You'd be surprised what an old Volvo can do with the right parts/setup. They call them "Bricks" for a reason... they're built like tanks. Check out an older 242. You can swap a Ford 5.0 in it and turbocharge it for plenty of fun. In fact, here's a link to a guy's webpage detailing the same swap into a wagon he set up for handling..:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/ebailey/v8volvo.htm