THE VOLVO P1800 CYAN GT IS THE SWEDISH RESTOMOD THE WORLD NEEDS.
In the world of aftermarket tuning, restomods have become big business. There are a few reasons for this, well in our opinion anyway. One of the main reasons that we think they do so well is that these classic cars sparked a light in kids when they were first released. Being a kid when some of these classic cars were new obviously meant that buying a car was not possible. The classic cars that made the biggest impact on kids remained desirable until those kids became working-class adults with a decent amount of disposable income available to buy a nice toy. While buying a classic car in decent condition is possible, they’re still classic cars with worn components and dodgy handling and things because back then technicians weren’t as clued up. Some companies have figured this out and started to capitalise on it by taking those very same classic cars and giving them a modern makeover with better components made from lighter and stronger materials with a better design. This is where companies like Singer who sort out the Porsches and KImera with the Lancia 037s. On a different side of the planet, the Swedes also have a dog in the fight. Cyan Racing is a company that was tasked with race-prepping Volvos for competition use in the Swedish Touring Car Championship and a few other European series. A while back the company decided to restomod a classic Volvo and they chose the P1800, a classic car with some of the best lines and styling out there. The Cyan Racing crew created the Volvo P1800 Cyan which as the name suggests is a P1800 that’s seen attention paid to every aspect of the car to bring it up to modern spec. That was in 2020, and since then, the company has been busy with another version of the car in between all the regular racecar work. It’s still a Volvo P1800 Cyan, but the car was given a few different tweaks to turn it into a consummate GT car. “The new version highlights the versatility and almost endless tailoring options of the Volvo P1800 Cyan, adding another dimension to our interpretation of the original model,” said Christian Dahl, CEO of Cyan.
The first version of the Volvo P1800 Cyan was introduced as a track-inspired homage to the iconic Volvo sports car from the 60s, but the new incarnation has been built to be more of a grand tourer. One of the main changes was the addition of a Cyan-designed fully adjustable suspension that could be set up to perfection for lapping up winding country roads with the ability to make it comfortable for long-distance driving - a.k.a a Grand Tourer. The powerplant is a turbocharged 2.0-litre 4-pot engine and is mated to a bespoke 5-speed Holinger gearbox that provides excellent precision and a great cog-swapping feeling. The optimising of the drivetrain and the motor has resulted in better drivability over the pursuit of raw power. There is a wide range of engine configurations available, but clients so far have chosen between 260 kW and 313 kW setups. All configurations offer up pretty serious, usable performance when combined with the high-strength steel and carbon fibre body that tips the scales at less than a ton. Inside the P1800 Cyan GT, there’s sand-coloured leather and fabric found throughout along with bespoke seats that look period correct but are built better and are more comfortable for long distances. The updated P1800 also features a different version of the titanium roll cage - it still provides the necessary protection and chassis rigidity but the design makes for a more comfortable cabin space. All of the cars used for these restomods are original matching-number P1800 models, and a build to bring one up to the new GT-spec takes between 12 and 15 months at the company’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. “The joint journey of tailoring a car from start to finish with a client is a thoroughly rewarding process for the entire team, just as it is to see two further cars being shipped to the US,” says Dahl. One of the first builds of the new GT version has been completed for a client in the US, featuring a unique metallic green colour as seen in these pics. How freaking stunning does the car look?
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off just how cool a Cyan restomod is, and how to use it most effectively. What you see here is the first version without the latest tweaks, but it gives you an idea of just how awesome these updated classic Volvos are: Sideways the Scandinavian way | Cyan Racing
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