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From sinner to saint, the golden anniversary of the Volvo P1800
publication date: Jun 4, 2011
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author/source: Robin Roberts
| | Planned in Sweden, designed in Italy, unveiled at
the car show in Brussels, built in Britain and a huge success in the
USA, the Volvo P1800 is perhaps Volvo's most internationally renowned
model ever and the one that arouses most emotions.
In 2011
this remarkable people's favourite turns 50. It was in 1961 that it
entered production and reached showrooms after four years of careful
planning and development, remaining in production for the next twelve
years. From the sales perspective it played perhaps a marginal role for
the company, but from the image viewpoint it played a far bigger role
than any previous Volvo model.
The Volvo P1800 was
born for that very reason - to attract the attention of passersby to
Volvo's display windows and to increase what today is known as ‘floor
traffic' so that people who entered the showroom left it in a new Volvo.
Volvo had tried its hand at a sports car back in the early
1950s - the open two-seater plastic-bodied Volvo Sport which was built
from 1955 to 1957 with a total production run of just 67 cars. "Not a
bad car, but a bad Volvo" was the way Volvo President Gunnar Engellau
put it when he retired the model. However, he did recognise the
importance of having a prestigious and exciting model to boost overall
sales, and Volvo dealers were desperate for just such a car.
Design
proposals were ordered from Italy, where Volvo consultant Helmer
Petterson - who was deeply involved in the planning of the new car - had
got his son Pelle a job at Pietro Frua thanks to Pelle's fresh degree
in industrial design from the Pratt Institute in New York. When the time
came to unveil the four proposals to Volvo's board in 1957, Helmer
sneaked in his son Pelle's fifth design - and that was the one that
everyone picked. Engellau in particular liked it since he had very
definite views about wanting an Italian-designed car.
That of course is
precisely what he did get, but it was penned by a 25 year old native of
Göteborg who would later make his mark as a boat designer and win
Olympic medals in yacht racing.
Eventually, however, the truth behind
the winning design proposal emerged. The choleric Engellau blew his top,
felt he had been hoodwinked and promised that Pelle would never be
acknowledged as the car's designer. And indeed many years went by before
the truth was made known and Pelle Petterson received the credit he was
due for penning one of the world's most attractive sports coupes.
The
new sports car - which is how Volvo presented the model - had a fixed
roof, a steel body, a lot of the mechanical components lifted straight
from the Amazon and the newly developed B18 engine in its 100 hp sports
version when it eventually arrived in the showrooms.
Three
prototypes were built by Frua in Turin in 1957-1958 on Amazon
underpinnings and these cars were used for a variety of purposes, for
instances as templates for the production of press tools, in a range of
tests, at shows, for press work and advertising photo-shoots and much
else. All three have survived and are still on the road.
Production Overseas
At
this time, Volvo found itself in a hugely expansive phase and the
company realised from the outset that it did not have sufficient
in-house capacity to manufacture the new model - not for pressing of
body panels, nor for painting or assembly, not even on a small scale.
The hunt for a suitable partner got under way, led by Helmer Petterson,
and after much deliberation a decision was taken to use two British
companies to build the car: Pressed Steel would build the bodies and
Jensen Motors would paint and assemble the cars. Production got under
way but this was a far from friction-free method. Constant problems with
personnel, working methods, quality, suppliers and logistics along with
an unwillingness to deal with these issues meant that as soon as it was
possible, Volvo transferred production home to Sweden.
As of
spring 1963 - after 6000 Jensen-built cars - production of the 1800
started up in Volvo's Lundby factory but it was not until 1969 that body
pressings were transferred from Pressed Steel in Scotland to Volvo's
press shop in Olofström. The move home also coincided with a change of
name for the P1800. First it was badged the P1800 S, later in 1963 it
was known simply as the 1800 S, S standing for Sweden.
| During the
coupe's long life, no radical changes were made to the successful
exterior lines. Only details such as the grille, trim mouldings, wheels
and colours differentiate the various model years.
From the technical
viewpoint the 1800 shadowed the development of Volvo's other models and
was continuously upgraded. Disc brakes all round, more powerful engines
and electronic fuel injection were the most noticeable changes. |  |
In
1971, however, a new body variant was presented, the 1800 ES. A
sporting hatchback with an extended roofline and an estate car rear
featuring a large glass tailgate. A GT and estate car combined. The ES
was designed in Göteborg and attracted considerable attention, but it
also divided opinion into two camps.
It has nonetheless achieved cult
status along with its coupe sister and many have survived to this day.
Volvo's 1800 models are very sought-after by enthusiasts - there are
several clubs serving the model - and they were for many years
relatively inexpensive to buy, although in recent years their prices
have started to rise on the classic-car market. Renovating an 1800 is
neither easy nor cheap.
Many parts are no longer available, particularly
for the Jensen-built cars, but owners who have taken the trouble can
expect many miles behind the wheel of an exceptionally pleasant, agile
and robust car whose value to Volvo in terms of image can never really
be fully quantified.
Just ask Roger Moore, who was fortunate
enough to drive a P1800 in his role as debonair crime-fighter Simon
Templar, a sort of modern-day Robin Hood, in the British TV drama series
based on Leslie Charteris's "The Saint".
The TV production company was
looking for an attractive sports car that would suit a gentleman of
independent means, and after being turned down by Jaguar approached
Volvo to ask for the P1800. Volvo was quick to oblige. It was a
brilliant PR move for the new Volvo model and the car became etched
firmly in the minds of everyone at the time. To this day the P1800 is
still often referred to as The Saint's car.
Another person who
can testify to the car's excellence is New Yorker Irv Gordon, who has
covered more than 4,500,000 kilometres in the 1800 S he purchased in
1966, making him the holder of a Guinness world record that will
probably never be able to be beaten. Irv Gordon has spent a total of
almost 12 years behind the wheel of his car and he is now aiming for
3,000,000 miles, that is to say about 4,800,000 kilometres. On the same
engine!
The Volvo P1800, this alert 50 year
old, was never intended to be a mass-produced car. It was and still is a
niche product, the top of the model range, yet at the same time viable
enough to be within the reach of ordinary people who wanted a car that
looked like a Ferrari but cost and functioned like a Volvo: pleasant,
reliable and economical.
It appealed to people even before it arrived in
the showrooms in 1961 and its design has been shown to stand the test
of time: it is timeless, classic and sporty in a well-balanced way, a truly
living piece of Volvo history. | | |
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