The Volvo P1800, Part 1: Secretly Designed by a 25-Year-Old Ex-Pratt Student
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This year marks the 50th anniversary of the P1800, Volvo’s uncharacteristically sporty coupe first produced in 1961. Surprisingly, the car, which was intended to be a prestige model and to pull passersby into Volvo showrooms, was designed—unbeknownst by the Volvo chief who green-lit the project—by a 20-something former Pratt ID student.
The story’s a bit convoluted, but here goes:
Fact 1: A young Swede by the name of Pelle Peterson studied industrial design at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute in the 1950s before getting a job in Italy under Pietro Frua, a prominent car designer of the ’50s and ’60s.
Fact 2: In the mid-’50s, while the P1800 was being planned, Volvo President Gunnar Engellau decided the car should be Italian-designed. One of the footsoldiers charged with making this happen was Volvo consultant Helmer Petterson—Pelle Petterson’s father.
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