60 YEARS OF THE VOLVO P1800
By Ellie Priestley |
18th June, 2020
If you were watching ITV in the 1960s a Volvo P1800 would have seemed almost impossibly glamorous. Here was a car that exuded charisma in addition to being able to out-run a very badly driven Ford Zephyr 4 Mk. III - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CV000Y9RNQ. Yet, despite those “jet set” looks, the early examples hailed from the Midlands.
The origins of the P1800 date back to 1953, when Volvo’s co-founder Assar Gabrielsson visited the USA and was impressed by the popularity of European sports cars with affluent motorists. Two years later the company unveiled the GRP-bodied P1900, based on the PV444 saloon. Unfortunately, the rather stylish tourer was not a resounding success due to shoddy workmanship.
P1900 production ceased in 1957 but Gabrielsson’s successor Gunnar Engellau appreciated the need for Volvo to build an MG and Triumph competitor for the lucrative US market. The new model would combine the platform and the twin-carburettor 1.8-litre B18 engine of the Amazon with coachwork by the 25-year-old Pelle Petterson who worked for Carrozzeria Ghia’s subsidiary Fura.
Volvo lacked the capacity for the new model and so negotiated with Karmann of Osnabrück to build the P1800, with production due to commence in late 1958. However, Volkswagen was markedly unkeen on this development as they had commissioned the works to make the Karmann-Ghias. It was finally decided to approach Jensen Motors, with the bodies made by Pressed Steel of Linwood with painting and trimming undertaken at West Bromwich before the cars were shipped to Göteborg for final assembly.
The P1800 made its bow at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1960 with production commencing in September of that year. As the initial sales focus was on the USA, the P1800 was not available in RHD form until March 1962. An Autocar report of 20th July noted the extensive use of locally sourced components ‘show a great saving in duty for the British buyer’.
In reality, a price of £1,836 12s 9d meant that a P1800 cost virtually twice as much as a Sunbeam Alpine but the test concluded ‘this car is out of the ordinary in being completely free of any vice’. Two months later Bill Boddy of Motor Sport raved that the P1800:
‘rivals the best Italian G.T. cars for eyeable good looks, being long, low and of wind-defeating form, yet it is really a durable, refilled cross between out-and-out sportswagen and Grand Touring car.’
The report concluded that ‘many people requiring primarily a 2-seater will not be able to resist it’ – and this included the makers of The Saint. The first episode was due to air on 4th October 1962 but plans for Simon Templar to drive a Jaguar Mk. X were scuppered by Browns Lane’s refusal to issue a PR car. Nor would they sell one to Roger Moore or the producer Bob Baker, such was the waiting list.
The team considered using a Mercedes-Benz but the company could not assure any continuity and the marque did not quite suit the image of The Saint. However, a young member of the film crew named Malcolm Christopher saw an exotic coupe and altered the production supervisor. Roger Moore paid a visit to Volvo’s concessionaire in Mayfair with the result that a newly registered demonstrator P1800 was delivered to Elstree in Spring 1962. The brand had only been established in the UK since 1958 and when The Talented Husband aired, “ST1” seemed eyebrow-raisingly exotic.
Meanwhile, Volvo had received many complaints regarding the P1800’s build quality. The Motor Sport test complained that ‘I cannot help feeling ashamed, however, of faults in British workmanship which it is improbable the meticulous engineers at Göteborg would have permitted’.
The contract with Jensen was for 10,000 cars but after only 6,000 units production returned to Sweden. The new S model of March 1963 marked the end of the first phase of the P1800’s development. By that time, it was already seen around the world as the epitome of glamour, style and, in general, the perfect transport for any self-respecting international man of mystery. Cue the theme tune - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtePs5lCeyY
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