Volvo · 1961–1973

Volvo P1800

The Volvo P1800 (pronounced eighteen-hundred) is a 2+2, front-engine, rear-drive sports car manufactured and marketed by Volvo Cars between 1961 and 1973. Originally a coupé (1961–1972), it was also offered in a shooting brake configuration toward the end of its production (1972–1973). Styling was by Pelle Petterson under the tutelage of Pietro Frua when Frua's studio was a subsidiary of the Italian Carrozzeria Ghia, and the mechanicals were derived from Volvo's Amazon/122 series. Marketed as a touring car rather than a sports car, the P1800 became widely known when driven by British actor Roger Moore in the television series The Saint, which aired from 1962 to 1969. In 1998, an 1800S owned by Irv Gordon (1940–2018) was certified as the highest mileage private vehicle driven by the original owner in non-commercial service—having exceeded 3.25 million miles (over 5.23 million km) as of his death in 2018.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Volvo P1900 · Successor: Volvo 480

All Volvo P1800 data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

History

The project was originally started in 1957 because Volvo wanted a sports car to compete in the US & European markets, despite the fact that their previous attempt, the P1900, had failed to take off with only 68 cars sold. The man behind the project was an engineering consultant to Volvo, Helmer Petterson, who in the 1940s was responsible for the Volvo PV444. Unknown to him, design work was done by his son Pelle, under the tutelage of Italian auto stylist Pietro Frua while Frua's studio as a subsidiary of the prestigious carrozzeria Ghia. Volvo insisted it was an Italian design by Frua and only officially recognized Pelle Petterson's authorship in 2009. Carrozzeria Frua built the first three prototypes between September 1957 and early 1958, later designated by Volvo in September 1958: P958-X1, P958-X2 and P958-X3 (P:Project, 9:September, 58:Year 1958 = P958, X1: eXperiment 1). In December 1957 Helmer Petterson transported by truck X1, (the first hand-built P1800 prototype) to Osnabrück, West Germany, headquarters of Karmann. Petterson hoped that Karmann would be able to take on the tooling and building of the P1800. Karmann's engineers had already been preparing working drawings from the wooden styling buck at Frua. Petterson and Volvo chief engineer Thor Berthelius met there, tested the car and discussed the construction with Karmann. They were ready to build it and this meant that the first cars could hit the market as early as December 1958. But in February, Karmann's most important customer, Volkswagen, reportedly forbade Karmann to take on the job, with some sources suggesting that they threatened to break their contract with Karmann for the production of the Karmann-Ghia. Other sources say that it was Karmann who said no to taking on full construction of the car,

Popular notoriety

The Volvo P1800 received prominence in the early 1960s when a white 1962 Volvo P1800 with number plate ST1 was driven by the character Simon Templar (Roger Moore) in the TV series The Saint (1962–1969). The car became intimately linked to the show and helped raise Volvo's profile at the time. Roger Moore actually purchased a P1800 of his own, in the same white color as the TV car, and so was seen driving the Volvo both on-screen and around the roads of Britain. Two new cars had been introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1961, a Jaguar Mark X and the Volvo P1800. Jaguar was first offered the opportunity to provide an Mark X for the TV series but declined. Volvo accepted and offered a P1800, leading to increased sales. Initially, Volvo lent two cars for the series, one for static studio shots and the other for moving shots. When the P1800S came along, one of the earlier cars was cut up to allow better interior shots. Major Samantha Carter drove a silver-grey 1963 Volvo P1800 in the TV series Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007), as first seen in S05E03 "Ascension". In the 2023 Goosebumps Series, Nathan Bratt (played by Justin Long), the new English teacher at Port Lawrence High School, drives a red 1800ES shooting brake.

50th anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the P1800 took place in France on 13 June 2010 during the Viking Classic Auto Show, celebrating the first presentation of the P1800 to the public at the Brussels Motor Show in 1960. The show featured more than 350 Volvo cars, about 80 Volvo P1800s Europe as well as the original prototype P958-X1 — along with designer Pelle Petterson as well as Irv Gordon. The event was promoted by Volvo Cars Heritage.

Mileage record

A 1966 Volvo P1800S and its owner Irv Gordon (1940–2018) of East Patchogue, New York, have the Guinness world record for highest mileage. Gordon began driving the car in 1966, and in 1987 the car reached the one million mile mark. In 1998, it was registered as the vehicle with the highest certified mileage driven by the original owner in non-commercial service, by the Guinness Book of World Records, with a total of 1.69 million miles (2.72 million kilometres). On 2 April 2002, Gordon and his P1800S were guests on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, after reaching the two million mile mark. In January 2011, Gordon and his Volvo were featured on PBS's Nova ScienceNow and in November 2011 in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Magazine. In June 2013, when the car had reached a little over 2,996,000 miles (4,822,000 km), Volvo Cars North America (VCNA) launched an unprecedented PR campaign valuing the performance and in September 2013 the car surpassed the 3 million mile mark in Alaska. The car had driven more than 3.2 million miles (5.1 million kilometres) by Irv Gordon's death on 15 November 2018.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Volvo P1800
Designer: Pelle Petterson
Manufacturer: Volvo Cars
Assembly: United Kingdom: West Bromwich, England (Jensen Motors: 1961–1962), Sweden: Torslanda (1963–1973), Sweden: Gothenburg (1963–1973), Chile: Arica (DiVolvo)
Production: 1961–1973, coupé: 39,407, sports estate: 8,077
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout
Transmission: 4-speed Volvo M40 manual, 4-speed Volvo M41 manual with Laycock overdrive, 3-speed Borg-Warner 35 automatic
Length: 4350 -
Width: 1700 mm
Height: 1280 -
Kerb weight: 1130 -
Wheelbase: 2450 mm <!--
Related: Volvo Amazon
Engine: 1,778 cc B18 I4, 1,986 cc B20B/E/F I4
Class: Sports car
Body style: 2-door coupé, 3-door shooting brake
Predecessor: Volvo P1900