1968 Volvo P1800S

Offered with No Reserve, The Market is very proud to be able to offer this remarkable Volvo which has essentially had one previous owner over its 41,000 miles and is in astoundingly original condition. The beautiful Volvo P1800 has led something of an interesting life having basically only been a company car for two advertising agencies in London. Yep, that’s right; not one, but two agencies fell for its charms so badly that they put it on the books for their senior executives to enjoy!

The first was Collett Dickenson Pearce, the darlings of the industry in the sixties and seventies, made famous by coming up with slogans such as ‘Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet’, ‘Land Rover: The best 4 x 4 x far’ and ‘Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach’. CDP is thought to have owned it for a couple of decades or more before selling it on to Leagas Shafron Davis, who bought it for its finance director to run around London in.

As such a high-profile, four-wheeled statement of cool, the Volvo was pampered throughout its entire working life before being eased into retirement in 1997 with the owner of the second company, who has owned it ever since, storing it under cover whilst MOT’ing and running it very occasionally. 

The only cosmetic work that has happened on this car, is that the first owners had it professionally resprayed. 30-odd years later, this paintwork is now showing the odd small patch of rust (please see photos for details e.g. around the o/s headlight, n/s door chrome trim, rear of front wheelarches, etc) so the new owner may wish to undertake a small amount of remedial work in the near future in order to protect and preserve the bodywork. With this in mind, we’d encourage potential bidders to take a look at the car in person before auction end in order to satisfy themselves as to its condition, but we are confident that any problems are minor and localized rather than widespread and rampant!

We say this because our photographer reported back that the panel alignment is spot-on, the flanks are free of ripples, the gaps between them are even and as tight as the day the P1800 left the factory, and the underneath of the vehicle is impressively clean.

The matching Webasto sunroof, a later addition at £1,000 investment, looks wonderful and fits as tightly as you’d expect, being both wind- and waterproof. The exterior chromework is all original and in very good condition, as are the badges and rubber trim.

The red interior is gorgeous and almost unmarked thanks to a recent four-figure retrim. The door cards are also utterly fabulous, as are the carpets, switchgear, instruments and seatbelts. Even the top of the dashboard appears to be free of cracks, which is quite something given the car’s age and is likely due to careful storage and a series of diligent owners.

But enough of the big picture; let’s talk about the details like the achingly tactile chrome gearstick and understated gearknob. The twin seatbelt release levers. The beautifully bound carpet. The original dealer label on the dashboard. The embossed Volvo logo on the door cards. The twin-spindle Motorola radio, complete with its hard-earned patina.

Still unimpressed? How about the bi-lingual instructions for the heater controls, which are still as legible as the day the car left Sweden – and produced in a wonderfully simple font?

This car is positively dripping with these little jewel-like original features, features that we think would surprise and delight you every single day you owned it.

The four-cylinder 1800cc engine “runs beautifully’ according to the owner, who was keen to point out that the car has been maintained regardless of cost over the years. As a result he says he is confident that “no work needs to be done” to it.

Rudds of Worthing and Southampton are believed to have supplied the car, and the vendor used their Wimbledon outlet to service it during his time in London, transferring its care to Orchard View Classics of Maidstone when he relocated to Kent. Both have every reason to be proud of what they’ve achieved.

The vendor hasn’t used the car much in the past two decades, driving it just enough to keep it in tip-top condition, something he’s accomplished thanks to his description of “regular, money-no-object servicing” and keeping it stored under cover in a barn when it isn’t being driven.

He is, sadly, not a completist when it comes to paperwork though, so you’ll need to inspect the car yourself to ensure you’re happy with its condition rather than relying on vast swathes of carefully curated paperwork. 

However, the online MOT history shows absolutely nothing of concern, confirming our view that the car is impressively solid and not suffering from the usual rot and rust that can plague the model.

Offered with no reserve, this sensational Volvo P1800 is barely run in after 50 years and 41,000 miles. It is also achingly original and unmolested. The few small areas of bodywork that may need attention have been left for the new owner to decide how they would like to attend to them rather than being quickly ‘fixed’ to impress gullible bidders; we can’t help but think that if it were ours we’d simply make a few localized repairs and enjoy the car as it is for the next half-century or so before letting our grandchildren decide whether to completely restore it or not. 

Offered without reserve (“well, it doesn’t owe me anything!”) we think it’ll sell for between £25-40,000 but, well, who knows? It’s so charmingly original it could sell for even more…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen in Maidstone; to arrange an appointment 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’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.