The original Volvo P1800, introduced in 1961, was an iconic car with timeless design and appeal. While this P1800 Cyan looks like the original, that is where the similarities end. In the hands of five-times World Touring Car Champions Cyan the car is restored, delicately re-designed and extensively re-engineered.
Cyan Racing’s journey started in 1996 as a racing team under assignment from Volvo Cars in the Swedish national racing series STCC. Since then the team has claimed numerous of titles at national and international level. Besides the race track, Cyan has a long history of automotive engineering resulting in a number of concept cars and the performance car company Polestar which was purchased by Volvo Cars in 2015.
The P1800 Cyan is built to be exactly what the customer want it to be. Anything from a light weight, high performance cafe racer, to a grand tourer to be enjoyed along winding roads. The opportunities for customer adaptation are plentiful and total customer satisfaction is the Cyan aims for.
The heart of the Volvo P1800 Cyan is the lightweight turbocharged twin cam four-cylinder Volvo engine. This is an engine well known to Cyan’s engineers who have built it in numerous versions for different purposes. For the Volvo P1800 Cyan it has been designed to deliver power in a linear way to resemble the naturally aspirated original engine from the sixties. This version of the engine makes 420 hp at 7,000 rpm. While that may not seem like much in the age of 1000+ hp Teslas, the P1800 Cyan weighs only 990 kg (2,183 lbs), so it’s pretty fast!
The five-speed bespoke Holinger gearbox carry the mechanical feeling of the original transmission, but with greater precision and reliability. The gearbox is connected to the differential through a light weight carbon fibre prop shaft. The original Volvo P1800 live rear axle is replaced with a Cyan-designed independent rear suspension. A key ingredient in the car’s driving characteristics is the client’s choice of differential and gear ratio.
Every Volvo P1800 Cyan commission is built in-house by experienced racing mechanics and fabricators at Cyan’s Gothenburg headquarter. Cyan Racing says the only things that remain from the original P1800 is the steel frame, hood release, handbrake, and windshield wipers. Everything else, including the glass, was manufactured uniquely for this car. Parts are manufactured both in-house and by trusted suppliers. During the build process the client is welcomed to follow the process of transforming a standard Volvo P1800 from the sixties or early seventies into a reborn automobile combining the best from the past with the best of today.
If you’re looking to park a new Volvo P1800 Cyan in your garage, you’ll need to write a check for at least $700,000. Expensive, yes. But you will get something that is truly unique.