I reported on this car earlier but it is now finished and we better take a closer look. Introducing Scott’s Supercharged 1962 Jensen Volvo P1800.
The first article on this stunning P1800 can be found here.
The car proudly carries the chassis number 3440. An estimated 2236 cars was painted in code 70, cherry red but very few remains, let alone in this condition. This is a brighter red than the code 46 red that most Volvo owners know.
The “Jensen” P1800 cars with their “bull horn” bumpers and aluminum egg crate grille were built by the Jensen factory in England.
Volvo commissioned the Jensen factory in England to build the sports car as they did not have capacity in Sweden at the time. However, after 6,000 cars, Volvo said “NO THANKS!…We will build them ourselves!”
At that point, Volvo had made room at the Torslandaverken Lundby plant in Göteborg. After chassis number 6000, they cars were now called 1800S and the “S” stood for Sweden. However, almost like folklore, people keep calling all 1800 cars “P1800”, it is ingrained in our psyche as Ikea or Swedish meatballs!
Pelle Petterson’s design lives on forever in this car. Pelle worked for the Italian design firm Frua and had some heads up from his dad Helmer Petterson who was at the time a consultant for Volvo in Sweden. When Volvo came to Frua asking for design proposals, Pelle was ready with the design and a well made presentation.
The sporty dash with the large chrome instruments is beautiful and the turquoise background offers a nice glow at night. Map pockets on the side kick panels were incorporated after a prototype test driver said he wanted a place for maps and chocolate!
This stunning emblem lasted until chassis number 6178 but you will find reproduction emblems on many late model 1800S cars as the “Jensen-Wanna-Be Syndrome” is easy to be smitten by.
Scott managed to find an NOS set of the rare Jensen wheel covers. There are folks out there offering at least one kidney to own a set. There is talk that they will be reproduced and that is good news including for yours truly.
Also, note the correct gun metal paint on the 15 X 4.5 steel wheel.
Yup, this is correct. Only the top of the cowl air intake fins were exposed chrome, the rest was in body color.
Early cars had all white parking and blinker lenses.
An other interesting early P1800 detail, the overdrive switch was located on the dash to the left of the ashtray with the indicator light closest to the steering wheel. The stalk at the steering wheel was actually used for a loud “passing” horn.
So to clarify: The P1800 has a regular “polite” horn in the steering wheel center button and then a louder “Get the hell out of my way!” – horn on the stalk.
Now for the pièce de résistance of this car.
Scott found a era correct Judson belt driven supercharger. Just like the rest of the car, it was completely disassembled and meticulously restored.
More details: most folks are happy to throw in a modern looking battery but Scott opted for a tar top style for authenticity.
Advertised in motor magazines, the Judson supercharger was built for smaller import cars like the Volvo, VW, MG’s and more.
The car also have the optional Judson boost gauge mounted under the dash.
The rest of the interior is as cool as the other side of the pillow as well.
Notice the “chrome” vinyl at the bottom of the doors panels, you would only see that on high end Chrysler cars at this time.
Early cars had a cubby hole in the rear for storage. The “back seat” is for very small people!
The super rare Judson emblem is displayed on the back panel letting challengers know to back off!
Early cars had all red tail lights/blinkers.
The underside is as nice as the rest of the car. Stainless exhaust system and muffler will last forever.
You would think a car with fins should look dated today but the 1800 design stays contemporary in many ways.
Not a line out of place.
Thank you Scott for sharing your car with us.
By Rolf Åström
Photo: Scott Doering