Volvo 480 celebrates 30th birthday | Car Talk - Car News Feb 2016

15:28 Friday 26 Feb 2016

Having owned four examples, yours truly must admit to a degree of bias when it comes to the Volvo 480 ES.

However, it is easy to forget just how radical and innovative the wedge-shaped sports hatch was when it was first revealed to the world at the Geneva Motor Show almost exactly 30 years ago, especially from a manufacturer better known for conservative, sensible, large saloons and estates.

The head-turning 480 ES, with its pop-up headlights, droop snout, and 1800 ES inspired glass tailgate, was the first front-wheel-drive, transverse engine model produced by Volvo. It was an unexpectedly far out offering from the normally staid Swedes, a phenomenon explained by the fact that it was a Dutchman, John De Vries, of Volvo’s Netherlands subsidiary who penned the design. The innovative interior, with angled instrument panel and adjustable backrest on the individual rear seats, was created by a Brit - Peter Horbury – who eventually rose to be Chief Designer at Volvo Cars.

The 480’s level of technology was years ahead of its time, with an ‘electronic information centre’ providing digital read outs of average fuel consumption, average speed, range and outside temperature.

Powered by a 109bhp Renault-developed 1.7-litre engine, the 480 ES could do 118mph. It was followed two years after launch by a turbocharged version producing 120bhp, and then in 1993 by a 110bhp 2.0-litre engine offering improved torque.

Never intended to be a big seller for Volvo, the 480 nevertheless paved the way for a new generation of front-wheel-drive Volvo’s. The UK proved to be the most popular market for the model, taking 22,000 of the 76,375 Volvo 480’s built in total before production ended in September 1995.

Now consigned to the ranks of modern classics, the Volvo 480 is still as eye-catching as when it was first unveiled in Geneva at the beginning of March 1986.

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