So much is going on in the automotive world. Unfunded mandates by government for fuel efficiency, electronic safety systems, pedestrian safety and so on. The whole rising gas prices thing etc. etc.
I’ve found something that trumps all of those non-issues. A few weeks ago, I was driving along the Long Island Expressway, mindlessly commuting to work, when I stumbled upon this chewing up the miles eastbound.
This is a stretched 1990’s Volvo that was weaving in and out of traffic, and finally. it went into the HOV lane.
Yes, a stretched 1990s Volvo. The thing…err…car had genuine New York State Livery plates, and was moving at a decent clip. Let me get this straight. Somebody saw a mid-90’s Volvo…and said to themselves “Yes…I want to stretch it. Add more sheet metal!” It’s madness. Pure madness!
I am writing because I am genuinely curious. Can somebody tell me first, where did this car come from? Second, why does it exist? Third, are there any more stretched Volvos out there? Most importantly, why would anyone ever stretch a Volvo in the first place? Do the swells in the back value safety that much that a Town Car doesn’t suffice? Do they like the cool atmosphere of Swedish decadence?
What are the weirdest stretch limos you’ve seen? Are they are perfectly lackluster as this one? Please comment below and help solve this very important mystery.
In high school, one of my friend’s parents had a Volvo like this (not stretched). I remember sitting in the back and having my head touch the roof. That was remarkable considering that I’m only 5’4″.
So why on earth would anyone turn a car like this into a limo?
As a 240 owner I never understood why later Volvos were a bit less roomy as far as headroom went, I can sit in he back or front of my 240 with room to spare for a hat, not so much with the 700-900 I sat in.
I know that Volvo was producing a long wheelbase ‘S80L’ for the Chinese domestic market. These would be used by upper class folk with a driver.
I have seen a couple of 940/960 series limos for sale in the US in the past. I suspect they were imported from Europe. I have seen Volvo ambulances and hearses from that side of the pond as well.
Volvo “Executive” and “Royal” versions were actual company models, and not aftermarket conversions.
Not sure I’d the YouTube link goes through, but check out youtube.com/watch?v=iIwQ8W_1IbY
The 960 l was called the royale and IIRC they where avaliable here in Canada though not many sold.
I believe a stable of stretched 740s were the very last state limousines of East Germany, so, while strange to North American eyes, this sort of thing is certainly not unknown.
Back in the late ’80’s, I happened to see a stretched 7-series Volvo. It had both a back seat and rear-facing middle seats. A real limo. It was a dark grey. Never saw another one like it. I always thought it was awesome.
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc25/celicamadnest/mr4.jpg
Mr2 limo
http://www.autotraderstatic.com/cms/img/images_82029.jpg?v=3.58.246367
760 GLEL from Volvoville USA Inc?
– “The limousine for people who think”
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/pdf/brochures/760GLEL.pdf
Here in Boston there was a black Volvo S80 stretch limousine, done in the 6-door style that you’d see applied to the last-gen Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. Every time I saw it, it was parked in front of the Boston University School of Business.I say “there was” because I haven’t been there in a while and cannot confirm its continued existence on the roads.
Oh yeah, I remember that car. It’s been a couple of years, I think, since I’ve seen it. Maybe it migrated to New York?
If we’re thinking of the same car, it’s likely the Boston Volvo Village dealer shuttle car. BVV is located near BU.
Jeremy Clarkson was here…
Could be a 960, but if I were to guess I would say 97-98 S90. This car may have been imported as a grey for a diplomat and is still in use by said diplomat or perhaps a private party. I can’t see a limo company dealing with it, repair/parts costs would put a wrench in its profitability. Volvo in Europe did coachworks conversion with the 900 series for Hearse, Ambulance, and I suppose Limousines right until the end of the platform. Would be very interested to know how its titled, either as a S90 sedan (which would explain how it could be registered by anyone other than diplomats), or something else.
Volvo has done limos in the past, when I did European delivery on a V70R we got picked up in a stretched S80. Logically the platform lends itself to stretching as easily as anything else, but I haven’t seen too many on offer in the USA.
Same car? http://bangshift.com/blog/roadside-find-rule-the-roads-like-a-scandinavian-pimp-in-this-volvo-limo.html
Those are build by Nillson
http://www.nilsson.se/en/the-cars/nilsson-limousine/overview/
I live in CT and grew up in Volvo wagons (go figure). There is a Volvo dealership in Westport, CT that has had this exact stretched car for years- I’m pretty sure it’s a 960. I always assumed they used it as a courtesy car or to pick up/drop off customers.
Those stretched Volvos were used for the transportation of the United Nations Secretary-General back in the late ’80s/early ’90s.
I remember that there was on in Minneapolis back when I lived there, in the 90’s. I think it was owned by Borton Volvo, where my Dad bought a 1986 760 Turbo. Fun car. To bad it exploded into a rustball in 1995ish.
I did just see a wacky limo. It’s a stretched Land Cruiser, and is parked at Slee Off Road in Golden CO.
I saw many many years ago, when this car was just a hand full of years old (12+ or so years ago), that one was for sale in The Dupont Registry. The ad was burned into my memory, I even remember how much it cost, I loved it that much haha. As far as the ad said, it was a factory thing. One of 5 or 6. It looked just like that one, just a different colour. It didn’t say why it was built or for whom, just that it was factory. That’s honestly about as much light as I can shed on it, that this looks identical to a factory built limousine that I saw for sale once with an organization who would fact check that kind of stuff.
Beyer Volvo in Alexandria VA has used a stretched Volvo for years as a shuttle to and from the Metro subway stop. It looks very similar to the Volvo pictured.
I rode in Beyer Volvo’s limo a couple of times. I think it was a 960–the driver gave me the story that it had belonged to the Swedish Embassy as the ambassador’s car. Beyer bought it used from them.
This is the same Beyer Volvo that sold the local City of Falls Church Volvo 740s for police cars back in the day.
There are a number of these floating around the States. A limo company here in Portland Maine had a couple, but they were more in the “extended sedan” rather than super-stretch limo version. Stretched maybe a foot? I have seen one just like in the picture in Boston, and an ad for one in Denver. They are out there.
and now one of us must possess one…
That’s one sword I’d gladly fall on, should one magically appear in New England and should KRhodes not want it for whatever reason…
It wasn’t a stretch limo, really, but I guy I know had a six door Oldsmobile, vintage 70s or 80s. It had 3 rows of bench seats and looked almost the same as the nornal four door sedans of the same vintage, just with the extra doors slipped in. Seeing it always gave you that odd ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’ feeling until the extra doors registered. He said that it wasn’t a customization, it came from the factory that way.
That’s a “Funeral car”. I drove one occasionally, I worked for the local Funeral Home in High School. My best friend’s mother owned the business. Six doors, both back seats face forward for carrying the family to the cemetery behind the hearse. The one I drove was a Cadillac though.
Could be, but it wasn’t black, it was a bland biege color.
Funeral cars are set up with all the seats facing forwards so mourners don’t have to make eye contact with one another.
Hard to tell the color from the pic, but if it’s a very dark blue, then it’s a dead ringer for one that used to be in the Boston area. (A 4-door 960 limo with the stretch between the doors.)
I heard (can’t remember when or from whom) that a local dealer used it as a courtesy shuttle. Who knows where it came from before that.
I haven’t seen it around Boston for a long time, so perhaps it migrated down to NYC.
Ill keep an eye out for it…funny when you commute on the same route for a few years you begin to recognize vehicles…
Stretch Volvos were the ultimate transport for limousine liberals back in the 80s. I don’t know about later models but in the mid 80s stretched Volvo 740s were fairly common in New York City.
I remember seeing a couple of IIRC late eighties Toyota Cressida limos in the Houston area a number of years back . Unsure if they were JDM or stretched in the U.S.
Likely done in the US – much, much easier than trying to import one. Especially back then.
Regardless, not as weird as some would think. I remember a few Gen I Accord 4 doors being stretched in ’79 or ’80. Done for a local Honda dealer for resale, I don’t remember how many units he moved.
A stretched Volvo is not exactly unique, but i live in Sweden.
http://www.google.se/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Blue_Volvo_S80_TS_stretch_Stockholm.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Volvo_S80_TS_stretch_Stockholm.jpg&h=1609&w=2860&sz=646&tbnid=xGElpfPZwD7TIM:&tbnh=68&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__JXKEPKHfWUjilfF0kVNGg4UZ57M=&docid=Z72JKzV_FRrP8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dXqXUaKCGIrZ4ASouYCwBQ&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAQ&dur=1952
I saw a mildly B-pillar-stretched Lincoln MKZ Hybrid on the LIE this year.
Sweedish Ambassador to the UN has a girlfriend on Long Island?