This 1982 Volvo 242 looks like a nice clean old Volvo, but what you don’t see is what it’s hiding under the hood. There, you’ll find a Chevrolet LS3 V8 engine. Sure things are a little snug between the foreign fenders of that Volvo, but damn this is cool. It makes for a very cool sleeper that would surprise a few unsuspecting hot rodders.

The mastermind behind this ridiculous project is Michael Yount of Charlotte, North Carolina. “The chassis has about 225,000 miles on it and it’s been V8 powered since 1996,” Michael explained. “First with a 5.0-liter ford engine, and during 2015/2016 I swapped in a new crate LS3.”

The old Ford engine had near 130,000 miles so Michael thought it was time for a refresher. The Volvo did come with the Ford engine, and we’ll get into that later, but the LS powerplant is all Michael.

Along with the new engine, Michael has a massive list of enhancements that he has made to his Volvo. It has a Ford 8.8-inch rearend with 3.55:1 gearing, a Tremec 5-speed tranmsision, Kaplhenke Racing suspension, and Classic Auto Air HVAC. “Those Swedes just couldn’t come up with A/C back in ’82 that could cope with summers in the southern U.S.,” Michael explained. It also has an STS 28mm sway bar up front, and as Michael said, “with all the torque, no rear bar required or desired!”

The seats have been reupholstered, but the interior is otherwise stock. Even all of the analogue gauges—tachometer, coolant temperature, oil pressure, oil temperature, voltage, vacuum, and fuel economy— are all stock Volvo equipment and they work with the LS3.

“The car was painted in the original Volvo Rose Beige about 15 years ago,” Michael told us. “It’s held up pretty well all things considered.” Even with the car being a lightweight unit, at just under 3000 pounds, it gets surprisingly good fuel economy for something with such a sizable powerhouse.

“The last two tanks of fuel in and around the Charlotte area have come in right at 20 mpg,” Michael explained. “I suspect that with the cruise control set out on the Interstate at 65-70 mph it’s going to knock down to something in the 25-27 mpg, just about what the 5.0-Liter Ford did. To me, the efficiency of the combo is nothing short of amazing.”

The combo really is amazing when you consider the fact that Michael is pulling 430 horsepower in a 3000-pound vehicle. “It gets about the same fuel mileage as the original 2.1 Liter – 103 horsepower 4-cylinder did,” he said.

Beyond just the stellar build, a bit of the car’s history is worth mentioning as well. This Volvo is a two-owner car and the original owner was in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany. He ordered this car to U.S. specs and picked it up at the Volvo factory in Trollhattan, Sweden.

It ended up being his family car for four years in Germany until he brought it back to the states, and was stationed in the Augusta, Georgia, area. He was the one who transplanted the 5.0-liter Ford engine in it. He took the car in for some work at Michael’s brother’s shop, and Michael’s brother ended up buying it and then immediately selling it to Michael.

The size to power ratio on this car is nothing to scoff at either when you think about it. “Just for a little perspective,” Michael explained, “a 2016 Corvette Grand Sport is pushing 7.7-pounds per horsepower and a new Shelby GT350 is pushing around 7.2-pounds per horsepower. The Volvo is at 6.9-pounds per horsepower.”

Think about that, according to Michael the weight to power ratio is lower than a new Corvette or a Shelby GT350. “It’s pretty entertaining when you push hard on that pedal,” Michael said. “Equally satisfying, it’s relatively quiet and refined, especially for a 35 year old car.”

Michael reached out and shared his awesome car with us. We love it and are glad that we had the opportunity to share it with you. We want to see more of what you folks are driving so send us a picture or two and some details about your car if you want to see it on our site. It may end up being part of our Street Feature series.