Description
By: David G. Styles .
Little has been written and published about the remarkable Volvo 1800 series of sports cars. The P1800, as it started life, was remarkable in many ways. It was destined to be so from the very beginning, conceived as it was on the drawing board of a Swedish boat designer who, with help from his father, was able to place his design before the Volvo board. That design was destined to be refined in Italy, where the prototypes were built, and manufactured in Great Britain. The Volvo P1800 was truly a cosmopolitan motor car and the first to be manufactured in the true spirit of the European Free Trade Association.
Our story goes back far beyond the 1800 series, however, for to see why the 1800 is so remarkable it is essential to understand how the Volvo company came into being and grew from humble beginnings. So we look at how Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson came together, built a car and a company, and progressed to become one of the world's largest corporations in the fields of cars, trucks and aviation.
This little car was the catalyst of Volvo's North American success. It was never destined to be a high-volume seller, but it brought customers across the threshold of Volvo showrooms and helped to establish the company's tremendous reputation worldwide as it embarked on the quest for international recognition.
Well illustrated with archive black and white and specially commissioned colour photographs, this book presents the complete story of the 1800 and its successors, the 480ES and the C70. Including detailed specification tables and advice on owning and restoring an 1800, David Styles' latest book will be a must for all fans of this fascinating car.
