Delivery mileage Volvo 1800ES can be yours for $73,900

A 1973 Volvo 1800ES shooting brake has appeared for sale. Beyond the funky styling, orange over black leather interior and five-speed manual transmission, you're asking, so what?

There's a grand total of 90 claimed miles on the odometer. That's right, just 90 miles.

The item description screams in caps lock mode, so please allow us to translate it into a lowercase font for the benefit of your eyesight and sanity. The seller writes:

"This 1800ES was purchased from its original owner, a long time Kansas City Volvo dealer. This was part of his private collection. It has been borrowed and displayed by Volvo for promotional purposes."

And it can be yours for $73,900...or perhaps something below that amount.

The description goes on name-check Roger Moore, who actually piloted a different Volvo model in the British TV series "The Saint," as well as Irv Gordon, who owns a different Volvo model that just hit 3 million miles.

The Volvo 1800ES was made from 1972 till 1973, with a total run of just over 8,000 examples. These used the same inline-four engine as the P1800 coupe (now this would be the car that the aforementioned Roger Moore and Irv Gordon used), detuned to about 125 hp, and somewhat contrary to the item description, they had a four-speed manual with overdrive. 1800ES have had a good survival rate given their unique design, which featured a completely glass tailgate that late inspired the Volvo C30 hatch. The 1800ES wasn't a particularly quick car when it was new, but it has a loyal fan base in the states and in its home country.

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The description doesn't mention status of mechanicals... in case you wanted to actually drive it.

Let us play Captain Obvious here and point out that minty Volvo 1800ES that you can drive do not approach even half of the asking price of this example, and we have to wonder about what sort of buyer would pay that much for an objet d'art that he or she is unlikely to drive. 1800ES values top out at just over $26,000 for the very best examples, though over the years a few overrestored examples have crested the $30,000 mark. But there are hardly any examples that would approach national concours level, which this example may or may not be after decades of non-use.

The description doesn't state what shape the (original?) tires are in, and whether these 90 miles have been accumulated all during the first year of its life, or over the course of the last 40 years. The leather doesn't appear cracked, and it doesn't appear to have had a gallon of Armor-All dumped on it five minutes prior to the photo session either.

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The interior has held up well, though it is not mentioned in what kind of storage this car has lived.

Believe it or not there, is a comp for a low-mileage Volvo 1800ES selling in the U.S. In 2007 an Annapolis, Md. Volvo dealer was offering an identical orange 1973 model with just 273 miles on the clock for the low, low price of $49,995 (good thing it wasn't $50,000 -- that would have been expensive). The car ended up going to a Dutch collector, but we never found out the actual selling price.

Once we get past the initial asking price stage with this Kansas City example, it will be interesting to hear (if we do get that luxury) just what amount this car ends up trading for.

And by the way, what is it with Midwestern car dealers and keeping vehicles with delivery mileage for decades on end?

By Jay Ramey