Number of cylinders: 6
Emission class: Euro 4
Number of owners: 4

Volvo V70 2.5 R, 2003. Four owners, 86,739 km.

Sweden has given the world a few things we really ought to be quietly grateful for. IKEA, so that we could all learn to swear fluently while assembling a Billy bookcase. ABBA, which you secretly sing along to in the car with the windows firmly shut. And Volvo, the brand that was once a byword for the safest possible way to arrive not-quite-on-time for your appointment. Solid, square, sensible. A car for furniture makers, architects and people who reserve the word 'thrilling' for their annual visit to the garden centre.

And then, somewhere around the turn of the millennium, a handful of engineers in Gothenburg decided they'd had quite enough of being sensible. They took the most dependable estate in their range, shoehorned in a five-cylinder turbo with nearly 300 bhp, gave it a chassis tuned by people who actually knew what a corner was, and sold the thing to unsuspecting family men. The Volvo V70 R. A wolf in an H&M suit. The sort of car you do the weekly shop in, take the dog to the vet in, and, without so much as twitching a muscle at the lights, rob a BMW M-driver of his good mood.

That's precisely the beauty of a fast Volvo. It doesn't shout about it. It just sits there, with its calm Scandinavian face, as though it's just come out of a meeting about fibreboard. And then you plant your foot and something happens that your gut never saw coming.

The story continues on our website, where the full file is kept as well. 75 photographs. The service history, scanned in full. The Carfax report. Paint thickness measured panel by panel. A timeline from 29 December 2003 to today, with every owner and the mileage year by year in a single graph.

Every car here follows the same route: first pre-market, then the showroom, and finally the online auction on our own website. What changes is the way you buy, not the location — once a car has arrived, it stays with us in Katwijk. This one is in the showroom and you are welcome to come and see it, no appointment needed. You buy it here at a fixed price: no bidding, no waiting. Our showroom in Katwijk, 30 km from Amsterdam Schiphol, is open Mon–Fri 9–18 and Sat 10–17. Call ahead and it will be standing ready, with someone free for you.

Within the EU no customs duty arises on this purchase. Registration tax and registration costs in your own country are not included. We supply the export documents and assist with the registration. The price shown is the full price for collection in Katwijk. We arrange insured door-to-door transport worldwide, cost quoted per destination beforehand.

Prefer a different colour or specification than this example? Tell us what you are looking for — another Volvo we can often find through our network of marque specialists and collectors, outside the listings. Have one of your own: we buy exceptional cars outright, classic or modern.

Our showroom measures 6,000 m², with over 150 cars under one roof. You are just as welcome if you are not buying — walk around, take your time and enjoy the cars; sharing the enthusiasm is half of it.