Junkyard Gem: 2006 Volvo V50 T5 AWD
During my explorations of junkyard history, I’ve written about discarded Volvo station wagons going back to the middle 1960s. The final Göteborg wagons with brick shapes and rear-wheel-drive were sold in the United States as 1998 models, but the new century brought us plenty of curvy front- and all-wheel-drive longroof Volvos, many of which have been built with manual transmissions. Here’s one of those cars: a 2006 V50 T5 AWD with six-on-the-floor manual gearbox, found in a Denver-area car graveyard.
The V50 was the wagon version of the S40 sedan. Sales in the United States began with the 2005 model, and it was discontinued after 2011.
The base 2006 V50 had a naturally-aspirated 2.4-liter straight-five engine, but this car is a T5 and has the turbocharged 2.5 version with 218 horses and 236 pound-feet.
A six-speed manual was the base transmission, but of course most American V50 buyers opted for the five-speed automatic. That wasn’t the case with this car, which must have been fun to drive in the snow.
The final year for a three-pedal Volvo in the United States was 2013.
There’s some body damage, but the interior is in good shape. We can assume that some expensive mechanical problem sent this car here.
Like so many Denver-area cars, this one has Colorado brewery stickers.
It also has some pit bull stickers.
It takes you to the city of Confidence.
