Start with what the Volvo P1900 is: a Roadster with 1414 cc B14 I4, built from 1956 to 1957, at the height of the post-war boom. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to William Tritt (body only).
Where it came from
The Volvo Sport (also known as P1900) is a Swedish fiberglass-bodied roadster produced from 1956 to 1957. A total of 68 units were built, with the first 19 assembled by the Glasspar Company in California, and later by Volvo Cars. Assar Gabrielsson, Volvo's president and founder, got the idea for the car when he saw a Chevrolet Corvette in the United States and wanted to make something similar. He approached Bill Tritt of Glasspar, an American boatbuilder in Santa Ana, California, who were pioneers in building fiberglass auto bodies from 1951 to 1957. They were was tasked with designing and tooling a fibreglass/reinforced polyester body, producing molds, building the first prototype, as well as training Volvo’s staff in how to design and manufacture fiberglass bodies. Erik Quistgaard was appointed as development team leader. The car was built on a welded tubular-steel chassis and used an upgraded version of the Volvo PV444's 1414 cc engine producing 70 hp (52 kW) at 5,500 rpm.
The engines were fitted with twin SU carburetors, as well as a different camshaft, larger intake valves and. higher compression than the PV444. Power was sent through a three-speed manual gearbox. Many other parts were taken also from the Volvo PV444. Demand was low, and the build quality was not up to Volvo standards. Gunnar Engellau, who replaced Gabrielsson as president in 1956, took one for a drive on a holiday weekend and was dissatisfied enough that on returning to his office the following week cancelled the remaining production. He reportedly either said "I thought it would fall apart!" or "I th
Under the skin
The engine is 1414 cc B14 I4. On the scales it comes to 969 kg. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 94.5 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Volvo line-up the Volvo P1900 has a clear place: it handed the line to the Volvo P1800; the factory was Santa Ana, California. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Nissan Skyline, the Fiat 500, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Nearby in the Volvo catalogue sit the Volvo 144 and the Volvo 264 TE.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Volvo P1900 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.