The 1967 Volvo P1800 isn’t the first P1800—in fact, the 1967 update is,-frankly speaking, no longer just a P1800. The very first P1800 was built in 1961, as the-company’s attempt at a serious sports car. Their previous sports car was the P1900, which was-a dismal failure and a testament at that point that Volvo was beyond sports cars.  The P1900,-first produced in 1956, was inspired by the Chevrolet Corvette (one of the more successful models-during that time). However, many parts for the P1900 were merely taken from the PV444, so the result-was a car that wasn’t even up to the standards of Volvo. This made the demand quite low and,-as a result, less than 70 were produced and sold. 

The P1800 tried to succeed where the P1900 failed. Its two-liter straight-four engine as well as its spacious body and its above average performance and quality made it more-successful than its predecessor. It was even part of the The Saint television show of Roger-Moore, where his character Simon Templar drove a P1800.

However, the P1800 still wasn’t the sports car everyone expected it to be.-For one, the design was too old for its time—which made it date faster than the usual sports-cars. And in terms of performance and speed, while the P1800 was the frontrunner car of Volvo, it-cannot compete with other sports cars due to its less than sports car-like performance. In the end, the P1800 was deemed as the Volvo that looks like a sports car but-doesn’t drive like a sports car. 

The 1967 Volvo P1800 is part of the second P1800 update—the 1800S, a slight-faster version of the P1800 thanks to its improved engine. In fact, the 1967 Volvo P1800 was one of-the reasons why the sports car of Volvo became a steady seller despite its less than spectacular-performance. The next update, the 1800E, brought fuel injection by Bosch, although it was the next-update, the Volvo 1800ES that really looked like a departure from the 1967 Volvo P1800 as well as-the earlier P1800 models.

Of course, while the 1967 Volvo P1800 may seem outdated then, today, it will look-like a star of the road thanks to its unusually classic look—a design that was already dated-during its release date. Therefore, it has a really classic feel with really great-performance.

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