The stylish Volvo P1800 is probably the most iconic two-door car to ever come out of Sweden, but it went out of production in 1973. So what is this example doing outside the Volvo Hällered Proving Grounds near Gothenburg, wearing camouflage and sporting some rather interesting modifications.
This batch of photos was sent to us by our spies, but they didn’t actually take the photos themselves (hence the lower quality). The photos were actually snapped by ‘ a hardcore Volvo fan ‘ who also pointed out several things that were off about this particular car.
Gallery: Volvo P1800 EV Restomod
Firstly, it apparently has wider fenders, in order to accommodate bigger wheels and tires. Then there is the complete absence of exhaust pipes poking out the back - it was suggested that this P1800 might be some sort of factory restomod and EV conversion, but why would Volvo want to do something like that?
In the lengthy description provided to us by our spies, they also mention the fact that they checked the registration and the car is a 1964 example whose color is actually red. Another interesting tidbit about it is the fact that its previous owner was apparently Jonas Christian Dahl, who owned Polestar back in 2004 (when it was a separate company that built Volvo's touring cars) and now is the man behind Cyan Racing.
Will this P1800 have a Polestar 2 powetrain?
This could mean this is, in fact, a Polestar project, not something that Volvo is doing. Regardless, the P1800’s 60th anniversary is coming up next year and this project could be Volvo’s way of celebrating the iconic two-door.
The trend of automakers glorifying iconic classics by making them electric is actually more common than you might think. Aston Martin is doing it, as are Jaguar and Volkswagen, so all of the above seems quite plausible in this context.