1986cc Inline 4
4 Speed Manual with Override
Front Engined Rear Wheel Drive
Hydraulic Discs
130 bhp 130 Ft-Lb
Exterior Safari Yellow Interior Black
Volvo built their reputation on building high quality, reliable cars for everyday use and in 1961 released a sports touring car variant, in the form of the P1800. The styling was officially done by Frua, under Ghia but was actually designed by Pelle Petterson, the son of the man behind the project at Volvo, who was in training withPietro Frua. Not really a sports car by performance, the car was marketed as a touring car. When introduced, there wasn’t enough production capacity to take on the new model at Volvo’s plant in Sweden, so the production of the bodies was contracted to Jensen in the United Kingdom which set up an assembly line, producing the first examples, until production was taken in-house by Volvo in 1963. The drivetrain of the P1800 was shared with the Amazon 122S, though with slight power upgrades. Like the Amazon, an electrically operated Laycock de Normanville overdrive was an option giving an overdriven 5thspeed. In 1969, the 1.8 liter engine was replaced with a 2 liter version and in 1970, the 1800E was intoduced, which replaced the carburettors with a Bosch fuel injection system and gave the car 4 wheel disc brakes. A 1966 example owned by Irv Gordon since new covered more than 3.2 million miles before his death in 2018, holding a world record for highest mileage by a single owner, on its original engine, which had been rebuilt 3 times over the course of his ownership.
The 1800E is a very comfortable, solidly built cruiser. It certainly isn’t a sports car, though the car does drive and handle pretty well. Acceleration is there and acceptable, but not really sporty and the car feels substantial as opposed to light and nimble. That said, it is an incredibly comfortable car to drive and with the overdrive, is also a practical choice any time or anywhere. The steering and brakes are both responsive and effective, with a reasonable degree of feedback. With typical Volvo build quality, it is incredibly reliable and usable in all conditions without much concern and could easily serve as a daily driver classic just about anywhere in the world. The seating position is fairly low in the car with a higher beltline than most cars, allowing for plenty of room for tall drivers despite the seemingly low roof line. This example has had some minimal restoration work done on it aside from maintenance, with a repaint inthe original mustardy Safari Yellow colour and the fitting of alloy wheels. Being a later version of the 1800, it has some of the changes that were beginning to be mandated by the United States to improve safety and reduce emissions, though its fuel injection system allowed the 1970 and 1970 to be the highest horsepower variants of the 1800, before compression was dropped in 1972 to further reduce emissions.
