Stealth
Ambassadors tend to use the cars of their home countries as their official vehicles in embassies around the world, at least for the most part. In DC, ambassadors from foreign countries tend to use cars from their home countries, though even this trend is riddled with exceptions, as the French ambassador had used a Cadillac as their official vehicle just a few years ago.
It would probably surprise some to learn that in the late 1990s it was BMW that held the contract for providing cars to US ambassadors in foreign embassies, simply because BMW offered a factory-built armored version of the 7-Series as an off-the-shelf item. And it was able to give a better deal to the State Department than others on a large number of such vehicles, which take a while to build.
Sweden, on the other hand, stayed true to its hometown team, specifically Volvo. In the early 2000s the Swedish ambassador to the US used a six-seat Volvo 960 stretch limousine.
What happens to these vehicles after they reach a certain mileage or age, and the embassy or the State Department wants to replace them?
This depends on whether they conform to the all-important and almighty NHTSA safety regulators, and whether they were built to US spec. For some cars, this means they can stay in the US and be sold by the embassy, usually to car auctions.
Other vehicles owned by individual embassy staff can also stay, though they often depart when their tour of diplomatic duty is over.
One diplomatic car that was able to stay was this rare Volvo 960 Executive, which is slightly longer than the standard 960 offered stateside, but would probably not raise the eyebrow of most Volvo enthusiasts if they saw it in traffic. That’s how stealthy it is.It was acquired by Chris Bradley with 150,000 miles on the clock in the late 2010s.
But he didn’t set out looking for it.
“There was no ad for this car; I happened to be lucky enough to date a girl at the time who’s dad owned a couple rare Swedish cars in DC — one was a race-homologation edition of a rare Saab 900 Gold edition with a bigger turbo, and the other was this,” Bradley told me.
“When it came time to get my girlfriend a daily driver before starting her Master’s degree, her dad tried to trade in the car in at a dealership. They offered him a laughably low amount, so he replied with ‘I know someone who will get way more than that out of it’ and he sold it to me for a very small amount.”
The 960 is a Tier 2 Executive/Royal, and is stretched by six inches for the benefit of rear legroom. Not only are the rear doors longer, but the C-pillar is reshaped as well.
“I do know that sometime around 1996 or 1997, the rear window space was filled by an inserted panel to fill the space between the longer rear door and the C-pillar. However, mine is blended and needs no insert. This also means I don’t have a “Royal” marking on the outside, but I do get the sturdier C-pillar,” Bradley says.
The bodywork itself was done by coachbuilder Nilsson, which is certainly better known in Europe than here, and produced various special versions of Volvo cars for different clients, ranging from limos to ambulances.
But the drivetrain in these was kept stock with a 2.9-liter inline-six producing 181 hp and 199 lb-ft of torque, sent to the rear wheels via a four-speed automatic.
The rear passenger compartment features two separate seats with reclining and heating elements, instead of a three-person bench, while also offering softer seat cushions and a rear sunshade — options one wouldn’t find in standard 960s sold in the US at the time. The center console was deisgned to hold a small printer.
But even among these stretched sedans, there are differences in luxury features.
“The only difference between this example and a Tier 3 would be the rear center console, drinks cooler, and an automated sunshade,” Bradley notes. “The Hermes edition is a Tier 3 with white Hermes leather seats. All 960’s I’ve seen only say ‘Executive’ somewhere on the trunk, while S90s can have Executive or Royal.”
The car itself came into the US through Volvo Diplomatic Services, and was likely one of just a couple of such sedans ordered in the US, in addition to the 960 stretch limo used by the ambassador. So this was a rare car even for the diplomatic corps.
“I’ve contacted the Swedish Embassy, the U.S. State Department, the dealership that sold the car and maintained the car during the initial purchase, as well as Volvo North America,” he told me. “The only source that said they knew — the State Department — refused to reveal the agency with which this car served.”
Seen from afar, most probably wouldn’t notice the stretched wheelbase or the different C-pillar.
But some do.
“There was one time I was working at a restaurant and a fellow Volvo-owner said he saw the car, pulled a very quick U-turn, and entered the restaurant just to seek me out and chat with me about it,” Bradley says. “I’ve also returned to the car with phone numbers written on a pieces of paper, telling me to call them and let them put in an offer if I ever decide to sell it.”
Bradley has driven the Volvo to Carlisle Import Nationals a few times when I spoke to him, in addition to other shows on the east coast. And he wasn’t hesitant to take it on longer road trips as well, putting some 80,000 miles on it in the course of a few years.
“I’ve taken it to the mountains in New York, out to Pittsburgh, the Delaware beaches and Philadelphia more times than I can count, Washington DC quite a few times, and as far South as the Outer Banks and Virginia Beach — and of course it’s been to Carlisle and Hershey,” Bradley told me.
When it comes to ex-embassy cars, the 960 is certainly easier to maintain for an enthusiast than some other rare Volvos that have found their way into the country.
One other ex-diplomatic Volvo I’ve had a chance to see was a 343 DL from the 1970s — a Dutch-built two-door that had served in the San Francisco consulate for years before finding a home at the DAF Museum and Research Center in Vermont.
But that’s a different story.
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