The Volvo P1800 Cyan GT Is A Restomod Grand Tourer With Added Scandi Chic

Back in 2020, Cyan Racing, the Swedish outfit formerly known as Polestar that used to run Volvo’s factory touring car programme (and now runs that of Chinese manufacturer Lynk & Co), showed off a restomod version of the gorgeous 1960s Volvo P1800 coupe.

With a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine from the Volvo S60 touring car making 414bhp and a sub-one-tonne kerb weight, it was a hard-charging, track-biased bit of kit. Now, Cyan has returned to the P1800, revealing a new version with an altogether more relaxed attitude.

Volvo P1800 Cyan GT – side

According to Cyan, the new P1800 GT is set up to be the kind of old-school grand tourer you might use to pop down to the south of France. As a result, the fully adjustable suspension, designed in-house at Cyan, is now tailored for “winding country roads and inspiring but comfortable long-distance driving.”

It retains the race-derived engine, but customers can now choose from an unspecified range of power outputs – those that have ordered so far have specced from 345bhp up to the full 414bhp seen in the original version. It continues to drive the rear wheels through a bespoke five-speed manual gearbox.

Volvo P1800 Cyan GT – interior

Thanks to a body made from a blend of steel and carbon fibre, weight is still kept below 1000kg, although the interior is now a much more plush affair. It has extra sound deadening compared to the original car, as well as a revised, less intrusive version of its titanium roll cage, and brand-new seats designed for comfort over long distances.

The pale-green-over-tan car in these images is one of the first customer builds and is headed for the US. Clearly, whoever specced it has excellent taste. An unspecified “limited production” will be produced, and we aren’t given ballpark pricing either. 

Volvo P1800 Cyan GT – overhead

It’s hard to pin down a figure for the original Cyan P1800 – when it was revealed, some outlets said around £375,000. By the time US media got their hands on it in 2022, though, a rough figure of $700,000 – around £550,000 – was floated. We’d guess you’re looking at comfortably over the half-million-pound mark for the GT.

If it sounds like your sort of thing, you’ll need to supply an original P1800 yourself – something which on its own will cost over £20,000. Once you’ve got your hands on one, it’ll be sent off to Cyan’s facility in Gothenburg, Sweden. 12 to 15 months later, you’ll have your very own bespoke P1800 GT that should nicely swallow up the miles from Malmö to Monaco. We wonder if Cyan can give the same treatment to the arguably even cooler P1800 ES shooting brake.