Volvo P1800
Volvo P1800 Tyres
- Longstone's recommended tyre is the 165 HR 15 PIRELLI CINTURATO ™ CA67 as the original on the Volvo P1800S from 1963 to 1969.
- The Volvo P1800E, the injection version from 1969 – 1971 also fitted 165 HR 15 PIRELLI CINTURATO ™ CA67.
- The 165 HR 15 PIRELLI CINTURATO ™ CA67 was the original tyre for the Volvo P1800 and of course the tyre fitted by Roger Moore in 'The Saint'. It also happens to be an excellent tyre that will complement the chassis of a P1800.
- The Estate version, the P1800ES fitted 185/70R15 tyres. We suggest the 185/70 WR 15 PIRELLI CINTURATO CN36.
- For these tyres we recommend the Michelin 15E inner tube.
- Volvo P1800ES tyre pressure - 26psi front and 29psi rear.
History of the Volvo P1800
Built between 1961-1973 the P1800 was Volvo's next attempt at a sports car after the failure of the P1900. The car very nearly was cancelled after its initial styling and prototype work was done by Pelle Petterson working under Pietro Frua, as it was hoped Karmann would be able to do the tooling and building but just before work began Volkswagen forbade Karmann from bringing the project to fruition under threat of withdrawing contracts in 1957. After being in the dark for a while in 1960 Volvo turned to Jensen Motors and agreed to a contract for 10,000 cars (though this would be ended at 6,000 cars due to Jensen's problems with quality control and production moved to Volvo's Lundby plant).
P1800 Tyres
A: Volvo during the days of the P1800 were fitting Pirelli 165 HR 15 PIRELLI CINTURATO CA67 tyres, These were the tyres fitted by Roger Moore in the Saint. We would suggest that these are the best classic Volvo tyres today. The later estate version the Volvo P1800ES fitted wider 185/70VR15 tyres. We suggest 185/70VR15 Pirelli CN36
A: from looking at a variety of period tyre pressure recommendations for a P1800 we would suggest 26psi in the front and 29psi rear on all models.