1993 Volvo 240 Tørslanda Estate

We get to see a lot of cars here at our Oxfordshire HQ.

Great ones, rare ones, fast ones, expensive ones, interesting ones, weird ones, old ones, big ones, small ones….you get the picture.

But we’ve never before encountered anything quite as remarkable as this 1993 Volvo 240 Tørslanda.

It is a one-owner-from-new example and has 11,934 miles on the odometer.

Yes, you read that right – 11,934 miles.

Given that these cars are famously capable of mileages in the moon-and-back category, that makes this one barely run-in.

It is utterly authentic, original and unmolested, having spent its life kept warm and dry inside and only rarely venturing out.

The vendor, who is a relative of the car’s late owner, tells us that this car’s sole curator was a very particular man who liked things to be neat, tidy, orderly and just so.

It was he who retained the plastic seat covers that are still in situ today.

And it was he who started and maintained a service history that saw this car serviced 19 times by the supplying main dealer, MRG of Chippenham, and no-one else.

It is, in every respect, simply extraordinary.

In 1990 a film with the decidedly politically incorrect title of ‘Crazy People’ was released.

It starred Dudley Moore and saw him recruit his fellow insane asylum inmates as advertising copywriters and art directors.

They specialised in ads that were brutally honest. Their Volvo ad came with the headline, ‘They’re boxy, but they’re good’, and a strapline that read, ‘Be safe instead of sexy.’

Yes, the 240 is undeniably boxy.

And we’re pretty sure of its safety credentials.

But this time-warp example, with its pristine lines, astonishing preservation and total authenticity, is as sexy as anything on four wheels as far as we’re concerned.

There are no creases, dimples, ripples, cracks, dinks or dents of any significance anywhere that we can see.

All five doors close with the kind of gravitas, precision and heft you might expect to find on a bank vault.

The whole thing feels as if it’s been machined from a single billet of tungsten or possibly some sort of Swedish granite.

We’ve seen flimsier battleships.

The silver paintwork has lost little of the shine and lustre with which it left the factory and has acquired just a minimal number and distribution of stone chips and scratches over the course of its 11,934 miles of gentle meandering and pottering.

The multi spoke wheels are in broadly fine order, save for a kerbing scuff on the o/s/r wheel and a little surface corrosion on some of the inner spokes.

That aside, the only real deviations from showroom freshness are some patches of rust on the headlamp wiper arms; a small mark on the passenger door and a scuff and a couple of paint chips on its driver’s-side counterpart; a couple of light scratches on the nearside rear wing; one or two stone chips on the bonnet and around the ‘nose’ of the car; and some small marks here and there on the black plastic trim inserts on the ‘C’ pillars.

We’d barely stopped twitching from the shock of the car’s extraordinarily well-preserved exterior when someone inadvertently opened the front doors and we found ourselves gazing at 1993.

Everything is just as it would have been when the car left the showroom.

The blue tweed upholstery is as good as new, not least because it’s still wearing its protective plastic wrapping.

All black plastic inserts on and around the dashboard are unmarked, unfaded and seemingly untroubled by the passage of 32 years.

Even the dealership stickers look as if they were applied yesterday.

Needless to say, the carpets, mats and door cards are entirely beyond reproach.

So, too, is the headlining.

The capacious luggage area looks as if it wouldn’t recognise a suitcase or a bag of groceries if you showed it photographs.

The inside panel on the nearside contains a cunningly concealed spare wheel.

Its counterpart on the offside contains a selection of genuine Volvo spare parts – all unused, naturally.

The steering wheel, handbrake, gear lever, pedals and other controls are all in unimpeachable condition.

As far as we’re aware, everything works and does what it’s supposed to do without recalcitrance or dissent.

We honestly think that this car must have a portrait of a decrepit version of itself stored away in an attic somewhere.

It has to be seen to be believed.

​We have started and run the car and can report that it does the former promptly and the latter with a healthy engine note and a clean exhaust.

We haven’t taken it out for a drive because we don’t want to get it dirty or salty and we’re reluctant to add anything to the freakishly low mileage.

Needless to say, the engine bay looks dry, orderly and entirely like the sort of thing you’d expect to find on a car that has yet to break the 12,000 mile barrier.

The undersides are every bit as good as the rest of it.

This car comes with a UK V5 and its original handbooks, manuals and service history books, with the latter bristling with 19 stamps from the supplying main dealer, MRG of Chippenham.

There are no bills covering repairs or non-service maintenance for the simple reason that it’s never needed any work done.

It also comes with full sets of keys, a Haynes manual (which clearly never needed consulting) and an MoT certificate that’s valid until 24.11.25.

You really won’t be surprised to learn that the MoT comes with no advisories.

Yes, it’s technically possible that there’s a better example of a 1993 Volvo 240 Tørslanda out there somewhere.

If there is, then it must have been immediately cocooned in bubble-wrap the moment it left the production line and then sent directly to a hermetically-sealed room in a Swedish design museum.

Failing that, we have no hesitation in saying that this is the best we’ve ever seen….or ever will see.

We are happy to offer this vehicle for auction with an estimate in the range of £15,000 - £20,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.