Volvo is a car company with a long history of functional reliability, particularly when it got rid of the curvy look and introduced the squared-off 140 series in 1966.
Volvo ran with the brick body style for many years after the debut of the 140 model and forged a reputation as a reliable workhorse for the Swedish car brand.
MyStarCollectorCar encountered a 1987 Volvo 740 Turbo station wagon that could readily be described as a sleeper because it still looked like a modest Swedish long roof from the Reagan years.
Jim Sutherland
Chris Sanderson is the owner of the ’87 Volvo wagon, even though he was born well after his car left the dealership 38 years ago. Chris is a millwright, so his skill set became a big asset for his plan to breathe fire into his modest Volvo long roof.
One could label Chris as a 21st century hotrodder because he built a famous Volvo 4-banger into a raging beast in a small package. Chris used the 2.4-liter B230F Volvo engine as a platform for his performance upgrades because it was already engineered for Turbo boost and had an overhead cam to maximize its efficiency.
As mentioned, Chris is a millwright by trade, so he is well-schooled in maximum output potential for turbines, a talent that came in handy when he decided to build a much better turbo booster for his Volvo engine upgrade.
Chris was able to construct his custom turbo booster from discarded parts, an age-old tradition for old school hotrodders who cobbled together performance from donor pieces. The Volvo mill’s major turbo boost upgrade was his 21st century version of yesteryear’s hot rod upgrades.
A high compression engine was a car guy goal during any hot rod era, including today’s world because Chris’s engine now sports a beefy 10.5 to 1 compression ratio after it went through a rebuild.
Chris got rid of his Volvo’s power-sucking creature comforts (such as power steering) because his main goal was maximum performance with minimal hindrances. He added a more efficient radiator from a more modern Volvo S70 T5 because Chris wanted to ensure his beefed-up engine had an adequate cooling system, along with intercooler capabilities.
The net result from the upgrades is a staggering horsepower boost from a four-cylinder engine, according to Chris. His entire Swedish hot rod process only began in January 2024 when Chris bought the ’87 Volvo and was able to return it to the road in beast mode by summer last year.
The Volvo still has a 4-speed automatic transmission but it has undergone changes so it can handle all those extra Swedish ponies after Chris brought out the very best in the B230F engine in terms of power. The large herd of horses are channeled via the tranny to a Dana 30 rear end, although Chris noted he will have to deal with the stock driveshaft components because of the wagon’s major power boost.
The ’87 Volvo resto mod is Chris’s answer to this timeless hotrodder question: “How fast can I go on a budget?”
Very fast in our opinion here at MyStarCollector.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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