The Volvo P1800 is one of those classic cars that very nearly never existed, Volvo had contracted Karmann to build the beautiful coupé however before full production began Karmann received an ultimatum from VW clearly stating that if they built the P1800 for Volvo, VW would cancel all contracts with them. This left Karmann with no choice but to abandon the P1800, which in turn left the future of the P1800 on very thin ice.
Somewhat by accident in 1958 a Volvo brochure was released that included pictures of the P1800 prototype, the world hadn’t seen the car up until this point and the staggering amount of interest it generated forced Volvo to both admit it’s existence and find a way to get it built.
British automaker Jensen was contracted to build the car and production began in Scotland with final assembly taking place in Bromwich, England. The P1800 went on to feature in the TV series “The Saint” featuring Roger Moore, Moore fell in love with the sporty little Volvo and bought one for himself after the first seasons filming was wrapped up.
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Sovam – SOciété des Véhicules André Morin Sovam, short for SOciété des Véhicules André Morin, is a French company best known for making airport utility vehicles and delivery trucks – but in the 1960s they delved headlong into the world of sports car manufacturing. Not unlike fellow French boutique cars makers Alpine, Sovam set about designing…
The Ligier JS2 is a car with a remarkable story, dual French/Italian heritage, and competition history in many of Europe’s great races. That said, the low production volume of the JS2 has resulted in it being a largely unknown cult classic only rarely seen at shows and rarer still on the road. The Ligier JS2…
This Ferrari F50 V12 engine was built to F50 GT specifications along with three chassis and another three or four race-specification engines. The F50 GT (also known as the Ferrari F50 GT1) was built by Ferrari in collaboration with Michelotto and Dallara to compete in the BPR Global GT Series against the likes of the…
It isn’t every day you get the chance to buy Sir Paul McCartney’s original Mini Cooper S. The Harold Radford & Co Mini Cooper S Radford was famous for impeccable coachbuilt Bentleys, typically for country gentlemen, in either shooting brake or estate wagon configuration with acres of walnut, leather, and plush carpeting. It caused quite…
The Porsche 550A Spyder has a well-earned reputation for being a giant killer – it took on and handily defeated far more powerful cars including the likes of the 3-litre Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and Maserati 300S, and the more powerful still 3.5 litre Ferrari 860 Monza. The Porsche 550 and 550A Spyder The Porsche 550 Spyder and…
The Jeep Commando was directly based on the outgoing Jeepster Commando, however it featured a series of modifications designed to allow it to accommodate the AMC 232 and 258 six-cylinder engines and the 304 V8 engine. The Jeep Commando – C104 American Motors Corporation (AMC) bought Kaiser in 1970, they immediately set about ensuring the…
