Photo: Cyan Racing
Presented no less than 60 years ago, ahead of other popular sports cars such as the Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari 250 GTO, or the Ford Mustang, Volvo’s P1800 is notorious not just for the connection with the popular TV series The Saint. It’s also renowned for its timeless elegance and entered the reliability hall of fame with its Guinness World Records’ certified mileage count (3+ million miles). Starting this autumn, it’s also the subject of an official restomod project.
Clearly punching above its league – which is mostly motorsport oriented – Cyan Racing, the official partner for the Geely Group Motorsport division, presented early September the Volvo P1800 Cyan. Still in prototype form, the world was treated to a 1964 P1800 that was restored and upgraded to a modern existence.
That meant the spectacular blue example was enhanced with a high-strength steel and carbon fiber body sitting on top of Cyan’s newly developed and completely bespoke and fully adjustable chassis.
Still, it’s a very purist take on the entire process of bringing it up to 21st century specifications, as the lack of any stability control or ABS provided an interesting contrast to the contemporary 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, among other details.
Instead, Cyan is probably looking for an unfiltered driving experience, with the new P1800 sporting a weight of just 990 kg (2,183 pounds) to its 420 hp and 455 Nm (336 lb. ft.) power credentials. All nice and up to snuff (including the new Cyan-designed independent rear suspension), but all we saw were shots of the exterior.
That has changed now, as Cyan has finally revealed a new picture gallery – and this time around it includes the crucial views of the interior, engine bay, and even some neat details with the new suspension.
And the cockpit view does not disappoint one bit, with its minimalist reinterpretation of the original P1800, neat blue touches in the instrument cluster and that special dogleg (and tailored) Holinger five-speed gearbox that diverts all power towards the rear through the limited slip differential.
Instead, we’re a little sad the company didn’t go for the full Monty when dealing with the engine bay – that two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine sure looks it could have afforded an extra pair of cylinders based on the space we still see available under the hood...
That meant the spectacular blue example was enhanced with a high-strength steel and carbon fiber body sitting on top of Cyan’s newly developed and completely bespoke and fully adjustable chassis.
Still, it’s a very purist take on the entire process of bringing it up to 21st century specifications, as the lack of any stability control or ABS provided an interesting contrast to the contemporary 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, among other details.
Instead, Cyan is probably looking for an unfiltered driving experience, with the new P1800 sporting a weight of just 990 kg (2,183 pounds) to its 420 hp and 455 Nm (336 lb. ft.) power credentials. All nice and up to snuff (including the new Cyan-designed independent rear suspension), but all we saw were shots of the exterior.
That has changed now, as Cyan has finally revealed a new picture gallery – and this time around it includes the crucial views of the interior, engine bay, and even some neat details with the new suspension.
And the cockpit view does not disappoint one bit, with its minimalist reinterpretation of the original P1800, neat blue touches in the instrument cluster and that special dogleg (and tailored) Holinger five-speed gearbox that diverts all power towards the rear through the limited slip differential.
Instead, we’re a little sad the company didn’t go for the full Monty when dealing with the engine bay – that two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine sure looks it could have afforded an extra pair of cylinders based on the space we still see available under the hood...
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