Volvo P1900

The Volvo P1900, officially the Volvo Sport, was a Swedish roadster with a fibreglass body that Volvo built in small numbers in 1956 and 1957. Volvo president Assar Gabrielsson wanted something like the Chevrolet Corvette he had seen in the United States, and he turned to Bill Tritt of the California boatbuilder Glasspar, a pioneer of fibreglass car bodies, who designed the body, made the moulds and trained Volvo staff. The car sat on a welded tubular steel chassis and used an uprated version of the 1414 cc engine from the Volvo PV444, with twin carburettors and a three-speed manual gearbox. Sales were weak and the build quality disappointed Volvo's next president, Gunnar Engellau, who cancelled the rest of the run. Only 68 cars were made, the first 19 of them assembled by Glasspar, against a plan for 300.