Rusty But Trusty

Without looking, this could be the oldest car featured yet on this blog. Older cars in the $3Kish price range are normally projects, undrivable, or both, and aren’t usually as usable on today’s roads. But getting into the early 60s, with the advent of disc brakes, more modern suspensions, and unibody construction becoming more and more common. Most cars by this point, even with more modest 4-cylinder engines found in cars like Volvos, are powerful enough to keep up with modern traffic.

Starting in 1962, Volvo started putting its B18 1.8 liter, 5 main bearing engine in the 544. Cars were additionally upgraded to a modern 12-volt electrical system. Larger taillights also add to the safety of 1960s cars. US-market cars mostly got twin carburetor engines with 90hp, and performance upgrades are readily available, even today, to push these engines up to 200hp and beyond. Listed in Springfield, MO, this “CUTE” 1962 544 is priced at $3500.

The dark red paint and early-style hubcaps and wheels make this car look quite handsome. The paint and chrome seem to have a decent shine, and the mudflaps give it some rally style that will make you want to throw on some knobby tires, bright lights on a lightbar in front of the grill, topped off with a spotlight and sponsor stickers.

This car won’t get looks for being a weird furrin’ car in the smaller towns across America, since it looks a lot like a post-war domestic. The badge on the grill seems to say B18, but like with many European cars with long production lives, it was likely upgraded to a later B20 out of a 122.

It’s remarkably clean for the price – make sure to give it a thorough going-over before laying out the readies. Beyond the Volvo badge, what do the other badges say? 544 and B18? Looks like this would be a great touring car – big trunk, decent power from a sturdy engine, and those comfortable Volvo seats. The seller says he would not be afraid to drive it anywhere, and suggests it would even make a very good everyday car.

Seats, headliner, and door panels have all been redone and look respectable. However, it does look as if a new carpet kit is in order. That said, it seems parts are not hard to source for these older Volvos with their loyal following. However, with new tires, brakes, fuel pump, and front & rear window gaskets, you can probably get some miles under the wheels before you need to avail yourself of those supplies!

Tags: 544, Feature, swedish, volvo

This entry was posted on April 18, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.