The Volvo 262C is a classy car as it comes. Who wouldn’t love a plush version of a two-door 200-series, with a chopped roof designed by Bertone and a six up front? The only way to make it better is to chop that roof right out and turn it into a convertible. But of course.
And, as history tells, cars such as this exist.
The conversion work was carried out by a subcontractor called Solaire, and the plan was to build fifty cars, to be sold via Volvo’s North American dealer network. The project didn’t work out as it was supposed to, and only five cars were completed.
The two-tone car you see here was an Oregon car, and it was recently imported to Norway. The roof looks actually quite good in that tan colour. The second black one resides in Sweden, and the lead image Solaire is in Belgium.
[Images: Volvo, Volvo Car Club Norway]
Oddball Convertible Weekend: The Volvo 262C Solaire
By Antti Kautonen
Jun 7, 2015
By Antti Kautonen
The resident Finn of Hooniverse. Owns old Peugeots and whatnot, writes long thinkpieces on unloved cars. These two facts might be related.
Jeff Glucker
Wow, I didn’t even know they existed! Looks like it might be a very noisy business to keep the roof up.
The car went to Skjåk and I happen to know the new owner…hoping to get some more pictures. 🙂
It kind of looks like one of those cars in cartoons that are just supposed to look like cars, but still don’t look like any real car.
And it looks a hell of a lot better than any stock 262 Bertone ever did. Too bad they only managed to produce 5. Add one of these to my Volvo fantasy garage!
I’ve never heard of this one before. Let’s hope that the legendary solidity of the base Volvo hasn’t been compromised too much by the conversion.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1971-market-for-a-hardtop-ad.jpg
I wouldn’t try this stunt with one.
Does the car in the first picture not have headrests?
Doesn’t really look like it has front seats. Maybe reclined for the photo op?
I really like the way this looks. It looks great in both colors shown.
It could be worse…
http://p4.storage.canalblog.com/49/16/568981/70352493.jpg
Yep, that’s terrible.
I like that top – it reminds me of a Corniche.
if my car looked like a 262C, i’d definitely take a sawzall to the roof immediately
Interesting that these were built for North America, but at least 60% of the total build resides in Europe.
Roofdown, it does the job properly. A beautifull brick. Roof up, we see why only five were sold.
Anyone knows where the other two solaires are right now?