The Volvo 480 is a sporty compact car that was produced in Born, Netherlands, by Volvo from 1986 to 1995. It was the first front-wheel drive car made by Volvo and the only Volvo featuring pop-up headlights. The 480 was available in only one body style on an automobile platform related to the Volvo 440/460 five-door hatchback and four-door saloon models.
It features an unusual four-seat, three-door hatchback body, somewhere between liftback and estate in form. The 480 was marketed as a coupé in Europe starting in 1986. The car was originally intended to be marketed in the United States as a 2+2 "sports wagon" in the fall 1987, although these plans were cancelled in part due to the continued weakness of the U.S. dollar during 1987.
Development
Volvo took six years from the time the 480 was conceived, through its development, and finally brought to production readiness. The press launch was on October 15, 1985, but the 480 was first put on public show in March at the 1986 Geneva Motor Show, becoming available to mainland European buyers in May 1986 and the UK and Ireland on 11 June 1987. 22,421 480s were eventually sold in the UK, the highest sales in any country.
Volvo described the car as a four-seater with "sporty styling" and the first front wheel driven Volvo. The press described it as having a "sleek hatch body" in contrast to Volvo's traditional "boxcar look". While the 480's design is often referred to as a shooting brake by commentators, Volvo themselves did not use the term. The 480 was the first Volvo of its style since the 1800ES, and the last until the unveiling of the C30. All of these models featured a frameless glass hatch for cargo access.
The 480 was produced in Born, Netherlands, at the factory that built DAF cars, including the DAF 66 based Volvo 66, and later, the Volvo 300 Series. The 480 was the forerunner of the Volvo 440 and 460 models, which were built on the same platform.
thumb|Rear end of a 480 Turbo|left
For weight saving and pedestrian safety reasons, certain panels such as the nose-cone and bonnet were made from composite materials. Volvo also claimed that it was one of the first cars sold in Europe featuring bumpers designed to comply with United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulations to withstand a front rear impact without damage to the engine, lights, and safety equipment. The decision to incorporate pop-up headlights into the design was done to meet NHTSA standards on minimum headlight height while maintaining the aerodynamic shape. The federalized engine, however, did allow Volvo to export the 480 Turbo to Japan in 1989 with some additional minor changes to the trim and side markers. The cleaned-up engine produced at 5400 rpm and at 4200 rpm. Of the 300 examples exported to Japan, 295 were left-hand drive with a manual gearbox, whereas the remaining 5 were right-hand drive automatics. To keep the width under the 1.7-metre threshold, allowing it to fit into the compact car tax class, Japanese-market cars have no trim strips on the bumpers and use the earlier, slimmer side trim pieces.
thumb|right|A 1988 1.7-litre 480ES with headlamps lowered
The concept was to market a modern, compact front-wheel drive car with a unique low-slung design targeting buyers "between 25 and 40, probably with a higher than average education and with a career."
GT
For the UK market on 1 June 1994 the GT was introduced as a strict run of only 250 cars. It was available in two colours; Racing Green Metallic and Burgundy Pearl Metallic. The all-leather interior was specially designed by the German artist Wolf Cieciersci and featured a hand painted red, green, and brown pattern, unique to each car and no two sets of seats were the same. The GT also featured Air-conditioning as standard, 15-inch multi-spoke Vesa alloys and was only available with the 2.0 engine. The car retailed at £16,245.
A GT model was also sold outside of the UK, however it was simply an option pack, not a standalone model and it did not feature the same interior or wheels as the UK models. Unlike the UK market GTs, it could be optioned with a Turbo engine.
Celebration
1995 saw the United Kingdom release of the "Celebration" limited edition of 480 specially equipped and numbered cars. Celebrations were sold only in three colours, Dark Grey Metallic, Burgundy Metallic, and Satin White. A ruched leather interior, 15-inch 6-spoke Cetus alloy wheels, and air-conditioning (in lieu of a moonroof) were among the standard features found on the Celebration. The Celebration was sold as the "Collection" in mainland Europe, also being a limited edition of a separate 480 examples.
Technical Data
{| class="wikitable"
!
! colspan="3" align="center" width="320" |1.7i
! align="center" width="160" |1.7i Turbo
! align="center" width="160" |2.0i
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Model
| colspan="2" width="200" |ES
| width="120" |S, ES, LE
| width="160" |Turbo
| width="160" |S, ES, GT, LE, Celebration
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Years
| colspan="2" width="200" |1986–1989
| width="120" |1989–1994
| width="160" |1987–1995
| width="160" |1992–1995
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Engine code
| width="100" |B18E (F3N)
| width="100" |B18F (F3N)
| width="120" |B18EP (F3N)
| width="160" |B18FT/B18FTM (F3N)
| width="160" |B20F (F3R)
|-
| valign="top" width="130" rowspan="3" |Engine Type, displacement
| colspan="4" width="480" align="center" |
| width="160" align="center" |
|-
| colspan="5" width="640" align="center" |4-cylinder petrol engine with multi-point injection
|-
| width="100" | -
| colspan="2" width="220" | catalyzed
| width="160" | Turbocharged,<br>catalyzed
| width="160" | catalyzed
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Power output
| width="100" | at 5800 rpm
| width="100" | at 5400 rpm
| width="120" | at 5500–5600 rpm
| width="160" |
| width="160" | at 5400 rpm
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Maximum torque
| colspan="2" width="200" | at 4000 rpm
| width="120" | at 3900 rpm
| width="160" | at 3300–4600 rpm
| width="160" | at 3500 rpm
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Transmission
| colspan="5" align="center" width="640" |Renault JC5 gearbox or ZF 4HP14Q 4-speed automatic
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Transmission
| colspan="5" align="center" width="640" |Front-wheel drive
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Curbweight
| colspan="2" width="200" |1016 kg
| width="120" |1030 kg
| width="160" |1079 kg
| width="160" |1050 kg
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Top speed†
| width="100" |
| width="100" |
| width="120" |
| width="160" |
| width="160" |
|-
| valign="top" width="130" |Acceleration 0-
| width="100" |9.5 s
| width="100" |10.8 s
| width="120" |10.5 s
| width="160" |8.9 s
| width="160" |9.3 s
|}
†Volvo's figures vary considerably over the years
Annual changes
- 1987 - Anti-locking braking system (ABS) becomes available as an optional extra.
- 1991 - The 480 received new mirrors, headrests for the back seats, as well as subtle modifications to the trim and body-coloured bumpers now standard for the ES models. That same year, upcoming EU Euro 1 emissions legislation meant that catalytic converters were fitted to all models except for certain export markets. The fuel tank size was also increased from 48 litres to 60 litres. At this time, the power of the uncatalyzed versions changed to for the naturally aspirated B18 engine and for the Turbo.
- 1992 - The introduction of a new trim level called the 'S'. This trim served as the entry model and lacked certain features as standard that were found on the higher spec 'ES' models, such as alloy wheels, front fog lamps, electric moonroof and the digital info centre. Also introduced was a total closure system whereby the key can be held in the lock position to close the windows and (where fitted) the moonroof. Initially, the 'S' came with unpainted bumpers as standard.thumb|Volvo 480 interior with driver's airbag, optional leather upholstery and air-conditioning
- 1993 - Due to the lack of torque on the naturally aspirated 1.7, partly a result of power sapping emission controls, a larger 2.0 engine was introduced, also based on the same Renault F-Type engine architecture. It first became available for the 1993 model year, and the same ZF four-speed automatic transmission was also offered.
- 1994 - The 480 also received its last significant update, and now sported clear front turn signals, a third side intrusion bar in both doors, and a driver's airbag as standard. The standard grey velour upholstery was replaced with black half-leather. Full leather upholstery, however, remained a factory option. Motor Sport magazine commented on the sporty, but "obedient" handling, with "minimal understeer" and a stable chassis during cross-winds. Despite this, poor build quality and reliability at launch led to one Dutch car magazine to dub it the "coupe from hell".
Writing about the demise of the 480 in Car Magazine, journalist Richard Bremner wrote about the car's decent power and low weight combination. "This meant there was some danger of a sporty steer — pretty radical from a company that considered having fun at the wheel as acceptable as seducing a nun," he commented. "Good grief, a Volvo worth preserving. And there aren't many of them."
He also commented on the last versions for the United Kingdom as, "And Celebration it was too, as Europe waved goodbye to the badly built, pointless, DAF coupé with an outrageous asking price of £16,500. That paid for the CD player, alloys, leather, and a "pointless hallmarked plaque" glued to the dashboard." It "was no sports car" with most being "ridiculously underpowered" and available to collectors "at rock bottom" prices.