At last, Volvo has listened to my pleas to update the P1800, to my mind one of the most beautiful cars ever built. I owned one for years, and the in-house design by Pelle Petterson looked good from every angle. Volvo probably would have continued building the cars if it hadn’t run afoul of U.S. bumper safety regulations circa 1973.

 

The 1800 (see photo below), sold in both coupe and wagon formats, was a modest success—and a huge departure for a company known best for boxy safety wagons. Come to think of it, the company hasn’t had a sports car since. But the Volvo Concept Coupe is the Swedish carmaker’s “next generation P1800.”