145 Auction - Help

[ITSv40]

Having had two 145's back in the day, that does look a nice example.

I think the most interesting thing is the provenance - where would you find another example with that detailed history from near new? In the classic world history is everything and cannot be legitimately remanufactured and will always attract a premium.

When I bought my 20 year old Silver Cloud it had complete history from day one, there was even a copy of an internal memo from the sales department to all manufacturing departments, to the effect that they were to take extra care in assembly, as the customer had complained of 'rattles' in his previous Bentley. The last line of the memo was a slightly derogatory, 'the customer seems particularly sensitive to rattles'. I owned it for 33 years and kept a detailed file in the manner of the Volvo history and was a strong selling point when I came to sell. One can spend money restoring a car without history and it will remain a restored car without history. Spending money on something such as the Volvo to improve it will result in a good car with history and will always be more attractive.

Coming back to the Volvo: the scuttle rust will need dealing with and will be a windscreen out to do it properly - the windscreen is bonded in the later models, as that is. Although the 145 was never the most refined car, I agree the engine does sound like ' a bag of spanners on speed'. it may just be how the recording has picked it up, but it does sound rough. The rear seat is an added bonus and it does seem like a sound project to start with.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.