Highlights
- Ultra-rare Swedish luxury coupé
- Owned since 2005
- Appears highly complete, ripe for restoration
- UK market car with just three former registered keepers recorded
The Appeal
Some cars are just effortlessly cool. The Volvo 262C is one of them. David Bowie bought a 262C. That's as cool as it gets. Designed by Italian Carrozzeria Bertone and powered by the versatile PRV V6, the 262C was Volvo's attempt to beat the Germans at their own game, going after the Merc C107 and E24 6 Series.
This 1981 example is a rare UK-market right-hand-drive four-keeper car. As the photographs attest, it needs some love, but this is a special opportunity to restore a highly complete example of this special car. It has been in current ownership since 2005, and the car is accompanied by a V5C, 1981 MY manual and several old MOT certificates.
The vendor says:
"Volvo 262 Bertone Commissioned by the then president of AB Volvo, P.G. Gyllenhammer, following a trip to America in 1974, the 262C was conceived as a ‘halo model’ to enhance the prestige of the entire Volvo range. Based on the 264 Saloon, the newcomer sported two fewer doors and a radically lowered roofline. The work of Volvo’s chief designer Jan Wilksgaard, the striking-looking Coupe was intended as a rival to the Mercedes-Benz 280CE and Cadillac Eldorado. Trimmed accordingly, its cossetting interior featured swathes of pleated leather, electric windows, air-conditioning and wood veneer. Powered by a variant of the PRV V6 engine that also saw service in the Renault Alpine GTA and DeLorean DMC-12, the Volvo 262C could be specified with a four-speed manual plus overdrive transmission or automatic transmission; the latter more in keeping with its touring credentials. Production was outsourced to Bertone, who engineered the revised roof structure, more steeply raked windscreen and flush-fitting side windows, etc. The vast majority of the 6,626 flagship Coupes made were to left-hand drive, US specification. However, some 200 right-hand drive cars are understood to have been sold new in the UK. A Volvo model owned by the legendary pop star David Bowie, the most expensive Volvo 262C to sell at public auction, made over £160,000 in 2018."
This 1981 example is a rare UK-market right-hand-drive four-keeper car. As the photographs attest, it needs some love, but this is a special opportunity to restore a highly complete example of this special car. It has been in current ownership since 2005, and the car is accompanied by a V5C, 1981 MY manual and several old MOT certificates.
The vendor says:
"Volvo 262 Bertone Commissioned by the then president of AB Volvo, P.G. Gyllenhammer, following a trip to America in 1974, the 262C was conceived as a ‘halo model’ to enhance the prestige of the entire Volvo range. Based on the 264 Saloon, the newcomer sported two fewer doors and a radically lowered roofline. The work of Volvo’s chief designer Jan Wilksgaard, the striking-looking Coupe was intended as a rival to the Mercedes-Benz 280CE and Cadillac Eldorado. Trimmed accordingly, its cossetting interior featured swathes of pleated leather, electric windows, air-conditioning and wood veneer. Powered by a variant of the PRV V6 engine that also saw service in the Renault Alpine GTA and DeLorean DMC-12, the Volvo 262C could be specified with a four-speed manual plus overdrive transmission or automatic transmission; the latter more in keeping with its touring credentials. Production was outsourced to Bertone, who engineered the revised roof structure, more steeply raked windscreen and flush-fitting side windows, etc. The vast majority of the 6,626 flagship Coupes made were to left-hand drive, US specification. However, some 200 right-hand drive cars are understood to have been sold new in the UK. A Volvo model owned by the legendary pop star David Bowie, the most expensive Volvo 262C to sell at public auction, made over £160,000 in 2018."
Key Information
- Mileage: 174,410 miles (indicated)
- Country of registration: United Kingdom
- Technical inspection status: exempt from MOT/road tax
- Technical specs: PRV V6, three-speed auto
- Paperwork: V5C, 1981 MY manual and several old MOT certificates
The Detail
- Very original example
- Appears highly complete throughout and not dismantled
- Period window stickers retained
- Areas of significant corrosion photographed in detail
- OEM alloy wheels
- Tyres flat
- The interior presents as good for its age and would likely clean up very well
- Offered in non-running order (mechanical condition untested)
- Dry stored for 10 years and was driven in there at the time
- Has not been started since then, but roles freely and the vendor believe it will start again
- Just four registered keepers
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