New to me: A 1963 Volvo P1800S
It is an early Swedish built car so it has all the Jensen legacy parts including those pretty lousy (but good looking!) seats.
Another Jensen legacy feature that I appreciate: Those gorgeous Volvo emblems on the c-pillar penned by Pelle Petterson. They were dropped about a 100 chassis numbers later.
So most 1800 folks know that only the first 6,000 Jensen built Volvo 1800 cars were called P1800 and once production was moved to Sweden, they carried the 1800S designation.
So why am calling this car P1800″S” ? Turns out that Volvo called the first 2,000 cars assembled in Sweden just that: P1800S. This car is one of them. After that, they were indeed referred to as 1800S. Of course, most of us will keep calling all 1800 cars “P1800” until the world ends.
I have been working on a 1961 P1800 for way too long. It is a white car with red interior, it should be very nice when done. But…big butt…health, business opportunities and life has kept the pace way too slow so I decided to let go of it.
This 1963 1800S entered my life at this point and it was meant to be. And guess what…it is pearl white with red interior.
It is an older restoration and recent engine rebuild on a super solid CA car but it’s been sitting so it needs a serious “go-through” Instruments are not working, it has old tires and of course all safety items like brakes, suspension etc needs to be checked out.
As much as I feel guilty for pulling the plug on the ’61, this will get me a great looking Volvo 1800 car without killing my body.
Since the restoration was done in the 90’s, a lot of aftermarket support was not available. The only source for parts was dealer only, so I guess that’s why it did not have rubber gaskets between the body and headlights. Also, it also had the wrong grille, this one is actually for a 1965-1966 car only.
The rubber snubbers (technical term!) between the bumper brackets and the body were also missing, so I removed the bumpers to install those. With everything off the nose I can detail and wax the paint as well as undercoat on the back side.
The car had clear/orange running lights. They look rather new so I think they were installed during the original restoration. Based on the serial number, this car should have clear only.
Regardless, I prefer the all clear parking/blinker lenses anyway for a cleaner look.
Interesting enough, the all clear reflector assembly is different than the clear/orange assembly so I installed a complete clear/single bulb assembly to accept the clear lens. I will however install an orange bulb behind the clear lens for visibility.
With all bumper brackets painted I can install the new aforementioned rubber snubbers between body and brackets.
Looks good.
I opted for these Cibie look-a-like “E” code H4 headlights. These are made in India and seems to be very good quality and great light pattern.
Sometime in 1957, Pelle Petterson used freehand or maybe a template to draw those spacey circles in the turn signal lens. Today, that detail is still fantastic.
Chrome grille surround installed with a correct early style aluminum egg crate grille. Damn, that looks pretty snazzy!
Also, this was a good excuse to have a custom plate made. I get why folks do the “ST1” but it’s getting a little dated so why not my own initials, the self-centered jerk that I am!
Next up: the rump!