Volvo P1800

History

The project was originally started in 1957 because Volvo wanted a sports car to compete in the US & European markets, despite the fact that their previous attempt, the P1900, had failed to take off with only 68 cars sold. The man behind the project was an engineering consultant to Volvo, Helmer Petterson, who in the 1940s was responsible for the Volvo PV444. The design work was done by Helmer's son Pelle Petterson, who worked at Pietro Frua at that time. Volvo insisted it was an Italian design by Frua and only in 2009 officially recognized that Pelle Petterson designed it. The Italian Carrozzeria Pietro Frua design firm (then a recently acquired subsidiary of Ghia) built the first three prototypes between September 1957 and early 1958, later designated by Volvo in September 1958: P958-X1, P958-X2 and P958-X3 (P:Project, 9:September, 58:Year 1958 = P958, X: eXperimental.).

In December 1957 Helmer Petterson drove X1, (the first hand-built P1800 prototype) to Osnabrück, West Germany, headquarters of Karmann. Petterson hoped that Karmann would be able to take on the tooling and building of the P1800. Karmann's engineers had already been preparing working drawings from the wooden styling buck at Frua. Petterson and Volvo chief engineer Thor Berthelius met there, tested the car and discussed the construction with Karmann. They were ready to build it and this meant that the first cars could hit the market as early as December 1958. But in February, Karmann's most important customer, Volkswagen VAG, forbade Karmann to take on the job. They feared that the P1800 would compete with the sales of their own cars, and threatened to cancel all their contracts with Karmann if they took on this car. This setback almost caused the project to be abandoned.

Other German firms, NSU, Drautz and Hanomag, were contacted but none was chosen because Volvo did not believe they met Volvo's manufacturing quality-control standards.

It began to appear that Volvo might never produce the P1800. This motivated Helmer Petterson to obtain financial backing from two financial firms with the intention of buying the components directly from Volvo and marketing the car himself. At this point Volvo had made no mention of the P1800 and the factory would not comment. Then a press release surfaced with a photo of the car, putting Volvo in a position where they had to acknowledge its existence. These events influenced the company to renew its efforts: the car was presented to the public for the first time at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1960 and Volvo turned to Jensen Motors, whose production lines were under-utilised, and they agreed a contract for 10,000 cars. The Linwood, Scotland, body plant of manufacturer Pressed Steel was in turn sub-contracted by Jensen to create the unibody shells, which were then taken by rail to be assembled at Jensen in West Bromwich, England. In September 1960, the first production P1800 (for the 1961 model year) left Jensen for an eager public.

P1800

The engine was the B18 (B for the Swedish word for gasoline: Bensin; 18 for 1800 cc displacement) with dual SU carburettors, producing 118 hp (75 kW). This variant (named B18B) had a higher compression ratio than the slightly less powerful twin-carb B18D used in the contemporary Amazon 122S, as well as a different camshaft. The 'new' B18 was actually developed from the existing B36 V8 engine used in Volvo trucks at the time. This cut production costs, as well as furnishing the P1800 with a strong engine boasting five main crankshaft bearings. The B18 was matched with the new and more robust M40 manual gearbox through 1963. From 1963 to 1972 the M41 gearbox with electrically actuated overdrive was a popular option. Two overdrive types were used, the D-Type through 1969, and the J-type through 1973. The J-type had a slightly shorter ratio of 0.797:1 as opposed to 0.756:1 for the D-type. The overdrive effectively gave the 1800 series a fifth gear, for improved fuel efficiency and decreased drivetrain wear. Cars without overdrive had a numerically lower-ratio differential, which had the interesting effect of giving them a somewhat higher top speed (just under 120 mph (193 km/h)) than the more popular overdrive models. This was because the non-overdrive cars could reach the engine's redline in top gear, while the overdrive-equipped cars could not, giving them a top speed of roughly 110 mph (177 km/h).

1800S

As time progressed, Jensen had problems with quality control, so the contract was ended early after 6,000 cars had been built. In 1963 production was moved to Volvo's Lundby Plant in Gothenburg and the car's name was changed to 1800S (S standing for Sverige, or in English : Sweden). The engine was improved with an additional 8 hp (6 kW). In 1966 the four-cylinder engine was updated to 115 PS (85 kW). Top speed was 175 km/h (109 mph). In 1969 the B18 engine was replaced with the 2-litre B20B variant of the B20 giving 118 bhp (89 kW), though it kept the designation 1800S.

1800E

For 1970 numerous changes came with the fuel-injected 1800E, which had the B20E engine with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection and a revised camshaft, and produced 130 bhp (97 kW) without sacrificing fuel economy. Top speed was around 190 km/h (118 mph) and acceleration from 0–100 km/h (0–62.1 mph) took 9.5 seconds. In addition, the 1970 model was the first 1800 with four-wheel disc brakes; until then the 1800 series had front discs and rear drums.

1800ES

Volvo introduced its final P1800 variant, the 1800ES, in 1972 as a two-door station wagon with a frameless, all-glass tailgate. The final design was chosen after two prototypes had been built by Sergio Coggiola and Pietro Frua. Frua's prototype, Raketen ("the Rocket", on the right), is located in the Volvo Museum. Both Italian prototypes were considered too futuristic, and instead in-house designer Jan Wilsgaard's proposal, the Beach Car, was accepted. The ES engine was downgraded to 125 bhp (92 kW) by reducing the compression ratio with a thicker head gasket (engine variant B20F); although maximum power was slightly down the engine was less "peaky" and the car's on-the-road performance was actually improved.

The ES's rear backrest folded down to create a long flat loading area. As an alternative to the usual four-speed plus overdrive manual transmission, a Borg-Warner three-speed automatic was available in the 1800ES. With stricter American safety and emissions standards looming for 1974, Volvo did not see fit to spend the considerable amount that would be necessary to redesign the small-volume 1800 ES. Only 8,077 examples of the ES were built in its two model years.

Influence

The all-glass rear hatch of the ES-model proved to be very popular with future Volvo-designers. Similar designs were used on the Volvo 480, on multiple concept cars and on the Volvo C30.

End of the line

For the last model year, 1973, only the 1800ES wagon was produced. Total production of the 1800 line from 1961 through 1973 was 47,492 units. Production ended on June 27, 1973, although Volvo was in negotiations with Coggiola concerning a possible P1800ESC.

Volvo never produced a convertible version of the 1800, but such cars were produced in the aftermarket most notably by Volvoville of New York, who offered them through their dealership after locally modifying stock coupes.

In Sweden the P1800ES was nicknamed Fiskbilen (The Fish van); in Germany and Switzerland it was nicknamed Schneewittchensarg (Snow White's coffin), because of the all-glass rear hatch.

Popular notoriety

The Volvo P1800 received prominence in the early 60's when a white 1962 Volvo P1800 with number plate ST1 was driven by the character Simon Templar (Roger Moore) in the hit TV series The Saint (1962–69). When asked to name his favorite "movie car" many years later, Moore said it was the Volvo P1800, commenting: "I have a great affection for the Volvo P1800, as, of course, I owned one, as well as used one in the series. It’s a beautiful car and I still drive a Volvo to this day."

When British rock band The Who visited the Duke of York in London in 1966, they posed for press pictures in front of singer Roger Daltrey's new custom-painted '66 Volvo P1800

Two new cars had been introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1961, a Jaguar E-Type and the Volvo P1800. Jaguar was first offered the opportunity to provide an E-Type for the TV series but declined. Volvo accepted and offered a P1800, leading to increased sales. Initially, Volvo lent two cars for the series, one for static studio shots and the other for moving shots. When the P1800S came along, one of the earlier cars was cut up to allow better interior shots. When the series Return of the Saint was created in the 1970s, Jaguar offered the then-new XJ-S for the series.

50th anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the P1800 took place in France on June 13, 2010 during the Viking Classic Auto Show, celebrating the first presentation of the P1800 to the public at the Brussels Motor Show in 1960. The show featured more than 350 Volvo cars, approximately 80 Volvo P1800s Europe as well as the original the prototype P958-X1 — along with designer Pelle Petterson as well as Irv Gordon. The event was promoted by Volvo Cars Heritage.

Mileage record breaker

A 1966 Volvo 1800S and its owner Irv Gordon of East Patchogue, New York, USA own the Guinness world record for highest mileage. Gordon, who has driven the same vehicle since 1966, has driven about 26,000 miles outside of the U.S., in Canada and Mexico, as well as in Europe. "In Sweden, we drove to Volvo's global headquarters to see where the P1800 was born," Gordon said.

In 1987 the car reached the one million miles mark. In 1998 it was registered, as the vehicle with the highest certified mileage driven by the original owner in non-commercial service, by the Guinness Book of World Records, with a total of 1.69 million miles. In 2002 it reached two million miles.

On April 2, 2002, Gordon and his 1800S were guests on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, after reaching the two million miles mark.

In January 2011 Gordon and his Volvo were featured on PBS's Nova ScienceNow and in November 2011 in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Magazine.

In June 2013, when the car had reached a little over 2,996,000 miles, VCNA launched an unprecedented PR campaign valuing the performance and in September 2013 the car surpassed the 3 million miles mark in Alaska.