Wired's review of the 780's 25th anniversary

VParker · Post by **VParker** » 28 Jan 2011, 00:29

The coupe 780 Bertone Coupe was the ultimate Volvo and a personal luxury car from a family car maker. Not a sports car like the P1800 and dissimilar to the chop top 262 Bertone which always reminded me of the padded vinyl top style of some American cars. The 780 was a tarted up 740 which was Volvo's last attempt at selling the world a real Volvo. Rear wheel drive but with the headroom of a front driver and a smooth ride with, my god a live rear axle. Long before Porsche consortiums and transverse mounted 5 cylinders engines the 780 is all old guard with all the flair that the Italians could throw at a, well - Volvo.

cdnbluez · Post by **cdnbluez** » 28 Jan 2011, 07:44

I bought one brand new off the showroom floor. I brought my 760 in for a new rad and saw this Pearl Blue 780 turbo, I negotiated a trade and drove it home. Cost me $52,000 in 1989! I loved that car, best riding Volvo ever, it had a real heavy feel on the road. 740/760 didn't compare, 780 handled way better. Power wasn't too bad, as long as you got the turbo. They came with the turbo plus kit from the factory, which put it at about 190 HP, which was more than the Mercedes Eclass and the BMW 5 6cyl. The 6cyl version was sluggish, had smaller wheels/tires etc.. I decided to sell it when my son was born, we "needed" a wagon. I eventually sold it to my mechanic, alot of small things started to go wrong that were expensive to fix. I'll scan and upload a photo if I can find one.

cdnbluez · Post by **cdnbluez** » 28 Jan 2011, 08:52

Here's a couple of pics from the summer of 1991.

Post by **matthew1** » 28 Jan 2011, 12:18

Great story, Cdnbluez, thanks for sharing it. Your 780 was very very pretty. What a nice car.

Fifty-two grand in '89 was a LOT of money, CDN or US dollars. Your $52 was CDN dollars, yes?

cdnbluez · Post by **cdnbluez** » 28 Jan 2011, 15:16

Yes it was Cdn. $. Just a side note, my mechanic sold after acouple of years to another client. So I still get to see it once in a while.

Kent T · Post by **Kent T** » 28 Jan 2011, 16:39

Here in McMinn County, I know of both cars extant. The 262 C is not running and is sitting at my mechanic. Body is in minty shape. The 780 is owned by another physically challenged driver here in town. We have a pretty decent number of Bricks in town. Bertone's styling is interesting.

Wired's review of the 780's 25th anniversary

Re: Wired's review of the 780's 25th anniversary