Those bumpers make it look American. The rear quarters say "shooting brake." Its overall design suggests near perfection.
The car may have looked fairly Honda-ish for the time. And why not? This was Volvo's first front-wheel-drive car, so its packaging fit Honda's profile (Though thankfully with a longer, safer front end).
It belongs somewhere between Volvo's P1800GT (1961-1973) and their C30 (2006-2013). In fact, it fits quite well between them, even with its requisite 1980s boxy styling (Think Mustang). The 480 was made between 1985 and 1995, and had all three cars been given the same or a similar name (Maybe the P1700 and/or the P2000?), I doubt that anybody would have complained.
The engine choices in the 480 were either a 1.7 (1721cc), a 2.0 (1998cc), or a 1.7 Turbo (Starting in 1988), all built by Renault. They were mounted sideways, of course. Gearbox choices were either a 5-speed manual, or a 4-speed automatic, which were about par for that time. Some 80,463 480s were officially built, and a few additional prototypes also made their way off of the line.
The car had well-respected handling; no surprise when you consider that Lotus developed its suspension. But the 480 was criticized as being underpowered... and that kept buyers away, as did its lofty price.
So here's a little gallery of images of the 480:
Not many 1980s cars had flip-up headlights like the 480; no other Volvo ever did.
The hatch on the 480 was all glass, as were the P1800GT and C30.
Lots of gauges and switches set in an angled BMW-esk dash. Turbo dials are in the center.
Leather bucket seats, center console, lots of headroom. And this is the back seat!
This is a great road test and video presentation of the 480, if you can translate it.
A Cabrio version of the 480 was developed, but never built. This model would have been great for (sometimes) sunny North America, but since they weren't sold here anyway, well then, what was the point in building it? A Targa was also under consideration, but never made it to production either.
Sadly, this car was never imported to the US because of unfavorable exchange rates in the late 1980s. So if you want a Volvo 480 here in America, this may be your best way to get one. I'll take mine in red, please.
--That Car Guy (Chuck)
Image Credits: The first Volvo 480 image is from DNA-CDN.com. The 480's engine shot came from NetDNA-CDN.com. The forward glamour shot was found at VolvoCars.com; the 480 with its headlights up is from Gazoline.net. The rear (Hatch) view came from Pretty-Cars.com. The 480's dash image was found at Photobucket.com. Its rear seats photo is from CarGurus.com. The Prototype Cabrio image came from Hooniverse.com.
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