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- Snow White’s coffin – the legendary station wagon coupe
- Playing around in the press releases
- Today it doesn’t seem so spacious anymore
- The P 1800 ES was only built for two years
Snow White’s coffin – the legendary station wagon coupe
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A tailgate made entirely of glass was elegant in 1971 and still impresses today. The Volvo P 1800 ES was a sophisticated appearance that crossed nimble forms with utility.
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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Because first and foremost, the Volvo wanted to be a sports car…
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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… accelerated a good 120 hp to a top speed of 190 km / h.
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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The dashboard looks a bit homemade.
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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A foldable rear seat creates space, but not too much compared to today’s vehicles.
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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Nevertheless, the model known as the “Snow White’s Coffin” is the pioneer for modern station wagon coupes, for example…
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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… the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo or…
Source: dpa-tmn / srw
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… the Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake.
Source: Daimler
The Shooting Brake is the car of the hour. But coupes with a large cargo space existed a long time ago: Volvo once created the P 1800 ES, which still inspires designers of sporty station wagon models.
D.he Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake. And soon the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo too. Crosses of coupe and station wagon, with flowing shapes and a high rear, with a practical large tailgate. In the search for the last niche that has not yet been filled, the manufacturers’ design departments are constantly devising new vehicle concepts.
But wait a minute. Niche? That’s right. But, new? Absolutely no way. Because the practical, elegant crossings existed decades ago. British small series manufacturers in particular had station wagons in their repertoire – and the concept came out big at Volvo.
Because long before the Swedes became the ultimate family station wagon brand, the P 1800 ES was presented in 1971. It was slim and sleek, it was lavishly glazed and had no annoying braces at the back. The vernacular quickly found a nickname for the model with the technocratic designation: P 1800 ES became "Snow White‘s Coffin".
Playing around in the press releases
Despite the British small series: Actually, the type of vehicle represented by the Volvo did not exist. You could see that in the press department’s struggle for words. The Swedes praised the novelty as a “Fastback Coupe”, they spoke of the “styling of a sports car”, but also did not fail to mention “the utility of a station wagon”.
But you can still feel the sporty genes of Snow White’s coffin today, at the latest when you let yourself fall into the tight leather armchairs that are mounted just above street level. It is true that you have to accelerate vigorously to get the Volvo moving. But then you drive it to 190 km / h – you mustn’t forget that it comes from a time when normal mid-range sedans usually ended at 150 km / h, 160 km maximum.
Today it doesn’t seem so spacious anymore
The P 1800 ES is unmistakably a child of the early seventies: the right hand falls on a long, skinny gear knob, the left grips the huge steering wheel, the overloaded dashboard with its decorative wood imitation film cannot be overlooked. Believe it or not, there are seven round instruments there. And in between there are half a dozen indicator lights installed.
And the Snow White coffin wouldn’t be a real Volvo if the Swedes hadn’t also thought about safety: If you don’t put the wide belt buckle into the illuminated lock on the center tunnel, you will see the flaming red prompt: "Please buckle up".
Driving sporty by today’s standards, that works at least on a reasonably straight route. But if you want to load a lot, you will find that today’s cars can do more than the 40-year-old station wagon coupe: The lock is stiff, if you want to load something larger, you first have to laboriously dive into the car and turn down the back seat. The loading volume is then 1000 liters; today’s Golf can do more with the bank turned down.
The P 1800 ES was only built for two years
But these are probably not the qualities that are of interest to the Snow White coffin today. Its silhouette is graceful, the glass, frameless tailgate still looks elegant even for today’s terms. So it is hardly surprising that the Volvo still inspires the designers of sporty station wagons. The P 1800 ES is also a popular classic at vintage car rallies, in museums and at collectors’ meetings.
Maybe in the seventies he was just ahead of his time. Because even the ES variant was an emergency birth, it was based on the Coupe P 1800 introduced in 1961, which instead of the combi hatch had to offer Flosschen that were a bit out of fashion at the beginning of the seventies. The coupe didn’t work, the ES was supposed to offer customers an alternative that could be implemented with little effort.
Americans liked and bought Snow White‘s coffin, but the rest of the world didn’t. Therefore, its production ended just two years later, in 1973 it was over again. It is a well-known figure in the memory of most car fans today, but you rarely see it on the road, which is no wonder with only around 8,000 copies made.
If you want a good copy today, you should be prepared to spend around 20,000 euros, still less than for the CLS Shooting Brake from Mercedes and maybe soon for a high-tail Panamera. You could say the future of the station wagon coupe, which seems so big today – 40 years ago it came to an end.
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