Volvo's president wanted his own Corvette, so the first 19 bodies were built in Santa Ana, California, not Sweden.
Lead trim: P1900 1.4 B14 twin-SU I4 (70 hp)
Volvo P1900 SportP1900 · 1956–1957
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Volvo P1900 Sport yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactVolvo's president wanted his own Corvette, so the first 19 bodies were built in Santa Ana, California, not Sweden.
The Volvo Sport (P1900) is a Swedish fiberglass-bodied roadster built from 1956 to 1957, 68 in all (the first 19 assembled by the Glasspar Company in Santa Ana, California, then by Volvo at Lundby). Volvo president Assar Gabrielsson wanted something like the Chevrolet Corvette he had seen in the United States and approached Glasspar's Bill Tritt, who designed and tooled the body and trained Volvo staff, with Erik Quistgaard leading development. It sat on a welded tubular-steel chassis and used an upgraded version of the PV444's 1414 cc engine making 70 hp at 5,500 rpm, with twin SU carburetors, a different camshaft, larger intake valves and higher compression, and a three-speed manual gearbox, with many other parts from the PV444. Demand was low and build quality below Volvo's standards; Gunnar Engellau, who replaced Gabrielsson in 1956, cancelled the remaining production after a test drive (the Volvo chassis was far too flexible for a fiberglass body). Volvo had planned 300 but built 68 plus four or five prototypes: 44 in 1956, mostly for Sweden, and all but one of the 1957 cars went to Los Angeles. The upgraded engine went into the PV444 when it entered the US market in 1957, and the P1800 succeeded it. Wheelbase 94.5 in, length 166 in.
Collectors Spotted in the Volvo P1900 Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Volvo P1900 yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1900 1.4 B14 twin-SU I4 (70 hp) | 1956–1957 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 70 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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