Pre-History
In 1956, Volvo began importing automobiles to the US. Their first offering
was the reliable, yet dated PV444. This car had a striking resemblance
to a 1947 Ford (but was in fact designed many years earlier). Volvo in
Sweden did not anticipate that people would begin racing this car in road
rallies, but it happened. People literally drove their stock 444's
onto tracks, taped up the headlights, and blew away the competition. Volvo
was building a reputation, especially on the west coast, for building sturdy
small cars that could perform. There was interest in racing Volvos. A few
years earlier in 1953, Volvo Co-founder, Assar Gabrielsson, came to the
US on a business trip and became intrigued by Chevrolet's new fiberglass
bodied sports coupe, the Corvette. Gabrielsson went back to Sweden with
the idea of producing a similar car. The eventual result was the P1900.
This car was quite a departure from Volvo norms, and Volvo experienced
great difficulties while manufacturing them. After Dr. Gunnar Engellau
became president of Volvo in 1956, he killed the P1900 project. Volvo only
produced 67 finished automobiles.
Demand for a Volvo sports car grew over the next couple years. A Volvo
dealer in Denmark, began customizing a 120 sedan with the hopes of convincing
Volvo of the merits of a sports coupe. His Volvo
Special was passed over by Volvo because they had an idea of their
own. Helmer Petterson, a consultant for Volvo, had been pushing for a sports
coupe featuring unitized body construction.
Volvo commissioned Ghia, the Italian design firm, to come up with several
different design sketches. Frau, a subsidiary of Ghia, was given the project.
Volvo president, Dr. Gunnar Engellau had no idea that Helmer Petterson's
son, Pelle, was working for Frau at the time. Unknowingly, he chose Pelle's
design over the rest of the styles submitted.
At the time, Volvo did not have the ability to fabricate the unitized
bodies required for the car, soon to be named the P1800. Volvo had to find
somewhere to have the bodies produced. They began negotiations with the
German company, Karmann, then Volkswagon got wind of the situation and
threatened to cancel all contracts. It is interesting to contemplate what
would have happened if Karmann would have manufactured the P1800's bodies.
Here was a car designed by Ghia, built by Karmann - just like the VW Karmann
Ghia - execpt with a real engine under the hood! There was no way that
Volkswagon was about to let that happen.
The P1800 finally ships!
Eventually, Pressed Steel of Scotland was contracted to fabricate the bodies
and Jensen of England assembled the cars for Volvo. The first P1800 rolled
off the line in September of 1960. The original contract with Jensen was
for the assembly of 10,000 cars, but quality control problems led Volvo
to cancel the contract after 6,000 units. In 1964, Volvo opened a new plant
at Torslanda, Sweden. The existing plant at Lundby was now available so
Volvo began assembling the P1800 themselves in Sweden. In conjunction with
this, the series designation was changed from P1800 to 1800S, with the
"S" standing for Sweden.
The car remained basically unchanged except for trim, wheels, suspension
,and grill pattern until 1969 when a larger engine was used. In 1970, Volvo
began producing the bodies themselves and added electronic fuel injection.
The series designation changed once again to 1800E. In 1972, the last 1800
coupe rolled off the line. Production ended after 39,414 units.
Something Different
Over the years, Volvo had heard complaints about the 1800's lack of cargo
space, so Volvo designer, Jan Wilsgaard, came up with something original.
He extended the roof of the coupe and created a Sports Wagon. It was produced
in 1972 and 1973 only and was called the 1800ES.
The "ES" stands for Estate, the European term for wagon. Only 8,078 were
made before all 1800 production ceased. That makes a total production total
of 47,492 coupes and wagons.
Life after the 1800
After 1973, Volvo was left with no sports car to offer. The 240 sedans,
while legendary in their own right, just didn't have the same appeal
as the 1800. Pressure from dealers prompted Volvo to contract with the
Italian firm, Bertone, to restyle the 200 series sedan into a 2-door sports
sedan. These 262 (6 cyl. - 2 door) Bertone Coupes were sold from 1978 to
1981. Volvo has also added turbochargers to certain models, and "Bertonized"
the 700 series with an 6cyl. engine (or Turbo $4cyl.). Currently, the 5
cylinder Volvo S70 has a racer model (S70R) that develops 240hp. Volvo
currently supports a racing team in the British Touring Car Championships.
Volvo also supports an Australian racing team that is doing very well.
In 1997, Volvo produced a 2 door convertible version of the 850/S70, the
C70. But, all this "sportiness" is reverse engineering - that is - adding
gadgetry to a sedan to make it seem like a sports car. The Volvo 1800 was
Volvo's last attempt at a ground up dedicated sports car.
back to Volvo 1800 Page
