It’s fitting that a Ford powerplant has wound up in this 1981 Volvo 262C…according to the legend, Henry Ford II and a team of executives and engineers visited a Volvo manufacturing plant in the mid-1970s and had brought Lincoln Continental Mark IVs to drive around. Compared to anything Volvo was cranking out at the moment, the Mark IVs were many things: stylish, loaded for bear, and of course, massive, but it got Volvo folks discussing the idea of a luxury coupe. Maybe it was to appeal to the Americans who wanted a personal luxury coupe that matched the sensibility and safety-concious image of Volvos already sold in America, but whatever the case, their answer was the 262C. Volvo took the 260 sedan, decapitated it, and shipped the car to Bertone in Italy, who built up the roof, windshield, cowl, and the upper sections of the doors. The resulting coupe had a lower roofline and two doors, but otherwise was pure Volvo brick.
This 1981 262C has had the PRV V6 ditched in favor of a 1992 Ford 5.0L V8 and AOD automatic, courtesy of a donor Mustang, It’s also been treated to some suspension bits and the Euro-spec composite headlights, instead of quad beams, and it’s the last year of 262C production, which means there is no vinyl roof to spoil the all-black beauty. We’d be quick to ditch the 5.0 callouts on the fenders, because this Volvo is S-L-E-E-P-Y! My Aunt Mary had a Volvo wagon she hated when I was a kid…bet she’d love this thing!
Craigslist Link: 1981 Volvo 262C by Bertone
If only Ford had bought Volvo back then cars like this would have been rolling off the production lines and onto our streets. This is a superb swap and looks factory built – and not an LS in sight either!
Ditch that blue lump for an LS.
couple of points.
1. how wide is the smallest ls
2. the ford 5.0 HO is 18″ wide at most
3. 4r70w would be a better match in a light car
4. GM products suck big time. just look at all the aftermarket there is to fix all the
screw ups that GM built into their products.
5. were it done today, ford ecoboost v6 would be the bomb. adding lightness is l
like adding power