a REAL Vintage 1957 Volvo 444 HISTORICAL race car West Coaster in Alabama 544

1957 Volvo 444 Description

Since turning 74, I have been encouraged to sell most of my cars

and close my restoration shop

San Francisco Bay Area...
Historical 1957 VolvoRace Car
Now nearing age 75, I am encouraged to sell most of my cars, and liquidate my race shop inventory
This is a greatopportunity to enjoy Vintage racing at some of the West Coast tracks that this car previously raced at...

or East of the Mississippi, where the Volvo Nationals will be Featured at the Road America Historics in September,Put-In-Bay in August......... the streets of Pittsburg, Schenley Park in July.........

and the NEW VintageTin Tops Event at Lime Rock in early September

Volvo 444/544's have a long road racing history in the US, beginning in 1955, and are welcomed at Vintage Racing events throughout the US. There are several Vintage Volvos active in New England with VSCCA, the California Bay Area, and elsewhere in the US.
They will be the Featured Marque at VSCDA's Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival at Road America in 2016.
Also, appearing as a “smaller '46 Ford TuDor”, they draw a lot of interest at car shows everywhere.
This particular 1957 Volvo 444 began it's racing career long before the SCCA began issuing log books as a requirement. It has one of the earliest SCCA Logbook, issued May 9, 1970 by the San Francisco Regio, andcontinuing historical search indicates it may be the blue Pearson / Hirsch Volvo B16that raced in California inthe late 50's. In arecent conversation, Karen Gallant told me that the roll cage was the original to the car and is Chromemoly, which would be typical of Ron Pearson's expertise in race car prep, and the car is Code 31, correct for original midnight blue.
If this picture does not show, contact me
The original logbook # 33-240 is included, and is filled with events from 1970 to 1977, many at Sears Point (Sonoma, and Laguna Seca, with drivers Gordon Stanley, Bob Langford, Jeff Valliano, Greg Heath, Dan Gallant, and Dave Greth, so this car would be a nice addition to CSRG Events, and I would think be accepted at Monterey, a track it has history at. There are some original photos on the car racing in that period, included with the car.

Dan Gallant of the Gallant Racing shop in Oakland, located this car againin 2003, still in it's “original” 70's condition, but in sad shape.

Dan and Karen had actively raced this Volvo in 1975-7, and decided a full 'nut and bolt' bare metal restoration was worthwhile. They spent the next couple of years restoring the car, and there are pictures and a news story included.
This was a complete 'nut and bolt' restoration by the Gallants,


The car is a typical ROCK SOLID racer from California.
When we received the car, the front center panel paint did not match, and we did repaint it so that it matches the fenders. It now looks correct, and I don't think you can tell we repainted it.
Pictures of the underside of the car show the extent of the Gallant's efforts, including the rear differential cooler. We were changing the rear anti-sway ba, and it was not yet re-installed when we took these pictures.

Of significant note, is that the car was restored, not rebuilt. The Gallant's photos of the dash switches, steering wheel, interior, shifter, roll bar, and details of engine compartmentshow how closely the restoration was done. In a recent conversation with Mrs Gallant, a race engine builder in her own right, described how as originally built, the car hadsurvived, including the chromoly rollbar.
Before they were able to get the car on track, Dan's illness caused the car to be advertised for sale, and was sold. A copy of the ad and description is reproduced

The new owner, who recognized it's significanc, put the car away without any on track use, and in 2014 we added the 444 to our collection of 444/544's

After going through some pre-race checks and some minor changes, the car was taken to Road Atlanta for Vintage Racing, primarily to sort out this 'never tracked ' 10 year earlier restoration. The most noticeable change was replacing the alloywheels. The offset was wrong, preventing the steering from reaching full angle, and they were replaced with a rare set of 'smoothie' steel wheels that are appropriate for the Pre-60 Period

' New' Hoosier Vintage TD's have less than 1/2 hour of 'test and tune' laps and are quite adequate for track use, but should be replaced for serious racing as they are about 10 years old and will not have the same adhesion as new tires.
After Road Atlanta, the car was put aside, with plans to replace the 4bbl carb setup with correct SU carbs. During the Winter, the motor and transmission were removed. We found the 3-4 gear shift fork that had been supplied to Gallant to be defective ( allowing the car to come out of gear when decelerating, and was replaced. Because 10 years had passed since the car was restored, the motor was thoroughly 'freshened' with new rings, seals, bearings, Crower cam & lifters, gaskets, etc. and correct SU Carburetors.

Aircleaner, not shown, are included

The motor nowhas about ½ hour on our test stand, and two 10 minute track sessions( Oct 2015). A video of the car on track is posted HERE …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfIkb5D0Pw
We used 5200 as shift point, and did not run the motor to maximum rpm's
Other than the front disc brakes, I believe the car is now Vintage Correct, and is track ready, requiring only normal pre-race checks......and it has recently had a current SCCA Annual Tech which is recorded in the logbook.The new continuation SCCA logbook and the VSCDA logbook also come with the car

The car was officially weighed by SCCA, and weighed 1965 pounds wet, without driver
Copies of the oldSCCA Recognition For, and FIA 1961 Form of Recognition come with the car .
In addition to bringing the car back to a track ready condition, we have also researched the car, andlocatedKaren and others who havebeen able to provide more history of the car, which in addition to the many Gallant 1970's raceand 2003 restoration pictures and notes, we include with the car.
Numerous pictures of the car posted below have been taken at various times in the cars life, including the past year and a half here at our shop
I believe reasonable transportation might be arrange, and I expect you could drive it off the transporter, and do some warm up laps. Of course, weill assist with transport anywhere, including Europe or Australia, where many of our cars have already gone.
Lastly, there have been a fewquestions indicating interest in one ofmy race Volvos for the street, and the door bars could be removed and seating for two provided, as well as a 'hot streetable' motor and any other alterations .......making this a 'streetable' head-turning Volvo with great history
Appearing as a “smaller '46 Ford TuDor”, they draw a lot of interest at car shows everywhere.

and please check our ebay Store for other Vintage race cars

ThisVolvo isfor sale at the shop

All Reasonable Offers Considered

.and this listing may be ended at any time.

Recent cars shipped to the Port of Rotterdam in closed container

from Port of Savannah Georgia

and usuallythe car can be at the Savannah Terminal in approximately 7-10 days.

please call my cell for answers...256.507.3328

DavePerry

OldSchool Restorations of North Alabama

Terms: 500EUR deposit by PayPal with 24 hours, and the balance by cash in person, or bank, within 5 days.

Please. NO exceptions after the sale.

Call Dave at (256) 507 332, 8am – 9pm Central Time,

before bidding, if you need to make other arrangements

Car stored indoors for 60 days...... $60 / month thereafter, if required.

.

Visit our eBay "Store"

for more

uncommon cars,

engines,

and parts

SHIPS WORLDWIDE

We sell many complete Vintage Race cars, etc to Europe and elsewhere annually, and can assist with buyers shipping arrangements