOT) has been good for a few months since it was brought in in June 2023. You can see the car’s test records going back to 2006, even though the MOT test is tougher than most U.S. inspection programs. This does not promise quality. It has stayed at most 4,000 miles since 2014. Radwood still dreams about how nice the 480 looks as a new car. Since this car is so rare, you’ll be asked about it all the time. It’s fun to drive one, and it won’t break the bank. The auction stops on March 12, and now you can have the lost fruit.
