1971 70s seventies Red Volvo coupe, Petrol 1986 cc; Classic & Performance Motor Show at Hoghton Tower; Supercar Showtime June 2023
Launched in 1961, the Volvo P1800 was Volvo’s answer to a 2+2 front engine, rear wheel drive sports tourer. The body styling was done by Swedish designer Pelle Petterson, with the first prototype ready in 1957, known as the X1. This was driven to the headquarters of Karmann in West Germany, who would take on the tooling and building of the P1800. This was cut short when Volkswagen stepped in with the threat of cancelling their contracts with Karmann if they took on the project, as they saw the P1800 as competition. This left Volvo with the project looking as if it would never get started. It was Helmaer Petterson, a freelance engineer, who took on the role to see who could take on the project in Britain, the home of some of the greatest sports cars in the world. A visit to Jensen, who made the body panels for the Austin-Healey sports cars, saw a deal struck, and Jensen would now produce the pressed steel body panels at their Linwood plant in Scotland, then transport them to their factory in West Bromwich, where they would paint and carry out the final assembly of the cars. With a contract for 10,000 units, it didn’t take long before Volvo realised that the quality control from the Brits was sub-par, and in 1963, after just 6,000 cars were produced, Volvo ended the contract with Jensen and moved production to their Gothenburg factory in Sweden, where the car became known as the 1800 S. The S denotes they were made in Sweden. The 1800 S was also given an 8 bhp power increase, until 1969 when the B18 engine was replaced with the B20B engine producing 118 bhp. Then, in 1970, which is the model we have here today, came the addition of fuel injection and a revised camshaft, pushing the P1800 to 130bhp.
Size: 4066px × 2711px
Location: Preston, UK
Photo credit: © ZarkePix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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