VOLVO P1800
If Sir William Lyons hadn’t turned down a request to provide a Jaguar E-type for a new TV series called ‘The Saint’, the car you see here – arguably Volvo’s most stylish model – would probably have remained relatively unknown in the UK. But such was the power of television even in the early Sixties, Volvo’s decision to supply a P1800 made it an overnight sensation, ensuring it would forever be associated with Simon Templar, famously played by Roger Moore.
The P1800 was a new addition to the market back then… and a surprising one, given Volvo’s reputation for producing sturdy saloons and hardworking estates rather than sporting coupes. The other surprise was that the P1800 would initially be built by Jensen in West Bromwich, thanks to Volvo’s Swedish plants being at full capacity. Two years after its 1961 launch, however, production was switched to Sweden, at which point the car was renamed P1800S, although bodyshells continued to be built at Pressed Steel’s Linwood plant until 1968.
The Volvo’s 1.8-litre B18 engine was upgraded to 2.0-litre B20 spec in 1968, at which point the model became known simply as the 1800S. Bosch D-Jetronic
