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Volvo P1900 Sport - the plastic sports car from Sweden

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Created on June 11, 2014

Reading time 6min

Written by:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Volvo / Werk

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Volvo / Werk

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1956) - der Zweisitzer verfügte über ein Rohrrahmenchassis

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1954) - der dunkle Wagen war ein frühes Exemplar, das auf den Pressefotos der Zeit auftaucht

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1955) - frühes Pressebild

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1954) - bei der ersten Präsentation am 2. Juni 1954

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1956) - wer könnte da widerstehen

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1956) - der Sportwagen war mit Blick auf den amerikanischen Markt gebaut worden

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1956) - das Wissen um Kunststoffkarosserien erlernte Volvo bei Glaspar

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Volvo P1900 Prototyp (1956) - bezaubernd präsentiert

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Volvo P1900 Sport (1956) - hübscher Sportler aus Schweden

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Volvo P1900 Prototyp (1956) - mit Kunststoffkarosserie

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Volvo P1900 (1956) - Zeichnung

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Volvo P1900 (1957) - Blick ins Interieur

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Volvo P1900 (1957) - einer der letzten produzierten Wagen

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Volvo P1900 (1957) - mit aufgesetztem Stoffdach

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Volvo P1900 (1957) - und andere Autos aus der langjährigen Volvo-Palette

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Volvo P1900 (1957) - zusammen mit seinem späten Nachfolger Volvo V70 Cabriolet

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Volvo P1900 (1957) - zusammen mit seinem späten Nachfolger Volvo V70 Cabriolet

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Summary

From 1956 to 1957, Volvo built 68 examples of the P1900 Sport sports car, which caused a sensation with its open plastic body and is regarded as the first mass-produced plastic sports car in Europe. Technically related to the Volvo PV444, which was built at the same time, the convertible generated a lot of publicity. However, it was decided to discontinue production due to quality defects. This report describes the history of the Volvo P1900 Sport and shows it in historical photographs and the original brochure from the time.

This article contains the following chapters

US stay as a trigger
Technology from the series
Modern chassis and running gear
With American support
Early presentation in June 1954
Explosion-free tires
Not ready for production
Combination of sport and comfort
No sales success
Not good enough for Volvo?
High survival rate
Further information

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

A two-seater sports car with a sleek plastic body would probably not have been expected from Volvo 60 years ago, but it was in fact the Swedish manufacturer that presented the first series-produced GRP sports car in Europe. In 1953, Volvo's President Assar Gabrielsson visited the United States to look around for new ideas. At that time, General Motors was just starting to mass-produce the Corvette with a plastic body and Kaiser was manufacturing the Darrin. Everyone was talking about sports cars and plastic was seen as the new material of the future. A sports car would give Volvo a sportier image, Gabrielsson probably thought, not without factoring possible sales opportunities in America into his calculations, as European sports cars were very popular in the States at the time.

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