Volvo P1800

Volvo P1800 at a glance

Development and production history

Volvo's first sports car, the P1900, sold only 68 examples. For its successor Volvo turned to Italy: the P1800 was styled by Pelle Petterson while he worked under Pietro Frua, whose studio was then a subsidiary of Ghia. Volvo officially recognised Petterson as its author only in 2009. The mechanical parts came from the Amazon (the 120 series) saloon.

The first contract went to Jensen Motors in West Bromwich, England, and covered 10,000 cars. Quality problems ended the arrangement early, after about 6,000 cars, and in 1963 production moved to Volvo's Lundby plant in Gothenburg. From then on the car was called the 1800S, the S standing for Sweden.

The 1800 was developed step by step. Power rose to 86 kW (115 bhp) in 1966. The 1,986 cc B20B arrived in 1969 with 88 kW (118 bhp). The 1800E of 1970 brought Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection and disc brakes on all four wheels. In 1972 Volvo added the 1800ES, a two-door shooting brake with a frameless all-glass tailgate; in 1973 only ES models were built. Production ended on 27 June 1973. Stricter US safety and emission rules for 1974 would have required an expensive redesign, which Volvo judged too costly for a low-volume model.

Design and engineering

The P1800 is a compact coupé on a 2,450 mm wheelbase, 4,350–4,400 mm long, 1,700 mm wide and 1,280–1,285 mm high, weighing 1,130–1,175 kg. Under the body sit the engine, gearbox and running gear derived from the Amazon saloon.

The ES was the most significant change to the design: a two-door shooting brake with a frameless all-glass tailgate, which turned the 1800 into a sports estate. It was built only in 1972 and 1973, and 8,077 were made, according to the figures in English Wikipedia.

Engines and gearboxes

Until 1963 the cars used the M40 four-speed gearbox. From 1963 to 1972 the M41 four-speed with Laycock de Normanville electric overdrive was the popular choice. Its overdrive ratio was 0.756:1 in the D-type unit (to 1969) and 0.797:1 in the J-type (to 1973). A three-speed Borg-Warner automatic was optional on the 1800ES.

English Wikipedia gives 175 km/h (109 mph) for the 1966 1800S and about 190 km/h (118 mph) for the 1800E, which reaches 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds. It adds that non-overdrive cars could reach just under 193 km/h (120 mph) and overdrive cars about 177 km/h (110 mph). Our power converter gives the bhp figures in kW and PS.

Volvo P1800 specifications

Variants and derivatives

The four names describe one continuous model: the coupé of 1961 was refined but never replaced. The only body variant, the ES, was not developed further because a redesign for the coming US rules was judged too expensive. The P1900 that preceded it had sold only 68 cars, so the P1800 was in practice Volvo's first sports car built in large numbers.

The Saint and the 3-million-mile car

The P1800 became widely known through television. In The Saint (1962–1969) Roger Moore, as Simon Templar, drove a white 1962 P1800 with the registration ST1, and Moore also bought a P1800 for himself.

The car's reputation for durability rests on one owner. Irv Gordon's 1966 1800S was certified in 1998 at 1.69 million miles. It passed 2 million miles in 2002 and 3 million miles in 2013, and it had covered more than 3.2 million miles by Gordon's death on 15 November 2018. That is about 5.1 million kilometres, more than 13 times the distance to the Moon. The Volvo brand's story is told in our history of Volvo.

The P1800 in numbers

The figures in English Wikipedia allow a few calculations. The roughly 6,000 Jensen-built cars make up about 13% of the 47,492 total, and the 8,077 shooting brakes about 17%, although the ES was built for only two years. Over the twelve years from 1961 to 1973, power grew from 75 kW to 97 kW, or by about 29%, without any increase in the number of cylinders. With 97 kW and about 1,130–1,175 kg, the 1800E has about 12 kg per kilowatt, which explains its 9.5-second sprint to 100 km/h.

Irv Gordon's car is a story of its own in numbers. More than 3.2 million miles, or about 5.1 million kilometres, over the 52 years from 1966 to 2018 is an average of roughly 99,000 km a year, or around 270 km every day. Our power-to-weight calculator and cost of ownership calculator put such figures in today's terms.

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