In the early stages of its history, Volvo established itself as a brand producing reliable, solid, and rather boring cars. The main buyers were considered to be people who preferred a calm ride and a measured lifestyle. The first serious step towards changing this perception was the P1900 sports model, and then its more successful successor, the P1800.
The first Volvo sports car was a failure
The idea of a compact sports road car appeared at Volvo back in the early 1950s. One of the company's founders, Assar Gabrielsson, noticed the popularity of small European sports "two-doors" during a trip to the USA. That's when the idea arose to create their own image model. It was supposed to attract attention to Volvo and at the same time increase buyers' interest in the brand's regular cars.
The well-established Volvo PV444 was chosen as the basis. The compact car featured a robust design and a unibody. Its history began during World War II. Its technical arsenal included:
- 4-cylinder overhead valve engines with volumes of 1.4 and 1.6 liters;
- independent front suspension;
- hydraulic brake system with drum mechanisms.
The body development was entrusted to the American company Glasspar from California, which manufactured fiberglass boats and car bodies. The head of the firm, Bill Tritt, immediately began work. After Gabrielsson's return to Sweden, he had already prepared the first sketches.
In 1955, the project received material embodiment under the name Volvo P1900 Sport. The car was an unusual convertible with a rounded fiberglass body. The large oval radiator grille resembled a fighter jet's air intake, and its appearance combined features of American aerospace design of the 1950s with the proportions of classic European roadsters. The manual manufacturing of the plastic body allowed for smooth forms without sharp edges.
The public met the novelty without much enthusiasm, but in the same year, even before all tests were completed, the car was sent into production.
Problems appeared almost immediately. Complaints from buyers began to arrive about the P1900, and the main reason was the insufficient rigidity of the fiberglass body. On uneven roads, the structure literally deformed, and because of this, the doors, hood, and trunk stopped closing properly. Disadvantages also included an inconvenient roof folding mechanism and dynamic characteristics that did not correspond to the model's sporty image.
As a result, production of the P1900 ceased in 1957. Only 67 cars were assembled during its entire run.
After the failure, the P1800 project emerged
The failure of the first sports model did not make Volvo abandon the idea of entering the segment of stylish grand tourers. Gabrielsson, on the contrary, commissioned the development of the next sports car. This time, the approach was much more serious: it was necessary to combine Volvo's proven technical base with expressive Italian design.
Five exterior options were prepared for the future P1800 coupe. Four of them belonged to recognized Italian masters, while the fifth project was presented without indicating the author's name. It was this option that the Volvo management considered the best.
It later turned out that the author was the young Pelle Petterson — the son of Helmer Petterson, who led the P1800 project. A scandal arose: the elder Petterson was accused of violating corporate ethics. However, they did not abandon the successful design. The project was launched into production, while simultaneously concealing the name of the car's true creator.
The appearance of the future P1800 was indeed noticeably different from the usual Volvo solutions. A long hood, a compact two-seater cockpit set back, and a smoothly sloping trunk line towards the rear formed a dynamic silhouette even when the car was stationary.
At the same time, the new model was technically unified as much as possible with the production Volvo Amazon 121/122S. The coupe received a platform shortened to 4400 mm with a wheelbase of 2450 mm, a 1.8-liter B18 engine with 100 hp, and a manual gearbox.
While the Frua studio was building three prototypes, Volvo faced an unexpected production problem. The company's own facilities were fully occupied with the production of the Amazon family. Preliminary agreements with Karmann also fell through: at the last moment, the company, under pressure from Volkswagen, refused to participate in the Swedish project.
Production had to be moved to the UK
A solution was found outside Sweden. The British company Jensen Motors undertook the painting and assembly of the car, and the production of bodies was entrusted to the Scottish company Pressed Steel. This scheme allowed the P1800 to go into series production, but at the same time negatively affected the quality of the finished cars.
In the spring of 1963, two years after the start of P1800 production, production was moved back to Sweden. However, for some time, bodies continued to arrive from Scotland.
After moving back to its homeland, the model received the designation 1800 S, where the letter S stood for Sweden. Only in the third quarter of 1969 was Volvo able to fully declare the Swedish origin of its grand tourer.
By this time, the car had received one of its most significant technical upgrades. A two-liter engine with 132 hp and a Bosch D-Jetronic injection system appeared under the hood. Engineers also revised the camshaft profile, and soon disc brakes appeared on all wheels.
After these changes, the car's characteristics significantly improved:
- acceleration to 100 km/h took 9.5 seconds;
- maximum speed approached 190 km/h.
The P1800's interior also differed significantly from traditional Swedish minimalism. The interior was designed with the interests of wealthy American buyers in mind, so it combined a wide range of comfortable equipment with the atmosphere of luxurious European grand touring.
The most unusual was the 1800 ES version
In 1971, the model's design underwent its most radical change. The 1800 ES version received a three-door station wagon, or shooting brake, body. The roofline was extended from the coupe to the very rear, where it ended almost vertically.
The 1800 ES with this unusual body was included in the autumn production program of 1972. Its author was Volvo's in-house designer Jan Wilsgaard. The main feature of the car was a completely glass frameless tailgate, mounted on chrome hinges and equipped with gas struts.
The unusual shape quickly earned the car unofficial nicknames. In Sweden, it was called Fiskbilen — "fish van." German Volvo fans came up with a much darker name, Schneewittchensarg, meaning "Snow White's coffin," referring to the distinctive rear design.
Despite its unusual appearance, the 1800 ES's career was short-lived. On June 27, 1973, production was completely stopped, and the reason was not a lack of demand.
New safety requirements began to apply in the American market, providing for the installation of so-called "five-mile" bumpers. They had to withstand a collision at a speed of up to 5 mph without serious damage.
For the elegant P1800 body, such massive elements were a serious problem. They violated its proportions, and compliance with the new requirements would have required a deep redesign of the structure. As a result, further production of the car became economically unfeasible.
A total of 8078 units of the Volvo 1800 ES were produced. For comparison, the total circulation of the 1800 S coupe exceeded 39 thousand cars.
Thus, the history of Volvo's sports direction went from the first unsuccessful P1900 with a fiberglass body to the much more thought-out P1800, which received an expressive design, technical upgrades, and an unusual three-door 1800 ES version.