Most of the time, you don’t put the words “beautiful” and “Volvo” into the same sentence. Volvos are good cars, honest, but pretty isn’t exactly at the top of the list. They are Nordic bricks that are renowned for their durability and safety. Then there’s that one exception to the rule, and that is the P1800. Built as Volvo’s first sports car, the coupe (and later, shooting brake) had all of the running gear and safety that you’d expect in a Volvo, but the looks bordered on Ferrari smooth. The B18 1.8L four-cylinder was enough power for the Sixties, but nowadays, a bit more power to give the P1800 the speed to back up it’s looks wouldn’t hurt, would it?
Matt Farah is wrapping up his “One Take” series, where he drives other people’s cars. But before the program closed down, Dean Williams, the owner and builder of this 1963 model, wanted Farah to take it for a spin. The Volvo mill has been replaced with an LNF 2.0L Ecotech turbocharged four-cylinder like you would find in a Saturn Sky Red Line or Pontiac Solstice GXP. It’s backed up with a five-speed manual (again, a Sky/Solstice sourced unit) and the IRS from a Mazda Miata.
Gorgeous old car, well thought out plan, and for a project that isn’t completed, it’s well-sorted. Ok, we like this one!
At least there wasn’t room for an LS!
A five cylinder turbo Volvo/Ford motor would have been so much better but this is still a very beautiful car indeed – it just needs an interior to make it perfect.
These bodies accept V8 engines,and reaaly wakens up the body lines.I guess a LS engine could be just as mpg friendly as those 4 cylinder engines 🙂
Very interesting combination – neither a body nor a motor you see all the time, but they work very well together.
They don’t fit any V8 without cutting at the tunnel and part of the firewall.
P1800’s are great cars, my uncle bought the first new one in this area. It was more than double the price of my parents Rambler.
The original B18 engine could be turbocharged to make that sort of power but he did a nice job of the swap.