Well, there it is. After wasting my time with several glass installers, I got the chrome window trim from hell installed my damn self.
I guess I can actually say that the car is complete.
Good looking from any angle.
I obviously can not take credit for any of this, it’s all Pelle Petersson who created the look while studying design at the Pratt Institute in New York sometime in the late fifties.
The car sits on 30mm lowering springs from Lesjöfors and I am not sure how I feel about it on a stock car. Let’s see how it goes.
Most cars with fins are starting to look a bit dated but not the 1800, me thinks. The body style lasted all the way to 1972 and 1973 for the 1800ES.
At that point, the very square 140 series cars were over five years old and Volvo was planning the 240 series that would be referred to as the “brick”
Volvo moved the assembly to Sweden as of the 1963 model year but the bullhorn bumpers lasted through 1964. Fun fact: There were more Swedish built cars than Jensen with the bullhorn bumpers.
After only after 178 Swedish built cars, the beautiful “Volvo” emblem on the c-pillar was dropped.
This is probably when the Volvo bean counters got involved. This car, being an early Swedish built car, proudly carries the emblem.
This is the view you look at if you used the car for commuting in the the early sixties. Not a bad way to start the day.
The production 1800 cars came with a black steering wheel but a friend made the cherry wood steering wheel with matching shift knob for me. Matching driving gloves and key fob are not a coincidence.
Volvo AM radio by Bendix looks right at home.
The rear storage area was later dropped for a more simplified design.
Rear dome lights can be operated manually by pulling the bottom of the glass out so it could serve as a map light but that would require very small people reading the maps in the “back seat”.
The 1963 cars actually got amber and white turn signal and parking light lenses but I like the clean look of the early all white/clear lenses. The circles on the lens reminds me of art deco rocket design. Reproduction H4 lenses resembles vintage Marchal lens fluting.
The trunk is just stock with new mat, spare tire cover and detailed tools. Good place for golf clubs or contraband.
Well, there you have it. Some fine tuning and sorting but ready to go on an adventure. I stopped by a gas station and it created quite the circus. Lots of people asking questions but that’s what vintage cars are all about.