Retro Review: Volvo 1800
Enjoy our look back at the history of the Volvo 1800, an iconic classic touring car with a unique brand of Scandinavian style.
The Volvo 1900: Forefather to the the Volvo 1800
As instantly recognizable today as it was when new 60 years ago, the Volvo 1800 is undoubtedly one of the most iconic classic cars of that era. Satisfying the vision of a Volvo co-founder, this old-school touring car almost didn’t see the light of day. But thanks to some light Scandinavian scandal in the form of hush-hush design efforts and leaked corporate secrets, enthusiasts were offered the opportunity to enjoy one of the most interesting – and long-lasting – cars to ever come out of Sweden.
The story goes that Assar Gabrielsson, co-founder of Volvo cars, was so impressed by the C1 Corvette during a visit to the Michigan production line in the early 1950s, that he set to work creating a viable competitor of his own. During that trip, he is also said to have noted the latest sports cars from Britain and Germany gaining in popularity, particularly amongst the jet-set crowd, furthering his desire to tap the booming American market.
Working with the California-based fiberglass shop Glasspar, Mr. Gabrielsson put the Volvo 1900 into production. A cool little roadster, it was undone by low demand and difficulty with the glass-reinforced plastic production process. Just 68 were built in 1956 and 1957. At the time, Gunnar Engellau was taking the Volvo reins and decided to stop production of the P1900, but not without deciding the company could still benefit from a sports car to compete with Europe.
Making a Swedish Sports Car: Pelle Petterson’s Anonymous Design
Helmer Petterson, a local Swedish engineering consultant, was enlisted to run this new project and set to work on design proposals. Volvo made it clear they were looking to produce a car with Italian design provenance and so, all four official proposals came from Italian designers. However, a fifth anonymous sketch was placed in the pile by Mr. Petterson just in time for the board meeting.
It was this fifth sketch that Mr. Engellau and the Volvo board would choose. It had the looks and was from the design house of Pietro Frua, who worked as a subsidiary of the prestigious Carrozzeria Ghia. Unbeknownst to Volvo, the individual who actually penned the design was Helmer’s son – Pelle Petterson.
When this information came to light, Mr. Engellau was so irritated by the apparent bamboozlement that he refused to acknowledge young Pelle. In fact, Pelle Peterson would not end up being officially credited with the Volvo 1800 design until 2009.
With design locked in, Volvo was ready to build the newly named P1800 on the bones of their equally new Volvo Amazon series sedans. But, due to having put all their available resources into Amazon production, they required outside help. German coachbuilder Karmann was their first choice however, Karmann’s biggest customer – Volkswagen – threatened to cancel all contracts if they started working on the Volvo as it was seen to be too close a competitor.
The Volvo 1800 Almost Didn’t Make it to Production
It was at this point that the Volvo 1800 narrowly avoided the axe. The company had up to this point kept the car a secret, and with no clear way forward on production, the 1800 may have remained a secret forever. Fortunately, for us car folk, someone leaked a photo to the press and the Swedish automaker was forced to acknowledge its existence.
With the search for a coachbuilder back on, Volvo landed on Jensen Motors, the English automaker known for their in-house Interceptor and contract work for the likes of Austin Motor Company.
Finally launched in 1961, the new Volvo P1800 was positioned as a cheaper exotic. Period ads depict the P1800 with its $3,995 price against the $10,000-plus price point of Ferraris and Aston Martins. Volvo also decided to sell their new ride as a touring car instead of a dedicated sports car, highlighting Road & Track’s comment that, “The P1800 is a very civilized touring car for people who want to travel rapidly in style.”
Roger Moore Made the 1800 Famous
An early win for the 1800 was having Roger Moore drive the car as suave playboy Simon Templar in The Saint TV series. Though Jaguar was approached with the opportunity to feature their E-Type in the show, they declined and Volvo happily stepped up. On air from 1962 to 1969, The Saint helped showcase the Volvo 1800 to a broad audience. The fact that Mr. Moore drove his personal 1800 around Britain didn’t hurt either.
The Volvo 1800 began life with the B18B motor lifted from the Volvo Amazon 122. This 1800 cc inline-4 breathed through dual SU carburetors to generate 100 horsepower. Known for the strength of its five main bearing crankshaft, these early 1800s featured an all-synchromesh 4-speed manual transmission to power the rear wheels. Jensen was slated to build 10,000 units of the P1800, but quality control, labor relations, and logistics problems soured the relationship and only 6,000 were completed before the contract was canceled.
Volvo 1800 Production Moves to Sweden
In 1963, Volvo moved production to their plant in Gothenburg and changed the name to 1800S, where S stands for Sweden. These 1800S models made seven more horsepower out of the gate, ultimately rated for 115 hp by 1966.
The Volvo 1800S also featured an optional overdrive version of the 4-speed stick that added an electrically-actuated Laycock de Normanville gear for improved fuel economy and reduced drivetrain wear. In 1969, the 1.8L B18B mill was replaced by the 2.0L B20B inline-4 which brought another small output increase for a total of 118 horsepower.
The Volvo 1800E: More Power, Better Braking
The following year, 1970, saw a new name and fuel injection introduced for the Volvo 1800. Einspritzung, German for fuel injection, in the form of Bosch’s D-Jetronic system replaced carburetion and the Volvo 1800E was born. As was the case throughout its lifecycle, the Volvo 1800 never saw radical changes, but instead added ever more power and minor updates to colors and wheel styles over the years.
Fitted with the new B20E motor, the Volvo 1800E featured a revised camshaft that brought output to 130 horses. It also saw the fitment of disc brakes at all four corners whereas earlier cars had drum brakes out back. Two years later, a lower-compression B20F engine was introduced for specific markets to meet new emissions standards. Mainly intended for the United States, these B20 variants had a different head, ECU, and manifold pressure sensor to trim output by five horsepower.
The bigger news for 1972 was the arrival of a shooting-brake variant of the 1800E. This new Volvo 18000ES featured an extended roofline and frameless all-glass tailgate. With the same two-door setup, the 1800ES wagon struck quite a pose at the time and is equally head-turning today. Upon arrival, it earned such comically unfortunate nicknames as Fiskbilen, Swedish for Fish Van, and Schneewittchensarg, which is German for Snow White’s Coffin.
Kooky names aside, the Volvo 1800ES was a slick combination of estate and touring car that featured fold-down rear seats for more cargo space and a newly optional Borg-Warner 3-speed automatic transmission. As 1973 was the final year of Volvo 1800 production due to increasingly stringent American safety and emissions regulations, only 8,077 of the 1800ES models were built, making them relatively rare these days.
In fact, fewer than 48,000 all Volvo 1800 variants combined were made between 1961 and 1973. However, that was the plan all along, going back to 1953. The car was never intended to be a mass-produced commodity, it was designed as a niche vehicle to generate showroom traffic and prove that Volvo could compete on the world stage. This effort was seriously burnished when a 1966 Volvo 1800 was recognized for having been driven more than THREE MILLION miles in 2018 by Irv Gordon, an owner from New York.
The Volvo 1800’s Legacy Lives On
Volvo’s 1800 legacy also lived on as the Swedish company would go on to earn accolades for such legends as the 240 series, which we cover here. Not to mention its deep roots as a purveyor of the station wagon, a unique style of cars whose history we look back on here. These days, the automaker continues to innovate with their US-based factories, long-running Volvo S60 series, and fully-electric EX90 SUV that will be on sale in the near future.
For those with deep pockets and the desire to enjoy a modern interpretation of the Volvo 1800, be sure to check out the bespoke Volvo P1800 Cyan created by Cyan Racing. Sporting a mostly carbon fiber body, killer forged alloy wheels, and a 420-horse fire-breather under the hood, it is proof that the Volvo 1800 will never go out of style.
