1961 VOLVO P 1.8

Vehicle Overview

Volvo made the P1800 like no other on the market, designed as a GT vehicle, and engineered as a daily driver with the underpinnings from the Amazon/122 series.

Whoever had the idea to give the P1800 to Roger Moore and starred it in the TV Series “The Saint” was a genius and, as a result, the P1800 rocketed into the most-wanted cars in the world. While it wasn’t the only coupe on the market to claim to be a daily driver vehicle, history proved them right since a model was recorded to achieve over 3.25 million miles on the odometer (5.23 million km).

The design was signed by Pelle Petterson, who was a yacht designed and a sailor. His ideas were finished with the help of Pietro Frua, who closely worked with Carozzerria Ghia. Petterson imagined the car with a low profiled beltline and a cab-rearward with a sloped rear windscreen. He applied reversed hydrodynamic principles and successfully created a very streamlined vehicle for those times. He installed round headlights on the car since those were the only ones approved at those times. The slightly curved surfaces were manufactured in Scotland, the bodyworks and the final assembly took place in the U.K. at Jensen Motors, who later on revealed the magnificent Interceptor FF. Only eight years later, in 1969, Volvo moved the production to Sweden.

Inside, the P1800 revealed an advanced design concept, with a profiled instrument cluster that raised in front of the driver and hosted the speedometer and the tachometer. Three additional gauges were mounted on the dashpanel’s front, next to the stereo. Its bucket seats featured seatbelts, a novelty for those times. Even the two seats in the back were granted with the innovative safety device.

The drivetrain was carried over from the Volvo Amazon/122. The carmaker built over 40.000 units of P1800 in two shapes: coupe and sports station wagon.