1961-1972 Volvo 1800

Enough pipe-smoking, record-keeping professors bought 1800s to assure a decent supply of well-maintained examples

by Rob Sass

In 1961, Volvo was Swedish for “stodgy,” and a sports car from these practical folks in a cold climate seems about as likely as tailfins on a reindeer. But that’s what happened—right down to the fins. Volvo had attempted a sports car in 1953 when they contracted with Glasspar in the U.S. to build the P1900. Typical of early fiberglass cars, it was basically a shapeless blob with a pig-snout grille and a “flexi-flyer” frame. A total of 68 were built in 1956 and 1957. The reports from testers were appalling, one of whom listed 29 “must-fix” problems. The final straw was when Gunnar Engelau, Volvo’s new CEO, took one for a 447-mile weekend jaunt. He reported, “The car shook so much, I thought the doors would fall off,” and that was that. Meanwhile, Volvo was quite successful rallying the 544 and 122 Amazon (based on an early ’50s Alfa sedan) and in 1960 they returned to the sports car project—this time using steel. The P1800, which debuted in 1961, was...