Cyan Racing caught everyone by surprise when they first revealed their Volvo P1800 restomod, a stunning creation that transforms the original 1960s coupe into an exotic driving machine.
The amount of work done here is pretty exhaustive, starting with the body and chassis; while Cyan’s restomod retains the beautiful lines of the classic Volvo coupe, the body is entirely new and made out of carbon fiber while the chassis is also redesigned and strengthened using modern high-strength steel. The only parts that are still original to the donor car are the roof pillars and the windscreen wipers.
Read More: $500,000+ Volvo P1800 Cyan Restomod Shows Off Its Interior For The First Time
The end result of all this work is a front-engined, rear-drive coupe that tips the scales at just at 990 kg (2,182 lbs).
Cyan Racing also ditched the original rear live axle for double wishbones and added a torque-biasing limited-slip differential while they were at it. That was necessary because under the bonnet now lives a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine as used in the Volvo S60 TC1 race car, paired to a dog-leg five-speed manual transmission from Holinger.
The engine has been further tuned to provide a more linear power and torque curve, like a naturally aspirated unit, with its redline sitting at 7,700 rpm. Power is rated at 413 HP (419 PS) and 335 lb-ft (455 Nm) of torque, which appears to be more than enough for that weight figure.
Autocar had the opportunity to review the gorgeous Volvo P1800 Cyan and their impressions are more than positive. The beautiful restomod is as good as we hoped it be, offering a raw driving character with one of the greatest manual gear changes around, big unassisted brakes, and no ABS or traction control. Combine this with an excellent high-quality feeling inside and out, and suddenly that price tag starts to make sense.
As a bonus, we are also sharing AutotopNL‘s POV video on the same car, just to get a better idea of what it feels like behind the wheel of Cyan’s gorgeous P1800.
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