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Bob Kelly's 1962 Jensen-built P1800 |
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 When Volvo proposed introducing a sport coupe aimed at the American market, they found themselves in the midst of a dilemma: their engineering and production resources were fully engaged building the new Amazon-series cars. Development of the coupe was turned over to Italy's Frua studios, where the design matured under the direction of Pelle Petterson, a newly degreed engineer and son of PV444 designer Helmer Petterson. Early plans to have the coupe produced at West Germany's Karmann plant being spoiled by Volkswagen's threat to withdraw their production contracts with Karmann, arrangements were eventually made to have the bodies manufactured by Pressed Steel in Scotland and the car assembled by Jensen Motors in West Bromley, England, using driveline components shipped from Sweden.
Bob Kelly's car (#3155) is an excellent example of one of the 6000 coupes Jensen built before production was moved to Sweden. There are many detail differences between the English and Swedish coupes: immediately apparent are the full wheel covers. The three-piece "Volvo" badge behind the side windows and chrome window trim made of thicker material than in the later Swedish-built cars define the Jensen-built coupes.
This particular car is a Swedish - Italian - Scots - English California native. The car was originally sold in Hayward, California. Bob bought it in Fresno, and had "No problem driving it the 160 miles back to my place in Palo Alto." We're sure this beauty has found the best possible home and is in good company with Bob's show-winning '66 1800S and the '59 PV544 he's "saving" for his daughter.
 Photos by Bob Kelly Easy-print version of this article.
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Bob recently bought the car from the original owner's granddaughter with 51,000 miles on the clock. The interior is completely original "right down to the rubber front floor mats," and Bob's restoration so far has been limited to fixing a few oil leaks and cleaning ("Even a well preserved car accumulates a lot of grime in 35 years"), which was sufficient to win third-place in the recent VSA Burlingame meet. P1800 fanatics will note that the upholstery on seats and doors is of a different pattern than in the later cars.
A look under the hood reveals the thoroughness of Bob's cleaning efforts. This is a typical early B18B, with the oil filler located in the middle of the valve cover, crankcase ventilation being provided by a draught tube in place of the later PCV arrangement. This photo also shows the distinctive trim on the air vent in front of the windshield -- another Jensen-only feature.