My quest, restoring a Volvo 1800S. Why a Volvo, why a 1800S and why restoring it? Well, for starters, Roger Moore has one which he drove as the Saint. Second, it’s a beautiful, but still a very modest car. And that is what I like most about this car.

I always liked Volvo’s because of their simplicity, real no nonsense cars. I got infected with the Volvo virus many years ago. My father owned a car shop and was a mechanic himself. He always had Volvo’s. The first time I drove in car it was in a yellow 145 and I was 10. So, thats why.

Me and my brother ‘working’ on a Volvo 240

I also drive a ’97 Volvo 940 station and I guess this is the ultimate no nonsense car there is. It never breaks down and everything always works. Before the 940 I had a 244 Turbo. You’d push the pedal and than you’d have to wait a while for the power to kick in due to the massive turbo lag.

The 1800 is different. It is less efficient and less no nonsense, but all that doesn’t matter as the looks make it special. The design is beautiful with its rear wings, round curves everywhere and when you get in the car, you are really fast forwarded back to the sixties. Big round clocks with dials, lots of chrome, a rather sporty seating and a nice growl from the B20 with Weber carbs and a complete stainless steel sporty exhaust. It always was my dream car, but expensive as it is (even when it needs restoring) I could never own one. Untill last year. In october 2013 I was getting headaches of checking all these car-selling sites on the web during my daily routine of my search for the perfect p1800 (perfect as in: not too much rust and not too expensive). And then I found it, right on my doorstep a few miles from my home. A Green ’67 1800S, imported in ’95 from California. Luckily the previous owners took good care of the car, so almost no rust. We took it for a spin around the block and I was immediately sold, what fun to drive such a car! We agreed on a good price and from then on I had my own 1800S!

Fot the price I bought the car, it would not be perfect. The most important thing is it has some small beginning spots of rust and the paint was in a medium to bad condition (probably due to a very bad paint job back in the states). Not a real problem, but a threat for the future. If nothing would be done, these spots would grow to be very costly repairs. So, that was the major reason to start a restoration. My intention is to strip the car completely, get it sand blasted, painted in primer, repair the bad spots and get it painted again (probably in Volvo #46 red).

How 1800’s where build:

So now I am in this quest of restoring my dream car, making the car exactly as I think fit, keeping it original as much as possible. And when it is ready the car will be used for our wedding!