What you can do in 36 hours – Courtesy of British Airways

(A Weekend in Greece - Rallying a Volvo 1800S to Celebrate 30yrs of the P1800)

Any link between Gothenburg, West Bromwich and Athens may first appear to be some Eurocrat’s idea for a banana growing initiative, rather than an account of a classic car rally.

However, on the last weekend in an extremely wet and windy November, Kevin Price, Founder and Chairman of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club took up the offer to be quest of honour and co-driver on the Philpa’s (The Antique Car Club of Greece) fifth annual Greek Classic Car Rally, which was sponsored by the Greek Volvo Importers, Sarakakis Bros. to celebrate the thirtieth birthday of the P1800.

Arriving in Athens at about 4.30am local time on Saturday morning, Kevin was met by VEC Member Andreas Victoratos, who was to be his driver, holding a large piece of cardboard inscribed ‘P1800’. I wonder what other passengers and Athenians thought of that! Kevin was duly despatched to his hotel, only to be awakened from his slumber at 8am to attend a pre-rally meeting of all the entrants and the other Volvo 1800 owners. It was here that it was decided by Andreas and Kevin to form a Greek branch of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, not bad for a Club that just celebrated its third birthday.

The rally got underway from Voula at midday, Kevin feeling quite at home in the right hand seat of a very well restored 1965 1800S, The first day’s two stages covered over 100 Kilometres of roads on the plains outside Athens, where our intrepid navigator quickly realised that tulips in Greek may well be Double-Dutch and it was probably due to Andreas’s local knowledge that they completed the first day in fifth place overall, out of over 120 competitors, including a 1951 Healey Tickford, a 1934 Aston Martin Le Mans and a beautifully restored 1917 Model T Ford driven by Robert Smith, who along with Andreas and Costas Theocharis responsible for Kevin’s presence in Greece.

During the evening at the plush Mount Parnes Hotel, overlooking Athens, Kevin presented a shield donated by the Volvo Enthusiasts Club for ‘The Best 1800’ taking part in this and future rallies. He also presented the President of Philpa (Costas Nikolopoulos), the Rally Organiser (Costas Theocharis) and Volvo Importers Greece, with commemorative items from our Volvo Club in England. Kevin in return was given Honorary Membership and commemorative items from Philpa and the Mayor of Athens, to celebrate his participation in the P1800 30th Birthday Event.

During the evening at the hotel, Kevin discovered that as guest of honour he had been given no limit in the Casino (pretty good for a teacher from Newquay, England, with around £50 in his Levi’s), this generous offer was probably more applicable to Mr. Roger Moore, who had also been invited to attend the rally, but unfortunately declined the offer.

The second day’s stages commenced very sensibly at 10.00an on Sunday and once again was over roads open to the public, with the Greek Police being very co-operative, stopping traffic and waving the participants through red lights with great gusto and enthusiasm. Unlike the first day, the second took the competitors into the mountains, where the speed on one regularity test had to be reduced due to icy conditions. The route continued through stunning scenery, with breathtaking views, looking down at the islands in the beautiful Aegean Sea. Attempting, sightseeing, whilst navigating twisting mountain roads in an 1800 without seat belt (yes they are fitted but never worn) is an experience Kevin won’t forget in a hurry, especially when one sign translated by smiling Andreas read ‘Warning Destroyed Road’!!

Andreas and Kevin were delighted to complete the event and return to Athens for the prize giving. Andreas’s car having been voted the ‘Best Volvo 1800’ in the Rally. Now was the opportunity to exchange experiences and talk cars. Mr Birtle, Volvo Greece’s Service Manager had, it turned out, worked for AB Volvo in the early sixties and visited the Jensen works at West Bromwich (where the first 1800’s were assembled). He was very pleased and perhaps a little nostalgic to see 10 P1800’s together in Greece. Another character well worthy of mention is the Albanian mechanic who rebuilt the 1962 P1800 of Costas Theocharis (Rally Organiser) in 20 days, including a respray and engine rebuild, he apparently slept in a Mk2 Jaguar garaged with the Volvo and actually finished the car one hour before Kevin’s arrival in Athens. His enthusiasm and commitment was typical of the car fanatics Kevin met on his whirlwind Greek trip.

On a slightly sadder note, there are a great deal of British Classics in everyday use on Greek roads, but their presence is being greatly reduced by a policy whereby Greek motorists are being encouraged to trade in their old cars and claim a very substantial discount (up to 50%) on a brand new model. This will certainly transfer plenty of Moggy Minors and A30’s from the road to the scrap heap, plus other rare models, which will be a sad and unnecessary loss.

A convoy of nine 1800’s escorted Kevin back to the airport on Sunday evening, with a TR4 equipped with Police style siren stopping the traffic en route, the final feather in Kevin’s by now quite large cap was flying back First Class at the invitation of British Airways. A memorable trip completed in a hectic weekend.

Finally, Kevin would like to thank all those who helped make the weekend possible and so enjoyable, particularly our new friends in Greece and British Airways.

Chris Jory

Reprinted from Issue No: 13 – Spring 1993 of the Volvo Enthusiasts Club Magazine