While American muscle cars are known around the world for their aggressive styling and huge engines, there are hundreds of brands around the world, each with its own niche. Volvo is known for being safe, slow, and boxy, and while they’ve made a few “sporty” cars here and there, they’ve never had their own version of a muscle car. However, many Volvos do have very accommodating engine bays, so a V8 swap is always an option.
So while we’ve seen a few V8-swapped Volvos at car shows, we’ve never seen one turned into a Pro Street racer. Jalopnik came across just such a vehicle on eBay, and even better; it’s a station wagon.
Having always been fans of long-roof race cars, this ProStreet 1978 Volvo 245 Wagon tickles us in all the right places. It’s something slow that’s been made fast. It’s a station wagon. It’s got a 410 horsepower Chevy 350 under the hood. And it may even be street legal (depending on where you live, but it does have the license plate brackets!). Make no mistake though; this Volvo was built for racing.
This Volvo wagon is loaded with everything you need to make it down the track fast and with style. It’s got tubs with gigantic slicks, an eight-point roll cage with a pair of racing seats equipped with five-point harnesses, but the dashboard is all still there (sans a few modifications).
A TH400 transmission backs up the engine, which has been setup for nitrous (bottle included.) It must have been a labor of love, considering all the custom work that went into it. Alas, it didn’t meet the $18,995 Buy-It-Now price, and oddly it drew just one bid. If we had the money, this wagon would be sold.