Swedish cars such as Volvo and SAAB have always been appreciated by European car enthusiasts for the unique Scandinavian approach to designing and engineering. There is something attractive in their clean and sometimes modest, but definitely always a function-oriented design that captures an eye and makes you want to enjoy them.
Perhaps it’s the reflection of the Scandinavian meaning of Lagom or just a desire to enjoy the things that surround you, that makes Swedish cars so nice from all perspectives. It seems that they give you just enough of everything and nothing over the top. They are comfortable, convenient, enjoyable to drive, and pleasing to look at, and that’s exactly why we all love them!
Take this Volvo V70 Estate, while its late 90s design doesn’t have those aggressive and screaming elements, it looks very hot in that bright red color. Lowered suspension and a set of deep-dish custom wheels really tailor the stylish stanced look.
“Being a fan of stanced cars, Anton Johansson from Växjö, Sweden, was on the look of a comfortable and reliable daily driver with a good customization potential and soon became an owner of this gorgeous red Volvo V70 station wagon”
Being a fan of stanced cars, Anton Johansson from Växjö, Sweden, was on the look of a comfortable and reliable daily driver with a good customization potential and soon became an owner of this gorgeous red Volvo V70 station wagon.
Since Anton works at the local Volvo dealerships and knows these cars pretty well there were no chances for the car to remain stock and so the modification process has begun. Despite the clean look, the car has got a lot of subtle enhancements and upgrades in the suspension department and body work.
“It’s lowered with a help of BC coilovers on the front and a custom coilover spring setup on the back fabricated by the owner. ”
It’s lowered with a help of BC coilovers on the front and a custom coilover spring setup on the back fabricated by the owner. In order to fit large 19” custom wheels in the wheel wells of this wagon, he had to modify them extensively.
The wheel setup is represented by the original Japanese SSR wheels sized 19×9.5 with +30 offset on the front and +18 on the back. The 5×114,3 bolt pattern obviously required an adapter, to mount on Volvo hubs, but Anton decided to custom drill additional holes in the stock hub to make them work, which turned out to be a trouble-free engineering solution.
“ The front driveshaft failure is a common problem of lowered Volvos because it brakes pretty fast due to the altered suspension geometry”
The front driveshaft failure is a common problem of lowered Volvos because it brakes pretty fast due to the altered suspension geometry, however, it didn’t stop Anton. He decided to address it by moving the engine upwards with the help of a 35mm spacer which normalized the driveshaft angle and allowed him to forget about this problem.
The car became comfortable to drive and what matters the most – highly reliable. It allowed him to use it safely as a daily driver and a road trip car, that’s why he doesn’t miss the chance to take it up to the mountains for ski trips and even attended the Ultrace 2021 stance festival in Poland.
The interview
Why did you choose a Volvo V70 for your project?
-It wasn’t really a plan, it just fell into my hands because I needed a good daily. I have always had Volvos, and because I work at a Volvo dealership it just makes sense!
What inspired you to choose this modification style?
– I love stance! Fitment is a big thing for my taste. Good or bad fitment can make or destroy a whole car!
But… (There is always a but, right? 😂) since I had to have it as a daily I couldn’t go balls out, it’s still comfortable and reliable. I have been driving it for 50,000km and most of the time I have come home!
What challenges did you face while putting it together?
-The hardest part of the car has been to get the driveshafts to hold up. When you lower the V70, the angels on the driveshafts are really bad! I have gone through 6 different ones. I’ve tried new ones, old “sloppy” ones, shorten them and aftermarket, and they are not liking the
Angels. So I ended up raising the entire engine/gearbox package for 35mm, and that seems to be the only way to go.
“When you lower the V70, the angels on the driveshafts are really bad! I have gone through 6 different ones.”
What do you love the most about your car?
– I love that I can do everything with the car! I can take it to the mountains and ski, trailer, and another car behind it and even make it inside of Ultrace! I mean you can really do everything but going sideways with it.
Why do you have two different wheel setups?
-As I said before I take the car to the mountains to ski, and to make it possible I have to have a skibox. So I change up the whole car twice a year, one winter setup and one summer setup. It gets really dark in Sweden in the winter so a good place with a light bar and some winter tires make it handle the Scandinavian winter pretty good!
“It gets really dark in Sweden in the winter so a good place with a light bar and some winter tires make it handle the Scandinavian winter pretty good!”
Specs: Modified Volvo V70 Station Wagon
Wheels
- Summer setup – SSR Wheels 19×9.5 ET30 front and +18 Rear 5×114.3
- Winter setup – MK18 19×8.5 ET+6
- Custom drilled CNC adapter hubs
Suspension
- Front: BC Racing coilovers with 12k springs (up to 50mm lowering)
- Rear: Custom spring and shock setup
Exterior
- Refreshed paint with original Volvo 601 color
- Thule Roof rack + Packline Ski Box
- Rich line LED light bar under the ski box
- V-parts aftermarket blacked-out grille with V70 logo
- New headlight lenses
- Painted mud flaps and tow hitch cover (detachable hitch)
Interior
- Full leather seat swap (heated power and memory)
- LED interior bulbs
- Alpine stereo
- Omega speakers
Watch the progress and find out more about this Volvo V70 stanced station wagon by visiting the Instagram profile of the owner: @LOXIP!
Most of the photos were taken by Benjamin Ahlm @artbyahlm
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