Car Spot: 1963 Volvo P1800

The car made famous by Roger Moore

Growing up in the 1960s I loved the spy TV shows. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. aired on NBC along with a funny one, Get Smart, while The Avengers aired on ABC (whoa, Emma Peel in those skintight outfits), Mission Impossible on CBS. Later on ABC and then NBC was The Saint played by future James Bond Roger Moore. Now that I’ve gone down memory lane with you on TV shows, of which I’m killer in trivia, do you remember the car that Simon Templar drove? Jaguar?

Nope, although it almost was. It was a Volvo P1800 the subject of this week’s car spot.

Actually Sir Roger Moore had his heart set on a Jaguar XK150 but Jaguar refused to supply vehicles for the TV series, saying it “didn’t need the publicity.” Wait, what? The show’s production manager showed Moore an auto magazine featuring the Volvo P1800 and he loved the P1800’s Italian body style saying it, “Looks better than the Jag,” Smooth move Jaguar PR. Because of the placement, the Volvo actually saw a bump in sales.

The car was launched as a 2+2, front-engine, rear-drive sports car in 1961 as part of Volvo’s European and American sales strategy. The P1800 is rear-wheel drive, front-mounted engine and disc brakes all around with a manual four-speed transmission. Initially powered by a 4-cylinder engine with two built-in carburetors providing 100 hp.

The first refresh of the P1800 came in 1963 as the 1800S received an additional 8 hp. Later in 1966 the engine was bumped up to 115 hp. In 1969 a bigger engine came providing 118 hp and then in 1970 the car got a big boost with electronic fuel injection and was now dubbed the P1800E. With its Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection system the horsepower increased to 130, giving it 0-60 mph in 9.5 seconds.

The car was known for its dependability and because of that is in the Guinness Book of Records for the ‘highest certified mileage driven by the original owner in non-commercial service. That was 77-year-old teacher Irv Gordon who bought the Volvo P1800 in 1966 in the United States and drove an incredible 3.2 million miles in 47 years. The record still stands today.

Also because of its dependability it has a rich racing history.. From 1962 to 1972 it raced at renowned racetracks including Nürburgring and Daytona. The Volvo started in a total of 164 officially sanctioned races and achieved a finishing ratio of 84%. Of the races, it went on to win 15 times with 17 runner-up finishes.

The end of the line was 1973 when only the 1800ES wagon was produced. Total production of the 1800 line from 1961 through 1973 was 47,492 units. Not a lot of cars but still this can be a very affordable entry into car collecting. One like this ’63 in good condition is only $25 grand according to Hagerty, while the ES wagon is only $10,000 more, and parts are easy to find. If you’re a collector, this isn’t a time to dive in as the market as gotten a little soft according to Hagerty.

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to check out my other spots along with Mark’s reviews. Check back next week for another spot along with some of its history and have a great weekend.