1973 Volvo 1800ES: Supreme Sportswagon

It’s no great secret that this is not only one of my favorite Volvos, but also one of my favorite cars, period. I’ve done several columns on Volvo’s sports car over the years, one on the ’67 1800S my father currently owns. And it all goes back to the red ’73 ES Mom had in my formative years.

And you really don’t see them very often, though they are much loved by their current owners! But it makes sense, as only 8077 ES wagons were built during the 1972 and 1973 model years. The upcoming five-mph front and rear bumper standards, combined with the 1800’s then 13-year-old basic body and chassis, spelled the end, sadly.

But the ES wagon was a great way to say goodbye to the “Souped Down Ferrari,” as one period Volvo advertisement called it. It somehow transcended its early ’60s basic sheetmetal and quarter panel fins, and managed to look modern–and beautiful.

Today’s featured car is owned by Doug Morrell of St. Louis. I spied this gorgeous car at the annual Bishop Hill, Illinois show. It is a terrific event held in the city park, and I have seen—and written up—several classic Volvos here in the past, including this ’69 144S and ’65 122S.

And I’ve seen a gorgeous mustard yellow 1970 1800E at this event too, but have not yet written it up. But give me time, ha ha! At any rate, when I first got to the show there were several cars from the Volvo club there, including a couple nice 544s and an Amazon.

I got to talking with one of the club members and he mentioned there was an ES at the other end of the show field. So after taking approximately 40 pictures of the nearby classic “Ovlovs” I struck off for the other end of the park to find it.

And it was gorgeous in orange with a black leather interior. It was totally mint, and I immediately began taking many photos, in perhaps somewhat manic fashion.

This caught Doug’s attention, who came over and was nice enough to open up the car so I could get better interior pictures. I told him about the red ’73 Mom had, and how it was identical to his car, except for the exterior color—it even had the roof rack.

He mentioned that he knew of a guy near him with one that had originally been red, and had a roof rack. Since so few were made, there is a definite chance it could have been Mom’s car—said car being traded in at Lundahl Volvo in downtown Moline, IL, back in 1986 or so.

It just made my day, seeing this car. And it made me curious about reactions to the car when it first came onto the scene. Of course, other than the extended wagon body, the 1800ES was not drastically different from the 1970 1800E—the first year the car received fuel injection.

1972 models gained the slotted styled steel wheels seen here, with small center caps and chrome acorn nuts, plus a matte black grille insert. For this year only, the coupe model returned, but apparently the wagon was the belle of the ball, as only the ES returned in 1973.

All ESs were powered by the “B20E” inline four cylinder engine, with Bosch fuel injection, 112 hp and 115 lb-ft of torque. Four wheel disc brakes, leather interior, rear window defroster and syncromesh four-speed manual with electronic overdrive were standard. A Borg Warner three-speed automatic was optional, as was air conditioning.

Doug’s car was sold new at Turner Motors in Sacramento, CA. It was $6070 per the window sticker. It originally had the automatic transmission but now has the four-speed. It had been placed in a storage locker in Cincinnati in 2001.

Doug bought it in 2019 and had the engine and transmission both rebuilt. It was back on the road and being enjoyed by September of 2020. The paint and interior are both original. It is chassis #3247 and was built 9/15/72.

It is also one of 601 painted in this eye-catching orange. This color was only available on ESs in 1973, by the way. It is striking, and I think I like it even better than the red one Mom had so long ago.

I managed to find some period road tests in my research. Most of them loved the look of the car but complained of the high beltline, narrow windows and somewhat dated ergonomics. The seats were pretty much universally praised, with the then-uncommon front seat lumbar adjustment. The back seats were considered only good for pets or children, or perhaps emergencies, ha ha.

As Autocar stated in their 12/8/71 review, “…we were impressed with the high standard of body finish inside and out and there was no doubt the car attracted a lot of attention wherever it went.”

Car and Driver tested one in its January 1972 issue, and the test car made the quarter mile in 17.1 seconds at 79.4 mph. They further opined, “You are surrounded by steel, upholstered of course, and the black dashboard confronts you with as many complex-looking dials as you will ever find in a land-bound machine.

“The driving position is good, the pedals are large and easy to find in the dark, and when you aren’t using your left foot there is a solid block to rest it against.” Many of the period reviews also praised the inertia-reel seatbelts, which combined lap and shoulder belts into one easy assembly with one buckle.

While that sounds like the seat belts on 100% of new cars today, that wasn’t the case in the early ’70s, as many cars, especially pillarless domestic hardtops, had separate lap belts and shoulder belts that you needed to connect and buckle separately. Volvo was ahead of the curve.

All in all, it was a pleasure to meet Doug and his car, it brought back many fond childhood memories. And one last thing, as Columbo so frequently said in the classic 1970s TV show:

Just this past Sunday, I attended the Des Moines Concours d’Elegance, as I do most every year. Lo and behold, Doug was there with his car, and we chatted once again. We were talking about 1800s and Volvo books and literature, and I mentioned one of the brochures was the exact one my dad got when they bought Mom’s car back in the ’70s—but that my copy was extremely worn, in fact so worn that we had it laminated as it was falling apart.

Doug said, well, I have two of these, so why don’t you take this one. I was floored by his generosity, and after we chatted a bit longer I very carefully walked it back to the car before returning to the show! Car people are the best people. And it was terrific seeing another classic 1800ES!