The Russells, Wally and Marcia, love affair with Volvos began with the purchase of their first new car, a 1971 142E (wish we still had that little gem!). Replacing the 142E was a Red 1980 242 DL-SRO. Next in line was a 1989 740 Turbo 4-speed w/OD. We loved this great car and would still have it except Volvo came up with a model that met our need to navigate in the snow by introducing the AWD. After seeing an AWD model at a meet in Burlingame CA, we were inspired to put that on our shopping list for the future. In the meantime, Wally fulfilled one of his Volvo ownership dreams when he found a 1973 1800ES basket case. The car was the project of someone who kept meticulous notes as he took the body apart. There was body damage everywhere! Everything that could be removed from the body was removed including glass, interior and dash. After a couple of years of careful restoration, the ES was back on the road and shown proudly at meets in the Bay Area, Delta, Davis and finally in August 2001 at the Volvo P1800 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca Raceway. In addition to our “regular,” family car Volvos we have acquired and passed along to new owners a 1965 122, a 1971 P1800 coupe, a couple of 544s and a 1989 780. These all needed varying degrees of TLC in the process. The two currently prized restoration project cars in the “fleet” are our 1962 544 and 1990 780 Bertone. Along the way Wally has used all of his talents in addition to help and advice from many of his car restoration friends. From engine rebuilding, to paint and body work, from hunting for parts to making everything fit back together, bringing both of these treasures back to their rightful glory has been a fun and rewarding experience. These share garage space with a 2008 V70 Cross Country.
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