Volvo P1800
Volvo was well known for building strong, reliable saloons, though it had dabbled in the sports car market in 1956 with the short-lived P1900. The Swedes jumped back into the sports car business with a much more serious effort, the P1800, in 1960.
The attractive two-door coupe body was styled by Frua, and built by Pressed Steel in Scotland. The shells were then sent to West Bromwich, Birmingham, where they were trimmed and painted by Jensen. Unfortunately quality was poor and the process expensive – Jensen spent a lot of time rectifying transit damage to the shells – and in 1963 Volvo moved the production line to Sweden. At the same time the engine was tuned to produce 108bhp, and the model renamed 1800S. the distinctive ‘cowhorn’ bumpers were deleted in 1964. In 1968 a 2.0-litre engine was installed and with fuel injection (in the 1970 1800E) it was good for 130bhp, producing a top speed of 115mph (185km/h).
Following the success of Reliant’s Scimitar GTE, Volvo created its own ‘sporting estate’ based on the 1800ES, as it was called, had an extended rear roofline and glass tailgate and ran from 1971 to 1973.
The P1800 and its successors are best remembered for their starring role in the 1960s TV Series The Saint, with Roger Moore playing Simon Templar. The producers of the programme had wanted a Jaguar E-type, but at the time Jaguar was selling all the cars it could build, and refused to help. Volvo jumped at the chance to supply cars for the series – always white, Templar’s trademark colour – and Moore liked them so much he had one of his own.