1981 Volvo 242 GLT Turbo on eBay Motors

Volvo has built itself a pretty solid reputation for performance with Polestar, both as an independent brand and as its Volvo tuning arm, and even before that with Volvo R cars such as the S60R and 850R. But long before all that was the Volvo GLT Turbo models. And if you want to learn what those early days of fast Volvos were like, you could do a lot worse than this 1981 Volvo 242 GLT Turbo we found on eBay.

The car appears to be in immaculate condition. The paint is brilliantly shiny and not faded. There isn’t any rust visible, and the seller notes that in the description. The interior in particular is spotless and there are no signs of tears, fraying or cracks. The seller also notes that a fair bit of maintenance has been done on the tires, brakes, oil, fuel pump and timing belt.

Now if you’re interested in one of these cars, you should know that this is a “fast” Volvo, emphasis on the quotes. Old Volvos were seriously slow, and the non-turbo version of this coupe only made about 100 horsepower. With the turbo, the 2.1-liter four-cylinder made 127 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque. And since the car weighed a little less than 3,000 pounds, you can guess that this was no rocket. But it was about the fastest Volvo you could get. So it’s a cool piece of history, and the design has aged great. In all black, with the low, boxy shape, it’s like a Swedish Buick Grand National, especially with a turbo and rear drive. You will probably just need some rain to get the tires to break loose. Or, since this is a Swedish car, snow.