BRIEF MANUFACTURER DETAILS AND SIGNIFICANT HISTORY OF CAR:

Volvo went to Ghia for a sports car design, but Volkswagen did not want competition for their coupé so they went to the studios of Pietro Frua, (which just Ghia happened to own.).  Ghia was a powerhouse of automotive design in the 1950s, and their “Supersonic” show cars, built on Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Fiat, and Aston Martin chassis, clearly inspired Volvo’s P1800, released in 1962

Pelle Peterson, son of a Volvo executive, was working in Mr. Frua’s studio, and Volvo credits him with the design, although it is safe to assume he had a lot of “guidance.”   The “P” in “P1800” may or not indicate his name, or it may indicate “Paisley, UK,” where the first series of cars was built from 1962-1964.  Because of quality issues, production was moved to Sweden in 1964, the “P” was dropped, and subsequent cars were known as 1800S (Sweden) 1800E (Einspritzung -Fuel Injection) and finally 1800ES (Fuel injected Sportswagen)

The car bodies were truly “hand built,” the complex curves of the bodies formed by craftsmen with hammers over wooden bucks.  This 1973 car may be one of the last production cars built in this manner:  It is slow, painstaking, and expensive.  

Powered by a famously durable fuel-injected 1986 cc four-cylinder engine producing 130 hp.  Four speed manual transmission with a Laycock de Normanville electric overdrive.  Equipped with four-wheel disc brakes, an AM/FM Stereo radio, and air conditioning 

Answering customer complaints about limited storage in the coupés, Volvo created this “Shooting Break” version.  Only about 8,000 were built in 1972 and 1973.  It was very much a swan-song for the 1800 series. 

BRIEF STORY OF THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE: 

This car was purchased from its second owner in the San Francisco Bay Area.  It was sold new in Sausalito.   It has had some body work and been repainted in the original “Sunshine” yellow, in addition to reupholstery, carpets, and new three-point shoulder harnesses………. which Volvo invented.