Watch in wonder as Cyan Racing’s chief engineer, Mattias Evensson and his crew throw the Volvo P1800 Cyan sideways between snow walls in northern Sweden. The team travelled close to 1,000km north of the Cyan Racing headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, to test the restomod on the frozen lakes and snowy roads of Åre, Mattias Evensson’s hometown – in -20°C.
The Volvo P1800 Cyan weighs less than 1,000kg, featuring no driver aids, a dog-leg manual gearbox and an engine designed to reward redlining.
“The Volvo P1800 Cyan is our way for us to combine the best from the past and today, moving away from the power, weight and performance figures of contemporary performance cars,” says Mattias Evensson, project manager for the Volvo P1800 Cyan and head of engineering at Cyan Racing.
The concept is intended to go back to the basics of performance cars, with a sound base design that allows the driver to explore the limits of handling, rather than leaning on electronic driver aids to control the power and weight.
“It’s all connected with the engine response, the chassis balance and the low weight, making the car playful and rewarding,” says Evensson.
“What really struck me from this expedition was that the car is so easy to drive and that you do not need to provoke it to get it where you want. All of the properties that we have tried to achieve were almost amplified by driving it on the low grip of snow and ice.
“The basic concept of the car seems to work really well, it does not matter that much if you are on a bone-dry racing circuit, a wet and twisty country road or on the crisp ice here in northern Sweden. You still feel confident and in control.”
