Volvo V90 Ambulance
2001 Volvo V90 Ambulance body
3.0 petrol engine with automatic transmission
This was initially built for the NHS as a response vehicle. Approx 10 were commissioned and primarily used in Wiltshire. They were fully kitted out with space for a stretcher as well as a rea seat passenger. The body style was heavily used in Europe at the time, they were built by Nilssons in Sweden. It was then resprayed Dark Grey and sold on to a funeral director in London who used it as a back up vehicle for many years. At that point I believe it changed hands a few times until I purchased it as a blank canvas. The interior had all been stripped out.
It has had an early MOT and now expires 23/02/2024.
I went a bit crazy and replaced many things when I got it. The timing belt was changed, fully serviced including spark plugs, coolant, transmission fluid and brake fluid. Replaced the front brake discs and pads as well as the rear brake shoes and pads.
Overall it has had many new bits and pieces as an when, I have a wad of paperwork to show what was changed. I do not have much service history information prior to my ownership. The bodywork is in good condition for its age, few spots around the arches will need to be looked at, at some point. The rear custom portion which I believe has a fibre glass outer skin has some cracks.
I have 2 sets of tyres for the vehicle. The standard 16inch alloys which were refurbished late 2022 in a Cadbury purple style colour. All tyres are good. I also have a set of Volvo Andromeda 16inch alloys which were refurbished in late 2022 as well and are a copper / bronze colour, all with good tyres. Both sets will be sold with the car.
Very sad to be letting this one go 🙁
I bought this with the initial intention of building a Harry Potter / Fantastic Beasts hybrid unit. Taking inspiration from the Knight Bus, Hogwarts and also MoM.
The rear of the vehicle was insulated and practically boarded up when I bought it. There are various wires still behind the panels throughout, including blue artic cables. I added anthracite stretch carpet all around as I wanted it to be ‘dark’ instead of bright white and light. The roof is tongue n grooved in black stain.
The bed which is located at the back of the vehicle is made of cast iron. It is a genuine cast iron bed! It was initially a small double but had to chop a few inches off for it to fit in the rear section so now slightly shy of a small double in length. Created a thick wooden frame that it sits on and rests just above the wheel arch boxes. The mattress is an IKEA sprung with foam topping. Again I had to cut it down but removed the mattress cover first before cutting, so they extra cover is just tucked underneath. The duvet cover set is a Harry Potter glow in the dark set which matches the wallpaper. It is supposed to glow in the dark and is a double in size with 4 pillows. An extra duvet cover set in teal is also supplied and is stored in a suitcase under the bed.
Under the bed is the main storage area. I decided to get some suitcases as a way store things securely. You will find 2 hard suitcase and a leather document style case underneath, as well as two folding chairs and one folding table, maybe even an umbrella if I forget to take it out! All these items can be accessed via opening the rear door. On the accessible area inside the vehicle it has a wicker basket we used to store food / drinks etc as well as a water container which is disguised as a hat box.
Next to the bed is a silver bedside unit. It has been carpeted on the side next to the bed for comfort. Inside the top drawer has a twin USB socket that I use for charging the phones and also powering the potion night light. On top of the bedside are some items which have been velcro’ed down. You have a plastic pair of glasses, real potions book for a bit of bedtime reading, a light up potion bottle and finally the one and only M&S golden egg! The cabinet has lots of storage which I also store toilet paper, gas canisters for the stove and also other trinkets for Niffler. You have some extra storage space underneath the bedside as well.
Re the electrics, a main control panel is located on the bulkhead, which has a few switches, USB, volt meter and cigarette socket. There are two other smaller panels, one on the rear pillar and the other on the bottom of the bed, next to the sliding door. They have a USB and cigarette sockets as well as 3 switches.
The main feature of the rear is the open trunk display. This was the brainchild idea of the ex fiancé so I cant take any credit for it. Even though it has been screwed into place, it an be taken out and closed somewhat easily. The trunk was wallpapered with the same style as the duvet and bulkhead. It has a handy wand storage for the traveling wizards and a set of light up potion bottles, just in case you want to practice what you have read in the book. On the other side, it houses a bookshelf with the collection (will need to double check the ex doesn’t want them back first so may not be included!), trivial pursuit, you own quidditch set and cauldron salt and pepper shakers. The bottom part is the sweet area where it has light up sweet bottles, chocolate frog (I think I already ate the frog), a selection of wizard tea, a goblet and a massive lick ‘able lolly. The trunk was a labour of love, spending days cleaning it up, painting the gold and deciding what went where. Cutoes to her for coming up with the idea as I wouldn’t have created anything anywhere near great.
Under the trunk is a place to store a suitcase. This hold a variety of things including a red portable gas cooker, red grey collapsible sink bowl, red kettle and a picnic set which has spoons, knives forks, plates etc.. Guess what colour the picnic set is?!… You could fit much more if you were ever good at Tetris.
Almost at the end… under the cutlery trunk is another section that houses 2 main things: The diesel heater fuel tank and also the subwoofer. The main diesel heater unit is located just inside the front cab, next to the subwoofer. I had to turn the sub the other way to ensure the diesel heater would fit. The incoming air is via the front cab and the heat output is via a air vent on the bulkhead. The diesel heater is a 2kw maxspeedingrods unit, hardly ever used but regularly tested. The control panel is located just under the display trunk, along with a Fire Angel co2 monitor. The diesel tank is 5.5litres and within another trunk, it also houses the fuel pump and filter. Yes you can hear the tick which has never bothered me but im sure you could silence it with insulation etc if you wanted to. Remember the vehicle is petrol so the heater can not be hooked up to the vehicle fuel tank.
As with other areas in the rear, the bulk head is covered in weird and wonderful portraits, on top of a wallpapered board. The portraits, which are also located on the roof line around the bed and door etc.. are a mix of Hogwarts founders, scenes and posters. They are literally screwed in place. Some are of myself and the ex and my cats, I will remove the photos so you can add your own to the frames, no one wants to wake up and see me smiling at them in my rather dapper King George style attire, hahaha
A chess board has been fixed to the bulk head which I use as a table. It flips down but at present, doesnt click into place when up. I think I need to add a shim to pull it away from the bulk head a bit more. At present I just use a pol to prop it up. The chess board can be used as intended. the chess pieces are in one of the suitcases.
The front cab has not been themed at all. It is relatively the same as when it was converted to a hearse with grey leather seats and some fancy swede interior. I has a OTT stereo system installed by the previous owner. Double din DAB unit with Bluetooth. It is also connected to a capacitor, 4ch amplifier, 6×9 speaker in the roof and a subwoofer with a manual dial control. It also has a CB radio and a powered active phone cradle. A CTEK B2B is located under the drivers seat which also has the capacity to add a solar panel. 2 x 100ah leisure batteries and a mains fuse board are located behind the drivers seat. The mains fuse box is not wired up. I did not need it so just left in situ. It does have an external shore power socket next to the drivers door. This is the Kussmaul Super 15 Auto-eject 230v version. I do have a long spooled extension that hooks to the socket which I have never used. In between the front and rear cabin is a sliding window.
The vehicle has 3 genuine keys and an aftermarket central locking unit has been installed so you can lock yourself inside the rear.
The outside is rather bland, just Volvo dark grey. I have some gold decals on the front doors, bonnet and bumpers. Also a golden snitch on one side and a Niffler on the other. On top of the windscreen (which was only replaced a few years ago I might add) is a glass area which used to house the emergency lights. Now I have some purple strobe light bars installed and then can be controlled in the front cabin area. My plan was to add a sign so it lit up the words but never got round to it.
I did start to create some window covers for the rear. Reflectix foil and then covered in the matching curtain fabric as the duvet cover. The foil has been cut but have not had the fabric sewed as yet. I will supply all the materials I have so someone can choose to finish it or not.
I think that spells out most of it, congratulations if you lasted until this moment in time. Maybe soo many more things I has missed but hopefully you will have more than a gist of what she is and how she is certain a very quirky camper 🙂
The bed is made of cast iron. It is a genuine cast iron bed! It was initially a small double but had to chop a few inches off for it to fit in the rear section so now slightly shy of a small double in length. Created a thick wooden frame that it sits on and rests just above the wheel arch boxes. The mattress is an IKEA sprung with foam topping. Again I had to cut it down but removed the mattress cover first before cutting, so they extra cover is just tucked underneath. The duvet cover set is a Harry Potter glow in the dark set which matches the wallpaper. It is supposed to glow in the dark and is a double in size with 4 pillows.
The contact details for this vehicle are no longer available because it has either sold or the listing has expired.
Quirky loves this style means that Quirky Campers would potentially approve this vehicle for hiring. However, Quirky have not approved a Gas Safe certificate, a Weighbridge certificate, or the vehicle's electrics. Buyers must check these themselves. For some tips on what to look out for read this. If the listing has no Gas Safe certificate, no unladen weight and no electrical sign-off please proceed with caution!
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