Pelle Pettersson, the designer of the Volvo P1800, has at the age of 92 decided to stop driving. His Volvo S90, a model with design cues from Pelle’s celebrated sports car, will now be sold by Bilweb Auctions. Bidding ends on June 5th.
Take a look at the third side window and the front – and compare it with a 1961 P1800. The similarities are no coincidence. When Volvo’s design chief, Thomas Ingenlath, introduced the company’s new design language with the Concept Coupé in 2013, he made no secret of the fact that they had looked back for inspiration – and he specifically pointed to the P1800.
Many of the features from the Concept Coupé were retained when the new large luxury sedan, the S90, was presented to the press for the first time in December 2015. The model marked a major step forward for Volvo, as they could now truly compete with the German premium brands.
Series production began in the spring of 2016 but already in November that year, production moved from Torslanda to Daqing in China.
For many years, it was kept secret that it was Volvo director Helmer Pettersson’s son, Pelle, who had sketched the P1800 in Frua’s design studio in Turin. The official story for a long time was that the sports car was the work of Italian designers. It was much later that Volvo officially recognized Pelle as the rightful designer of the P1800.
When the S90, with so many elements of Pelle P’s original design, was introduced, it was a given that he would get to drive one. In April 2017, he was given a fully equipped pre-production model with all-wheel drive and the most powerful diesel engine.
Now, at the age of 92, Pelle has decided to stop driving, and his well-maintained S90 – one of very few built in Sweden – will be sold at Bilweb Auctions’ major Volvo auction.
The car has only covered 76,000 kilometers (approx. 47,000 miles), and its provenance as a pre-production car owned by one of Sweden’s most skilled designers makes it a highly interesting collector’s item.
The Volvo S90 is not a common model in Sweden – most buyers here have preferred the V90 estate. In other markets, the situation is reversed, with the sedan version being a strong seller. In China, it has even been sold with a 12-centimeter longer wheelbase.
The final model year for the S90 in Sweden, and in many other markets, was 2024.
Bilweb Auctions has established itself as the leading platform for the sale of classic cars in Sweden, with around a thousand auctioned vehicles each year. The security provided by specially appointed inspectors and a transparent process for both buyers and sellers has proven highly successful. The special auction featuring around 40 classic Volvo models concludes on June 5th, and bidding is ongoing.
