1973 Volvo P 1800 ES

The vendor purchased the car in 2021 for largely sentimental reasons. He had bought his wife the same model back in 1974 and, when he saw this one advertised, had the idea to do the same thing again.

Soon after buying it he began to realise that there were rather more issues to resolve with than he’d first assumed.

So, he embarked upon a nearly two-year restoration project that ultimately cost in excess of £21,000 and involved a good deal of heavy lifting.

Fortunately, he had the car inspected by an independent engineer at the beginning and end of the process and we have his narrative of the ‘before and after’ journey the extensive restoration took.

This following is taken from his report.

“The vehicle was found to have many defects to the body structure and the paintwork finish. The defects were reported to the client which were extensive and mainly due to corrosion issues on numerous floors, chassis, and body panels. The vehicle has now had extensive bodywork repairs carried out over the last two years including new floor panels to the rear passenger compartments, repairs to the front floor panels, chassis rails and outrigger jacking points. New lower sections of both quarter panels and new inner and outer sill panels have been fitted with repairs carried out to both inner rear wheel arches too. The vehicle underside has been undersealed completely.

The vehicle has had a new nearside door fitted and repair to the offside door and offside front wing. The vehicle has had an external respray and a new tinted windscreen and seal fitted. The bodywork now is in a reasonable condition for the vehicle’s age, the offside front door which has been repaired, and could probably do with being renewed or re-skinned and the door frame corrosion repaired if possible.

The interior leather trim has been refurbished and the vehicle has recently had a full service carried out. It was noticed that the nearside footwell trim card was missing and requires replacement. The vehicle has had a new radiator and thermostat fitted together with a mechanical check to MoT standard carried out also. Mechanically, the vehicle has had the original fuel injection system changed to a carburettor system by the previous owner I presume.

The engine started readily from cold with the choke and when up to normal working temperature there were no indications of back pressure or oil burning and it maintained a good oil pressure.
This vehicle is fitted with a three-speed automatic gearbox and on road test, it functioned correctly with no indications of the gear clutch bands slipping and the gear changes were smooth. There were no indications of rear axle differential bearing noises or backlash. The brakes were tested and again there were no issues of brake judder or deviation, and the handbrake was efficient. The steering was direct (no power steering) with no signs of pulling to one side when driving in a straight line.

The instruments all worked as did the lights and wipers. The vehicle is fitted with seat belts, and they functioned correctly. The heater is efficient, and the controls operated as normal. The roadwheels are steel rimmed and painted silver and all of the tyres are fairly new with approximately 6-7 mm remaining tread depth.”

The vendor tells us that this report remains correct and contemporary.

Understandably on a car that’s covered about 10 miles since it left the paint shop, the bodywork is very straight and true, and there are no dimples, dinks or dents of any real note anywhere that we can see.

The panel gaps and shut-lines are pretty consistent, even and probably much as they were when it left the factory in Gothenburg.

The car has been given a white basecoat and lacquered, with the overall hue having an off-white or cream look to it.

The paintwork is in very good order and the car presents with plenty of shine and lustre.

The chrome-work on the bumpers and trim is mostly very good, as are the wheels and tyres.

The lights, lenses, badging (including a Cornish independence sticker on the rear screen) and other exterior fixtures and fittings are following the same script in terms of condition and preservation.

The wheels and tyres look good to us.

The thoroughly refurbished and restored interior is really very impressive indeed.

The soft, pale blue leather upholstery and trim is new and therefore in irreproachable condition.

There’s barely a crease in evidence anywhere, let alone the sort of ingrained patina you might expect to find inside a 50-year-old car.

The seats, front and back, look splendid and the pale blue colour is complemented very pleasingly by the dark blue carpets.

The door cards, with their unusual ruched pockets, are in fine fettle, as is the headlining.

As stated earlier, the nearside footwell trim card is missing.

The sizeable luggage bay is clean and tidy.

All dials, instruments, levers and controls look decent and, as far as we’re aware, everything does what it’s supposed to do.

The interior of the central armrest storage box has seen better days.

The engine bay as a whole is dry and tidy, if not exactly shiny or bright.

There are numerous new panels in evidence on the car’s undersides, which overall look to be possessed of plenty of structural integrity.

The car comes with very little by way of history for the simple reason that all the relevant paperwork and invoicing (along with lots of other unrelated things) were stored in a basement that subsequently flooded to a depth of three feet, effectively destroying everything in it.

The odometer today reads 76,515 miles. In 2014, the mileage was recorded as being 76,020 miles, so it’s clearly been leading a pretty sedentary life for at least the last decade.

It comes with a V5C and a clear HPI report.

These are undeniably stylish and classy-looking cars and, today, have the added bonus of real rarity and an enthusiastic and growing following.

The vendor tells us that the car has covered virtually no miles since being restored and that everything works as it should.

He also tells us that although the car is by no means concours, it is probably just a few jobs and a £2,000 away from being really very good indeed.

From what we’ve seen of it, we agree with him.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £12,000 - £16,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Durham. To arrange an appointment to view this vehicle please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.