Volvo's->ke188 first successful sports car,->ke506 the P1800, looks a lot fancier than it actually is, and the latest Petrolicious video is an illustrative example of that. "It's not expensive, it's a Volvo." says P1800->ke4134 owner John Patterson, who drives his 1964 model almost every day on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Living on a small exotic island is not all fun and games though, and comes with its own disadvantages, such as the lack of a classic car garage and not that many roads to enjoy driving a classic car.->ke503 A watchmaker by trade, John Patterson doesn't have a problem with that, as he does maintenance work on the old Volvo himself and drives the car on a 58 mile-long, "U"-shaped road, almost everyday. Petrolicious' story on his Volvo P1800 is uplifting, to say the least, but it also gave me a bittersweet taste toward the end, when Patterson says that the craftmanship of hand-built things, whether cars or watches, is slowly becoming extinct. Because he's right.

The P1800 was actually Volvo's second sports car, although only 68 units were sold of its predecessor, the P1900. Depending on year, the model was powered either by a carbureted, 1.8-liter, four-cylinder, or a fuel-injected, 2.0-liter engine. The car was unveiled in 1960 and was built in various specs until 1973, when the last P1800ES (Shooting Brake version) left the factory. Fans of "The Saint" TV series probably remember the P1800 as Simon Templar's official ride, since he kept it throughout the 1960s era of the show.

Volvo P1800

Read our full review here.