1965 Volvo P1800 S

Volvos are known for their high quality and excellent safety, values the brand has kept intact today. The company not only produced family cars, but pretty sports cars as well, most notably the P1800, driven by Roger Moore in the popular TV series ‘The Saint’.

The Volvo P1800 sports coupe seemed to come out of nowhere. It took everyone by surprise when it arrived in 1961 because Volvo was considered a sober Swedish automaker known to most Americans for plain-looking, rugged family cars.Gabrielsson arranged to have California’s Glasspar outfit, which made fiberglass bodies for the zoomy Kaiser-Darrin sports car, built a prototype Volvo sports car using PV444 components.

The rather awkward-looking Sport debuted at the Brussels Motor Show in 1955, and brochures for the car were printed for the U.S. market. But few here even knew about the PV444, so there were hardly any takers for the Sport.

The body is very neat with nice thin sheet metal and correct fits. The chrome moldings fit nicely everywhere and things like the bumpers and the original hubcaps also look beautiful. The “Steelblue” paint was very well sprayed at the time and still looks very nice. The chromed bumpers look like they can be pulled through a ring and they fit nicely everywhere. The rubber strips around the doors are of course also in very good condition.

The interior has recently been completely reupholstered with beautiful black leather and well-fitting black carpets. Also things such as the controls and instruments all look very good and function as they should. The counters in the Volvo P1800S are a feast for the eyes anyway, true works of art, purely functional Swedish design. The headliner is also in very good condition.

The technology has already been completely overhauled. The B18 engine runs very well and is wonderfully smooth. The engine produces 115 horsepower and is mated to a four-speed manual transmission with overdrive. The chassis is in good condition and the brakes can also be precisely dosed. The steering is of course free of play and contributes to the pleasant driving behavior of the Volvo. The engine is fitted with two revised SU carburettors. The top speed is 175 kilometers per hour, an excellent performance for that time.

Initially this car was known as the Volvo sport, but at a later stage, this was changed to the P1800. This new sports car had an amazing Italian look and feel.