Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe contender is a slab-side Cobra replica built by a Copenhagen Volvo dealer and powered by a turbo red block. If that doesn't blow your mind, maybe its price won't either.
Okay, we all know that the nickname of Volvo's first-ever car, the ÖV4, was Jakob owing to a prototype having debuted on that sobriquet's name day in 1926. Did you know however that Volvo also had an Oscar in their past?
Ole Sommer grew up both in Denmark, and in the family business. That business was an auto dealership in Copenhagen that had been founded by his grandfather. Ole inherited the business outright in 1952 when his father unexpectedly passed away. At the time, Sommer's dealership was importing Fords and Jaguars, a mix to which Ole added neighboring Sweden's Volvo. The thing of it is, Ole didn't want to just bring foreign cars into Denmark, he wanted to build them there too.
The start was a one-off coupe fitted to a PV445 estate chassis, but featuring front bodywork from a 120, and custom hand-formed aluminum coupe lines around the back. That car now resides in the Ole Sommer Museum.
Sommer's first full attempt at a Danish production car was in the '70s and was also Volvo-based. The Joker used 140 parts underneath a severely square tube framed beach buggy body that looked like nothing else, and nothing more a Tudor cottage on wheels. These were weird, fugly, and like thy were a lot of fun.
Another of Sommer's attempts at series production is the subject of today's consideration, and that is this 1985 Oscar (Ole Sommer Car), which is claimed to be one of only 20 ever built, and only the second to reside in the states. This one too leverages the house of Gothenburg for most of its mechanicals.
It's a simple fact that, globally, there are vastly more Cobra replicas than there are the real deal. This is yet another AC-aping attempt to emulate those great machines. What's particularly cool about this one however is that it is based on the earlier 289 'slab-side' cars, and not the later 427 with its testosterone-infused fat flares.
It looks to be a pretty good copy on the sides, but both the nose and back-end feature horizontal bumpers that sort of ruin the lines. Like granny panties, they may be practical, but visually they are a buzz kill. The wheel arches are also a little off (dat gap), and the giant black mirrors need to go as well.
Inside, it continues the Cobra-esque theme, with a pair of center-mounted gauges that look to be the largest speedo and tach known to man, along with some ancillary dials for the passenger to enjoy. The priapismic Volvo shifter is awkwardly placed above the tunnel and may engender tennis elbow owing to excessive use.
Under the hood - and dang seller, couldn't you pop that hood and just give us a peek? - there's what's described as a 173-bhp edition of Volvo's 2.3-litre SOHC four. I'm guessing that's a B23, and that's backed up by a 4-speed with OD.
Remarkably, this car has but 5000 miles to its name. The seller says that he bought the car from a Pennsylvania dealer in 2000, and since he's only managed 100 miles in it over the past two years, he now wants to hand it off to someone who will more actively appreciate and enjoy the car.
Oh, and his other criteria is that the potential new owner have $43,000 in the bank. That's a lot of moolah, but then this is one interesting car that comes with a fascinating provenance. Plus, how many turbo four-banger Cobras are there in the world? Yeah, well, at least 20. Okay.
What do you think about this rare snake and its $43,000 price? Does that seem like a good price? Or, is this Danish not a sweet deal?
You decide!
Cars4Sale out of Maine, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Thomas Tomsen for the hookup!
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