This unusual custom roadster is a bit of a mystery, exactly who commissioned and designed it isn’t known, but we do know it’s the only one of its kind, and that it was built in the USA by Giordano’s Vintage Motors in Carnation, Washington.
The car has a box-section tubular steel chassis with a steel body, it has seating for two, and it’s powered by a Volvo B20 with dual Weber DCOE carburetors that was sourced from a Volvo P1800 sports car. The front end of the body is a clamshell, so it can be tilted forward for access to the engine.
Over the following two decades, this family of cast-iron workhorses, the B18 and its larger B20 derivative, would become the very mechanical foundation of Volvo, and ground zero for the company’s reputation for excellent reliability at a time when Japanese automakers like Toyota had never even been heard of by the average European car buyer. Image courtesy of Volvo.
History Speedrun: The Volvo B18 + B20 Engine Family
Volvo introduced the B18 engine in 1961, it was an engine designed to be overbuilt, and so reliable that many examples would achieve mileages well into the six figures with only regularly scheduled maintenance, and some went even higher than that.
Until the release of the B18, Volvo’s engines were simple, side-valve or overhead-valve units that focused on longevity and reliability over power output. The B18 was a little different, it was a new inline-four designed with modern engineering principles – it was essentially built to outlast the cars it powered.
Over the following two decades, this family of cast-iron workhorses, the B18 and its larger B20 derivative, would become the very mechanical foundation of Volvo, and ground zero for the company’s reputation for excellent reliability at a time when Japanese automakers like Toyota had never even been heard of by the average European car buyer.
Volvo’s engineers designed the B18 from the ground up, borrowing nothing from its predecessor, the B16. It used a five-bearing forged-steel crankshaft, a rarity in the early 1960s, and a pushrod OHV layout with a cast-iron block and head. The displacement was 1,778cc, with a bore and stroke of 84.14 mm × 80 mm.
Depending on compression and carburetion, output ranged from 75 to 115 bhp. Even the lower-spec versions developed excellent midrange torque for the displacement level, making them well-suited to both sedans and estate cars.
In 1966 a man named Irv Gordon bought a new Volvo P1800S with a B18, he went on to drive it over 3.2 million miles with its B18 engine, still a world record today for a privately owned vehicle. Image courtesy of Volvo.
The Swedish engineers’ commitment to reliability paid off, many B18s routinely surpassed 300,000 kms without a major overhaul at a time when many production car engines were in capable of reaching half that figure. This earned them a reputation as nearly indestructible.
In 1966 a man named Irv Gordon bought a new Volvo P1800S with a B18, he went on to drive it over 3.2 million miles, still a world record today for a privately owned vehicle.
By 1969, emissions standards and performance expectations had evolved, particularly in the US market. This prompted Volvo to increase the displacement of the engine and to develop a version with emissions-friendly Bosch fuel injection.
This larger displacement engine was named the B20, and it kept the B18’s basic architecture but grew to 1,986 cc (2.0 liters) through a 4.76 mm bore increase. Power rose accordingly, with versions ranging from 82 bhp in single-carburetor form, to 130 bhp in the B20E and approximately 110 bhp in the B20F, which used Bosch fuel injection. Those fuel-injected variants appeared in the 1800E/ES, 140 Series, and early 240s.
The B-series engines also served as a foundation for Volvo’s first six-cylinder car engines, the B30, essentially a B20 with two additional cylinders added. The B18 and B20 also powered a number of rally-winning Amazons and PV544s in the 1960s.
The B-series engines also served as a foundation for Volvo’s first six-cylinder car engines, the B30, essentially a B20 with two additional cylinders added. The B18 and B20 also powered a number of rally-winning Amazons and PV544s in the 1960s. Image courtesy of Volvo.
After production ended in 1981, the B20 remained in marine use through the Volvo Penta series, proof of the quality of the original design that Volvo engineers had put down on paper over 20 years earlier. Variants were also used in the the C202 Laplander and earlier L3314 military and off-road vehicles used by Scandinavian armed forces, as well as the Facel Vega Facel III and the Marcos 1800 GT.
The Volvo B20-Powered Custom Roadster Shown Here
The car you see here is a handbuilt one-off sports car made by Giordano’s Vintage Motors in Carnation, Washington. Exactly who designed the car or commissioned it isn’t known, but it’s clear from the images that it was put together by a team who know what they’re doing.
It’s built around a square-section steel tube chassis with a steel body, the body has a bobbed rear and a clamshell front end designed to offer excellent access to the engine, as well as the cooling system, front suspension, and front brakes – a reason why clamshell front ends have been popular on sports and racing cars for decades.
It’s powered by a Volvo B20 engine that has been fitted with dual Weber DCOE carburetors, long tube headers and a custom exhaust system, a finned valve cover, and an electric cooling fan – power is sent back through a 4-speed manual gearbox with overdrive.
The car you see here is a handbuilt one-off sports car made by Giordano’s Vintage Motors in Carnation, Washington. Exactly who designed the car or commissioned it isn’t known, but it’s clear from the images that it was put together by a team who know what they’re doing.
It has independent suspension up front, and a live axle in the rear – both of which use adjustable coilovers. Stopping power is provided by front and rear disc brakes, and the live axle rear is located with a Panhard rod, and trailing arms.
The car is now being offered for sale out of Kearny, New Jersey on Bring a Trailer with a New Jersey title listing it as a 1960 Volvo 544. If you’d like to read more or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
