Description
This is a truly one-of-a-kind Volvo the only LS-swapped 242DL in the UK, built properly from the ground up with motorsport-grade hardware, modern electronics, and real attention to detail. If you’re looking for something genuinely different that still drives, handles, and functions like a complete car not a half-finished project this is the one.
Finished in its original Mustard Yellow, this 1976 DL has been transformed into a track-capable street machine, powered by a crate LS3 V8, fully mapped on a Link Thunder ECU, and supported by Raychem’d milspec wiring, AIM PDM32 electronics, and an absurd level of chassis and braking spec. No corners cut, no corners left. Designed and built to be different but to perform as well on the road doing 30mph as it does on track doing 130mph.
This is not a drift missile, not a budget swap, and not cobbled together from eBay parts. It was built as a proper driver’s car engineered for reliability, tunability, and performance with systems and hardware far beyond most road builds.
Exterior Highlights
Original Mustard Yellow paintwork: patina and presence in equal measure
18” Rotiform RSE wheels wrapped in Nankang NS2R semi-slicks (Full set of Aerodiscs incl)
Period-correct Thule roof rack with rare OEM wind deflector
Custom stainless steel 3” exhaust system: properly built, heat-managed
Pop out rear windows and manual fronts, retro and lightweight.
Interior & Cabin
Full interior retrim in aged brown leather, including seats and door cards, period correct speaker pods on rear parcel shelf. The interior has been designed to be as stock as possible so as not to give away the hidden capabilities of the car unless you look very closely.
Brown carpet throughout a perfect pairing to the mustard shell
Genuine Prototipo steering wheel on an NRG quick-release hub
Motorsport-grade Tilton 800 Series pedal box with ultra-high-end Tilton 78-Series master cylinders the best in the business
Triple Tilton remote reservoirs, all plumbing in stainless braided lines
Dash-mounted brake bias adjuster, fully accessible from the driver’s seat
Fly-off OBP handbrake + front line lock setup for staging or drift use
Instrumentation & Electronics
Fully rewired body side harness using modern spec wiring
Engine bay and power systems feature a milspec, booted, Raychem-shielded loom, over £3, 500 spent here alone
AIM PDM32 with integrated 10” digital dash, 15-button CAN keypad, and GPS09 module for zero relay and fully configurable electronics
Full sensor suite, including brake pressure sensors, throttle position sensors and dual wideband lambdas for post race telemetry analysis and datalogging
All data is live-logged, allowing RaceStudio analysis.
Powertrain
Crate LS3 V8 bought new and immediately tweaked by Craig at Dynotorque
Spec includes GM Hot Cam, upgraded trunnion rockers, and uprated lifters
Nuke Performance Fuel Rails FPR and hoses (PTFE throughout with AN fittings)
Sub-5, 000 miles since build – run in and ready (in use regularly so will go up but not huge amounts)
Entire fuel system upgraded using Nuke Performance hardware:
60L Nuke fuel cell with competition top plate and integrated swirl pot and one way breather
Dual Deatschwerks 400lph fuel pumps
Nuke 100-micron filter
All fuel lines are PTFE-braided with AN fittings throughout, top-tier spec, professionally installed
All lines underbody are thermo-wrapped where needed for heat protection and safety
Drivetrain & Chassis
Ford 8. 8” rear axle with Ford Performance LSD and Moser 31-spline shafts
BC Racing coilovers, fully adjustable, properly set up for road and track use
Front end fully Delrin bushed, with custom-fabricated welded lower arms and rose joints
Rear arms Rose jointed and fitted with new BNE bushes
Geometry and response upgraded using BNE Dynamics components:
Quick-steer roll correction kit
Spherical rear axle bearing V3 kit
Hybrid torque rods (adjustable)
Adjustable panhard bar
Uprated front ARB, custom rear ARB
Adjustable ARB links
Front strut brace
Braking
Massive Brembo 17Z calipers - Gold
330mm front / 310mm rear brake discs
Entire system plumbed in PTFE braided lines with AN fittings
Controlled via the Tilton 800/ 78-Series pedal and master cylinder assembly, engineered for motorsport
Line lock
Lots more as there have been so many details built in to this build. This isn’t just a modified Volvo it’s a properly engineered, fully integrated build that combines the raw power of a 6. 2l 510bhp with motorsport-grade components, data-driven electronics, and OEM+ presentation. Everything from the wiring to the fuelling, chassis setup and driver controls has been done with intent, precision, and longevity in mind.
It’s civilised when you want it to be and genuinely fast when you need it to be. Equally at home on the road at 30mph as it is pulling G's at 130mph. Nothing here is off-the-shelf or guesswork it’s all been chosen, built, and tested with a clear purpose. Some cars you drive. Others you experience. This is the latter.
You’ll feel it from the moment you walk up to it. The patina of that original mustard paint, the subtle aggression of the stance, the way the aged brown leather glows against the early evening light. It looks charmingly retro to most but to those who know, it gives away just enough.
Turn the key, and the LS3 comes alive with a deliberate roar. You feel the mechanical honesty straight away. Not raw in the unrefined sense, but alive measured, serious, responsive. The way it idles, the way the data lights flicker on the AIM dash, the faint hiss from the fuel system pressurising behind you. It’s not theatre, it’s function.
Then you drive it and this is where it separates itself.
You’ll use the clutch once and know it’s been set up by someone who gives a damn. The pedal feel is spot on. The throttle is direct. The gear changes are clean. There’s feedback everywhere not crashy or nervous, just tightly wound and composed. It’s fast, of course, but that’s not what stays with you. It’s the the whole package just works. The way it corners. The confidence it gives you in the first five minutes, without needing to be tamed or second-guessed.
You could leave it parked outside a café and do exactly what I do, watch people wonder what it is and peek through the windows. Or you could take it to a track and pull your data after a session and realise you forgot it was still a Volvo. It’s capable, but not intimidating. Serious, but not joyless.
None of that matters unless it works as a car. And this does. In a way that makes you want to take the long way home. In a way that makes you want to explain it to someone or maybe not. Maybe you just want to keep it to yourself.
This car makes people ask questions. Most of them aren’t ready for the answers.
Watch the feature here: - details above
If you know what this is, you won’t need persuading. And if you don’t then this probably isn’t the one for you.
