Video: Drag Challenge-bound Volvo 240 wagon sleeper

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Having already built a BMW M3-powered Datsun 240Z, David Fettell decided he and his brother Tim needed something to keep idle hands from mischief. Their love of fast wagons and drag racing saw them grab a high-mileage, forlorn-looking Volvo 240 wagon from Queensland, sight-unseen.

David and Tim Fettell have turned this Swedish brick into a turbo LS-powered rocket that makes almost 900 horses at the wheels. The duo will be running the Volvo in the PSR 8.5 Radial class at DC 2025

“We’ve both built numerous cars of many and varied types over the years and wanted to do something we can share and enjoy together,” says David. “We are drag racers from many years back and we both love long-roofs. Our car was transported down to Melbourne, where it has been built to be a super-sleeper, specifically for Drag Challenge.”

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Taking a lead from Mikael Borggren’s epic six-second 240 Volvo wagon that terrorised Hot Rod Drag Week for several years, David and Tim have crammed a turbo LS, TH400 and nine-inch into the iconic labrador-hauler.

Under the wagon’s square-set front end is a cast-iron, 6.0-litre LY6 topped with deep-breathing rectangle-port #823 cylinder heads, and inflated by a BorgWarner S488 turbo. To protect against unintended crank relocation to the ground, Dave has opted for Callies rods and CP slugs on a stock crank, which also copped a Torrington thrust upgrade to protect against push from the converter.

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A Crow cam and BTR rockers strengthen the valvetrain, while the package is rounded out by an ATI damper, Bosch 1650cc injectors, Holley ECU, CO2-controlled Turbosmart wastegate, and a Raceworks surge tank stuffed full of three fuel pumps. All up, it’s good for 888rwhp, or enough to chirp second and knock the straw hat off the dash.

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The stock transmission and rear end are long gone, replaced with proper hardware that includes a Turbo 400 trans kitted out with an SFI-rated case, reverse-pattern valvebody and transbrake. Down the back, the nine-inch diff hangs off Strange Engineering coil-over struts and pushes a custom four-link and anti-roll bar set-up, joined to the transmission by a custom GJ Drivelines tailshaft.

Volvo stoppers are renowned as great things, but even they needed to be upgraded to cope with the near-900rwhp on tap. Mazda RX-7 calipers squeeze Volvo 740 discs, while EF Falcon disc brakes have been used out back. They’re hidden behind sleeper-ish Chevy Rallye wheels, measuring 15×4 and 15×8, with 235 Mickey Thompson radials used out back.