Volvo P1800: From West Bromwich to Gothenburg.

Saw this lovely piece of Gothenburg metal in South Birmz today:

Built between 1961 and 1973, with the Shooting Brake version produced in the final year of production, the P1800 shot to fame when Roger Moore (who also owned one IRL) used a Coupe version in The Saint.

Assembled for the first year of production at the Jensen Motors factory in West Bromwich, UK, where 6000 units were built, until quality control issues led to the transfer to Volvo's Torslanda and Gothenburg plants, alongside its Amazon sibling.

So influential in design, many cues can be seen in later Volvo models, most prominently in the all-glass rear hatch, as seen in the Volvo Safety Car concept; a watered-down version of which becoming the C30, and to a lesser extent, the Peter Horbury (RIP) designed 480.

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Uncharacteristically personal post. Delete if not allowed.

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Herbert Life: Manzoni's Plan for Britain's Motor City.

Herbert Manzoni isn’t exactly a household name—unless your nan's house was knocked down to make way for a ring road. But there’s no denying the mark he left on the city. Born in 1899, Manzoni trained as a civil engineer before becoming Birmingham’s City Engineer in 1935 and Planning Officer in 1938. With war damage, traffic chaos, and outdated housing pressing down on the city, he saw a rare opportunity to start over. “ Herbert always had a ruler in one hand and the future in the other.” — Charles Bird, Assistant Engineer, Birmingham City Council (1971) Manzoni believed in mobility, efficiency, and clean modern living. Victorian Birmingham, with its cramped back-to-backs and narrow streets, didn’t meet his brief. During his tenure as Birmingham City Engineer and Surveyor (1935–1963), and with housing a major focus of urban redevelopment, he spearheaded some of the most significant and controversial projects in Birmingham’s modern history. His belief that "The slum cannot be...

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