Volvo had previously built the sports car Volvo Sport with the internal designation P1900, but it was with the P1800 that they achieved success with the sports car concept. Volvo consultant and project manager Helmer Petterson was the driving force behind the creation of the project. The car was designed by Helmer Petterson's son Pelle Petterson, who at the time was a trainee at the Italian design company Frua in Turin. The company had been started by Pietro Frua (1913-83) just before World War II, and Frua had a hand in the creation of the P1800. His sixties cars had exactly that typically Italian and sculptural elegance, which also characterizes the P1800.

The P1800 model gained wide popularity through the British TV series the Saint, where Roger Moore drove a white P1800 with the registration number ST 1, where ST apparently stands for Simon Templar (St is also short for Saint or Helgon in Swedish).

In 1966, Crown Prince Carl Gustaf received a light blue P1800 - with spoked rims and black leather seats - from Volvo's PR manager Hans Blenner and Folke Brigård. This was his first car of his own and the registration number was AA 1515. He also became an honorary member of the P1800 club.

The car was initially manufactured by Jensen Motors in England, but production was later moved to Gothenburg. The first series-produced example of the P1800 was finally assembled in England, during the autumn of 1960. The vehicle was Swedish-registered and the buyer was Mario Moulun from Sundsvall, in the north part of Sweden. Only the cars that were manufactured by Jensen are actually called P1800. When Volvo took back production, the designation was changed to 1800S, "S" as in Swedish.

We can now present a nice example of Volvo's P1800 S from 1966. The car is painted in Cherry red paint and black leather upholstery with red interior carpets. Together with the white ceiling, the color combination creates a tasteful and delicious impression. During the late 90s, an extensive renovation of the car was carried out and at the same time the car was thoroughly painted.