I can remember a few years ago when Irv Gordon’s (God rest his soul) Volvo P1800S became a household name in vehicles racking up huge miles. The retired science teacher hit 3 million miles on his beloved car in 2013, and after he passed away, Volvo placed it in its USA Heritage Collection. That left an impression on me, as this seemed like a classic car that could actually go the distance with regular maintenance and oil changes. The seller of this 1967 Volvo P1800S listed here on eBay acknowledges he will not have the time to restore it, so it’s up for sale with bids sitting at $3,700 and the reserve not met.
While many of us know about the P1800S, it’s easy to forget about its significance on the automotive landscape, especially for Volvo as a company. While the Swedish manufacturer had more or less been known for producing reliable, sturdy cars, a sports model wasn’t anything the general public was expecting. The P1800S began as a joint project with Jensen, produced within their own facilities, before production moved to Sweden and Volvo assumed full responsibility for the project. The P1800S offered striking styling, rear-wheel drive, and a torquey (if somewhat tractor-like) engine under the hood. Take note of the original hubcaps and mudflaps still present on this example.
The P1800S got a major shot in the arm visibility-wise when it became an on-screen star in The Saint, starring Roger Moore. Sadly, I don’t think anything in Volvo’s lineup these days will get much of a role beyond being a car parked on the street in the background. The seller’s P1800S certainly looks like an unrestored specimen in surprisingly clean condition. He mentions that the bodywork is near perfect, and from the grainy photo, you may be able to say the same thing about the interior. All in all, it looks like a terrific example to restore mechanically and drive.
The seller did begin the mechanical restoration, noting he “…replaced the carbs with professionally rebuilt carbs ($500), boiled out the fuel tank, replaced fuel pump, clutch master and slave cylinder, plugs and points.” When the car fired up, the B18B inline-four supposedly sounded healthy, with 115 b.h.p. on tap for the next owner to enjoy. The air conditioning even blew cold! That’s remarkable in my eyes. While the photos leave a lot to be desired, the a clean P1800S is always worth a closer look, especially from a seller who seems to know what he’s talking about.
Got some history with these cars and it was a lot of fun. After 24 years we lost our friend who had a Volvo shop as well as a 1800ES race car we helped build. His street 1800 put out an easy 168 hp and the race car was at 229 hp at the rear wheels on the dyno. If you want to be seen these cars fill the bill.
Ex-wifes uncle raced a 142 Volvo and I knew Jim Walker of pro-rally fame who had very fast Volvos. While a service manager at a Volvo, BMW, Oldsmobile store Irv Gordon stopped by our dealership. He was getting paid by Volvo to stop by all the dealerships around the country. He and I talked for several hours. Pretty interesting guy. I got to sit in the car. It was well used, but still in nice condition. But every part had been replaced or rebuilt (sometimes more than once) on the car. The only thing original was the body and it had been repaired a little. I believe that when I sat in the car it had about 1.8 million miles on it. I really like the ES .model and tried to buy a new one. But my dealer could only find automatic transmission equipped cars. I have been gone from the Volvo dealership now for 26 years and parts were getting tough for P1800s then.
Bob
Are you coming to the runoffs?
Where did you race?
Raced, and still do, at Homestead Miami, Palm Beach international (now gone) and Sebring International Raceway. The Volvo is being raced in Canada after the owner/builder past.
Raced, and still do, at Homestead Miami, Palm Beach international (now gone) and Sebring International Raceway. The Volvo is being raced in Canada after the owner past. Don’t know why this second one popped up,
Bob
Are you coming to the runoffs?
Like the car! Don’t like the color. No rust in any of the ‘Pictures’. Gauges are there, expensive. 4 speed? I’m in. cript: I have owned many P1800’s and this was going to be my last one but age has caught up with me and I can’t finish it. This P1800 is complete with nothing missing. It has 4 speed manual with electric overdrive. The body is near perfect with all good glass. I replaced the carbs with professionally rebuilt carbs ($500), boiled out the fuel tank, replaced fuel pump, clutch master and slave cylinder, plugs and points. The fuel tank has not been hooked up and the clutch system has not been bled. I did start the engine with external fuel and it sounds good. When the car was parked the Air Conditioner blowed cold air. The interior is complete but will require upholstery work. I do need to say the left front fender has a blister in the paint because I placed a rag with break fluid on it. I have the spare tire, jack and other misc spare parts including a box of carburetors. This will make a beautiful auto when finished
Where is the car located ?
It’s in Oklahoma City, OK.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there is no such thing as a P1800S. It’s either a P1800 or an 1800S, the “S” designation signifying that it was built in Sweden, while the earlier “P” cars were actually built by Jensen in England.
I read the comments here just to see if this came up again. Hard to get this point firmly seated in the community.
Ive owned, driven and done lots o fun stuff with Volvos for 50 years. For most of those years I knew of p1800, 1800s, 1800e and 1800es. I recently learned that there was p1800s. They were the first cars assembled in Sweden. I was finally convinced when I saw an owners manual with P1800S on the cover.
This car is a 1967 1800S if it has an “M” in the middle of the vin stamped above the heater on the firewall.
This seems like a good opportunity to enjoy an interesting “barn-find” sports car without the usual hassles of a huge restoration project.
I agree.. it looked like a great opportunity to me. Someone else did too apparently, it brought $8700.
Had a schoolmate that bought one like this new-same color. His dad to whom money was no object let Greg pick out any car he wanted, so he ordered some kind of European sports car (never found out what it was). When it arrived at the Portland docks they went to pick it up. That’s when dad discovered that Greg had ordered a barely street-able Grand Prix type race car. Dad sent it back and unhappy Greg picked a more civilized Volvo 1800 that he drove for several years. :-) Terry J
‘Sadly, I don’t think anything in Volvo’s lineup these days will get much of a role beyond being a car parked on the street in the background’
Au contraire mon frère.. Volvos are the darling of Hollywood’s idea of what the ‘Average American Family’ drives. The number of times the wife and I are watching movies and one of us shouts-well maybe lightly exclaims-‘Hey look! A Volvo! are too numerous to count.
Oh and BTW, the Jensen built 1800s were not the most quality driven vehicles.
Being a Volvo service manager when the Front wheel drive / 850s came out. I haven’t seen a Volvo worth having since the “red engines” and “rear wheel drive” stopped being built. And I’m a front wheel driver freak! There is NO build quality. And their electronics make Lucas and Chrysler look perfect! My sister-in-law wanted a used late model wagon we had on the used car lot. (I was selling GMC commercial trucks then.) I told her she didn’t want it and it was a terrible car. She was convinced that it was going to be as good of car as her 740 turbo. So she bought the car. And I never said I told you so. But she complained often about the car eating the rod ends, injectors, all of the body electric switches failing and finally an internal engine failure. All with in 3 years. BUT she said many times you were right!
I’ve had several Volvos and love the older 740s, 240s, 122s, 142s, etc. But you will never see me eyeing any Volvo newer than 1995.
A long time ago I owned four Volvos, a 122S wagon, a 142, 144 car and 145 wagon with similar engine as this P1800S sports car. As the seller states the carbs are expensive but very simple, which the later fuel injection is not. So this one looks good if inspected.
Growing up watching The Saint I grew a love for these cars and thought they were really cool. This one looks really solid, and I hope it will eventually get finished if it’s sold.
I alway preferred the look of the 1800 wagon. The regular 1800 didn’t do much for me although it was a great car! Irv Gordon’s 3 million mile 1800 also got him a brand new free Volvo for his dedication to keeping his car on the road. I remember seeing the maintenance article on what was done to that car for its entire life….. very interesting…….
And the award for crappiest photos of the week go to…
I have to give the box of SU carbs a B- grade, the car shots much less, you’re right.