LIVING THE GOOD LIFE – THE VOLVO 145

There is something quite redoubtable about the Volvo 145, and this 1970 example sold by https://www.prestigecarsscarborough.co.uk/ is the sort of car a go-ahead architect might have favoured. Not to mention Margo and Jerry Leadbetter of The Good Life.

Volvo launched the 144 saloon on the 16th of August 1966, with UK sales following in 1967. Imports of the 145 began in the spring of 1968. For the 1971 model year, there was a new matt black grille and the 144E/145E with Bosch electronic fuel injection.

Much rode on the 140’s success; its development cost Volvo 150 million kronor. The 145 had to appeal to owners of its 1962-1967 Amazon Estate predecessor and any Swedish motorist contemplating an overseas rival. In the UK, the price in 1970 was £1,732, which an affluent buyer might think reasonable for a “down-to-earth and up-to town estate car”.

Such a motorist might have regarded the Ford Zodiac Mk. IV Farnham Estate as too nouveau riche and too expensive at £1,934, and the cheaper £1,275 Vauxhall Victor 3300SL FD Estate as too small. As for the Triumph 2000 Mk.2 Estate at £1,728, it was certainly an appealing machine but did not offer the Volvo’s 6ft 2in load bay and room for 70 cubic feet of luggage.

The Citroën DS21 Safari, at £1,998, was probably the closest alternative to the Volvo; Peugeot GB did not yet import the Peugeot 504 Estate. However, the 145 owner could cite its combination of low-key durability, good looks and spaciousness. By 1970, Volvo had been established in the UK for 12 years, and the 145 probably also appealed to the sort of motorist who, a few years earlier, would have bought a Humber Hawk Estate.

A dealer could highlight Volvo’s list of standard equipment, including a multi-adjustable driver’s seat, a rear screen wiper and washer, front head restraints, hazard warning lamps and a heated back window. It also had such typically thoughtful Volvo touches as a concealed storage compartment beneath the floor to accommodate a further 3 ½ cu.ft. of luggage.

This 145 contains several fascinating details of the early models: the direct-link gear lever, the strip speedometer and the fresh air vents in the footwells rather than the fascia. The rear seat passengers have opening panes in the load bay side windows, and another intriguing quirk is the use of the 144’s doors. The designer, Jan Wilsgaard, wanted the 145 to have its own set-up, but Volvo ruled this out on cost grounds.

This writer has long regarded the 145 as a handsome machine – ever since he saw Leadbetter’s 1972 version in The Good Life – so criticisms of the 140’s appearance often come as a surprise. As Richard Dredge wrote in his book Volvo Amazon: The Complete Story:

When Car magazine in the UK splashed the 140-series across its front cover in 1972, with the cover line ‘The car as an appliance’, Volvo was not amused. Advertising was pulled from the publication for a decade and the company’s cars continued to be the butt of Car’s – and other magazines’ – jokes for years to come.

Quite simply, these titles were wrong. Dredge himself noted that, while the 140’s lines may have come as a shock after the Amazon, it was objectively the better car. From a 2025 perspective, the 145 more than lived up to Wilsgaard’s belief that “Simple is beautiful”. Furthermore, Volvo GB promised the owner could “glide off to town, five up, and in armchair comfort”. Margo Leadbetter would undoubtedly agree.

With thanks to https://www.prestigecarsscarborough.co.uk/ for their time and permission to use the images in this blog.