Back in college, I got the idea that I wanted a V-8–powered Volvo 240. The V-8 Volvo is synonymous with Ross Converse, a mad genius whose brochure included a photo of a diesel-badged 240 doing a righteous burnout. I loved the notion of a sleeper 240 packing a Mustang 302, so I arranged a visit with Converse at his house in Portland, Maine. I was hoping he’d have a completed car that I could check out, and he did. But it wasn’t quite the ratty 240 that I might plausibly afford. There in his driveway was a brand-new 960 wagon that looked stock except for aftermarket wheels and a big exhaust tip. “This is a clone to the cars I did for David Letterman and Paul Newman,” he said. “Want me to fire it up?” A better question might’ve been, “Want me to ruin your expectations for years to come?” I have a weakness for vehicles with the wrong engines—at the time, my most recent car was a 1979 BMW 323i that had a 3.0-liter Bavarian six crammed under the hood—and the Newman-spec wagon was as wonderfully wrong as it gets. READ MORE ››
-from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1e3qsEr
via Agya
