The international model
No Volvo model enjoyed such international acclaim as the P1800, and many regard it as the most beautiful auto the car maker ever produced. The design of the coupé and the three-door estate was executed by the Italian studio headed by Pietro Frua. The steel panels for the body were pressed in and the final assembly was handled by Jensen Motors in . The first car came off the assembly line in 1961 and the model was firmly targeted on the American market. In the television series ‘The Saint’ the P1800 driven by Simon Templar, played by Roger Moore, gained wide international exposure. The actor who later starred as James Bond also drove a P1800 in real life for many years. Before production ceased in 1972 Volvo built almost 40 thousand units. When the model was launched it had a four-cylinder 100 horsepower engine, although the power output was later increased to 135 horsepower.
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- The seventy-year-old Irv Gordon has been driving his red P1800 for forty-four years and has chalked up an amazing 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometres) behind its wheel.
P1800 for ever
This year the Volvo model celebrates its 50th birthday. At the Techno Classica event the P1800 is the highlight of the Volvo stand. Not only are historic automobiles on show but some of the personalities behind the development of the sporty coupé and estate versions could also be encountered. One of these is Pelle Petterson whose first design sketches for the P1800 date back to 1957. The American Irv Gordon was also in . Hardly anyone has spent more time at the wheel of a P1800 than he has. The seventy-year-old has been driving his red P1800 for forty-four years. It still has the original motorization which has powered the car to an amazing 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometres. This was already worth a mention in the Guinness Book of Records in 2002 when he broke the two million miles mark on ’s . His achievement was to notch up the highest mileage ever reached by a non-commercial vehicle under continuous single ownership. Now he has his eyes on the next record… He plans to get three million miles (4.82 million kilometres) on the clock of his P1800.
