Is This the Ultimate Form of the Volvo P1800?

No, this isn't a half-baked render done by a college student learning to use Blender, nor is it a barely rolling SEMA build assembled the weekend before the event. This wild-looking Volvo P1800 is a fully functioning car built by Cyan Racing, Geely's official racing team.

Powering this 2100-pound reimagined classic is a 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-four good for 420 horsepower and 335 lb.-ft. of torque.

Underneath those stretched wheel arches sit 18-inch, center-lock wheels wrapped in sticky Pirelli P Zeros. Connecting those wheels to the chassis are fully adjustable double wishbones on all four corners, with the body being constructed of copious amounts of "high-strength steel and carbon fibre."

There are also no aids offered to the driver, citing a desire to not "distort the driving experience."

Of course, you may be asking yourself, "Why a P1800? What does this have to do with anything?" Well, the answer, according to Cyan Racing Founder and CEO Christan Dahl, is fairly simple:

"I joined in 2000 and when I took over the company four years later my goal was for the team to win the world title. The first decade was more about developing the company and the organisation than developing race cars.

"As part of this expansion, we founded the Polestar Performance company in 2009 to support our growth. This company and the name Polestar was bought by Volvo Cars in 2015. Soon after, in 2016, we had reached the level for entering the World Championship as Cyan Racing. A year later in 2017 we claimed our first world title with Volvo.

“We have since then won two further world titles with two other manufacturers. The first world title was a milestone for us, and we felt it was a good time to reconnect with the past and to those before us racing Volvos. Thus the first Volvo P1800 Cyan is a tribute to Volvo motorsport and the first car carries our blue and yellow racing colours to mark our heritage.”

Above all, perhaps the best way to view this P1800 is as a tribute to the early success of Cyan Racing (then Polestar Racing), thanks largely in part to Volvo.

So, is this the ultimate form of the P1800, or is this an insane resto-mod that nobody asked for?

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Comments

NOHOME MegaDork
9/2/20 1:00 p.m.

So are they selling these or is it a "One off" tribute?

bigdaddylee82 UberDork
9/2/20 1:01 p.m.

No underhood shot?

2.7 bar is 39 PSI, that's a lot of boost.

Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/2/20 1:55 p.m.

In reply to NOHOME :

As far as I can tell, it's a one-off tribute that also shows that besides building race cars, they can also "optimize" normal street cars.

They do suggest emailing info@cyanracing.com for "sales inquires" though.

Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/2/20 1:58 p.m.

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

Unfortunately no underhood shots. The media kit only had exterior shots and a few closeups. My guess would be that there are some things under the hood they don't want you to see—be it proprietary tech, or maybe just a rats nest of wiring.

noddaz GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/2/20 1:59 p.m.

So, is this the ultimate form of the P1800, or is this an insane resto-mod that nobody asked for?

In this case, because you could is reason enough.

m4ff3w GRM+ Memberand UberDork
9/2/20 2:12 p.m.

Colin Wood said:
In reply to NOHOME :

As far as I can tell, it's a one-off tribute that also shows that besides building race cars, they can also "optimize" normal street cars.

They do suggest emailing info@cyanracing.com for "sales inquires" though.

Autoblog says:

Cyan's resto-modded P1800 is not merely a one-off model built to fuel this week's pub talk. It plans to sell the coupe to the public. While production isn't limited, the company predicts its hot rod will be a low-volume model. It's already taking orders, and Autoblog can reveal pricing starts at $500,000 before options are factored in.