Readers of a certain vintage, with a taste for Italian design and English detective thrillers, will glow privately at the sight of this car.
The Volvo P1800 was launched in 1961 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Instantly recognisable at the time for its sleek, ultra-modern styling, and distinctive rear window, it was the unforgettable choice of Simon Templar, 'The Saint' (licence plate ST1), as played by Roger Moore in the TV series which began in 1962.
[img_assist|nid=2198|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=165]The P1800 went through various engine modifications during its 12-year production run (P1800S, P1800E). Some 47,492 were produced, a surprising number of which have survived not least because the body was made of rustproof, fibreglass-reinforced polyester. (It was in some ways, therefore, a logical development for Moore who had started his career in the '50s as a knitwear model.)
The reason for its demise is not hard to fathom. The majority of millionaire jewel-thieves at the time preferred the less subtle and more curvaceous lines of the Jaguar E-type.
This particular example – white like Templar's – comes from France, and was parked outside an East Claremont Street guesthouse yesterday evening.
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