It’s been a slog but the black 1963 P1800S is back on the road!
“Code 19” refers to the color code. In this case, code 19 is black. This is the color breakdown in 1963:
Red (46) 668 cars
Pearl White (79) 638 cars
Graphite Gray (80) 530 cars
Black (19) 154 cars
Original Lucas tail lights.
1963 cars got split amber turn signals and clear parking lights.
Wing mirrors were all the rage in Europe back in the day.
The early style air intake was still present in 1963.
When you walked on to the Volvo dealer lot in 1963, I bet the sales person would say: “Hey, I got this Swedish sports car with jet black paint and red guts”…or something like that.
Trunk looks like to did when new.
The two-bolt Hammerite air cleaners are more expensive than the blue ones but the car looks correct with these.
Early cars had opaque courtesy light lenses. They were later replaced with fluted clear lenses.
Early cars also had this cubby hole in the rear. It was later replaced by the Volvo bean counters with a simpler shelf.
The map pockets on the kick panels came about after Sir Sterling Moss test drove one of the P1800 prototypes in 1959. He liked the car but he felt there should be a storage for “maps, sun glasses and chocolate cakes” . Yup, chocolate cakes!
The pilot’s nest. Not a bad place to enjoy the howl of the SU carburetors.
Short shifter with Bakelite knob never gets old.
Well, there you have it. Chassis no 7771 is once again on the road after sitting for 28 years!
By Rolf Åström