Jim Mackin..my Father

"Bluebird of Happiness"

You have to understand this about my father...he was the most conservative person I’ve ever known.  Raised in the depression, schooled in the seminary (until my mother talked him out of it!), married at the outset of World War II, Dad was perfectly content to have live in the first house he ever bought, raise his four children, and live humbly but comfortably until his death at age 86, in February 2004.  God bless him.

Just before his 53^rd birthday, my Dad treated himself to the one extravagant thing in his life.  He lusted after the Volvo P1800, ever since he saw it on “The Saint,” on TV.  He drove Volkswagens during the late fifties and through the sixties.  His big splurge before the 1800 was a Karmann Ghia convertible, but he gladly traded it when he saw his 1971 1800E in the showroom window of Butler Imports, in Butler, New Jersey.

From the day he saw it there on the showroom floor, until the day he died, he loved that car.  I was 13 the year Dad bought the 1800, and I was already a major car enthusiast.  He and I would pour over specs, articles, and anything else we could get hold of, learning more and more about the car.  We had a very special connection throughout our lives, but through those awkward teen years, we always had something in common surrounding his P1800.  We would wash it, wax it, go for long rides, talk about how much fun the car was.  I always teased him that, if he were ready to get rid of the car, I’d take it off his hands…he’d wink and say, “I’ll leave it to you, how’s that?”  In 2004, that sad day came.  After a 5+ year, very dignified fight with Alzheimer’s Disease, my father passed away at his home.  My mother said, “Now its time you take care of Dad’s car.”

I couldn’t bring myself to work on the car right away.  In its earlier days, Dad took meticulous care of the car.  But as he retired, slowed down, and began suffering dementia, he let the car go.  It had been his commuter car for work for about 8 years, until he retired.  After that, the car only got casual use, and spent more and more time in his garage.  By the time he died, it had been sitting in the garage for at least a year.  It would be another 15 months before I’d throw a new battery in, crank it up, and drive it to the Volvo dealer for a look.

Just as I began the restoration of Dad’s 1800, my mother became hospitalized for what would be her final illness.  I gave her daily updates on the progress while she was in the hospital, and she enjoyed hearing about the car. Sadly, she joined my father in July, and never got to see the finished work.  The project has gone so smoothly though, that I believe she and Dad are keeping an eye on me and helping me along.

The dealer was Paul’s Motors, a great family business in Hawthorne.  They went all over the car, and for a very reasonable $700, it was all tuned up, lubricated, flushed and had all new fluids.

Now it was time for the body…

My dad had been scammed by someone driving around, offering to do rust repair work in the driveway.  This guy took advantage of Dad’s disease, and charged him $600 to stuff body filler in on top of the classic fender/rocker rust areas.  My mother was so mad she chased the guy down and got the money back!

I pulled the car in my garage in May 2005, and began taking it apart.  I stripped all the exterior chrome, interior components, etc., leaving the engine compartment for last.

I prepared a lot of areas for resurfacing, and ground out all the body filler, and rust spots, so I knew what I was dealing with.  The floor pans each had one hole, but not too bad.  The left front jack strut was crushed and rotted through., but in general, the car was pretty solid.

A lot of the rubber seals were cracked and dry, and the seats showed classic wear-through.  The dash top was cracked from sun exposure, in three places.  Some surface rust spots (near signal lights at the welds, etc.)  proved to be complete rust-through.

The worst damage was the front fender sections just forward of the doors, and the rocker panels.  After removing all the body filler, I realized that I needed new panels here to effect even a partial restoration.

I started researching the P1800 on the web.  I found the Swedish Klubben site right away, and I owe a lot to all of the great stories and photos that you have posted.

I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Don Thibault of p1800.com in Massachusetts.  I have probably talked to Don for at least 10 hours throughout the restoration.  Not only is he a tremendous wealth of knowledge about the car, techniques for removal and repair, location of the most obscure parts of the car, but he’s a genuinely nice guy who loves to talk to interested 1800 enthusiasts.

Don was able to get me all kinds of parts for the car.  From perfectly matched replacement leather seats, carpets, dash top, to metal replacement panels for the fenders, rockers, etc…Don got it all for me!  I went for a set of wire wheels, and re-chromed bumpers and all new chrome trim to put the finishing touches on.

I thought for a long time about the color for the car.  Dad had bought the car right off the showroom floor.  It was turquoise (#104), and it really stood out anywhere you took it.  However, I was never a great fan of the color, most certainly the car!

Dad always referred to the car as his “Bluebird of Happiness,” taken from an old Mario Lonza song.  I decided on a more modern metallic blue, called Nuhrburgring Blue, but stayed with a blue…it seemed fitting.

With an arsenal of spare parts in hand, I set out to find a reputable, affordable body shop, to take the car through metal work and paint.

The team at Creative Coachworks in Dover, New Jersey were great.  Henry Hedden was the project manager.  Pete Ritter oversaw floor operations on the car, and painted it himself, having taken a sincere interest in the car.  Dave on metal, Antonio doing final surface prep, the car was in and out in 2 months!

I took the car home on November 4, 2005, just 6 months from the day I began the project.  Granted, it came home without the dash, interior, seals or the glass, but I wanted to put these back together myself.  The weather quickly turned cold, and the holidays were upon us.  But with my new garage heater, I expect to be finished with the restoration by the first sunny spring day!

This was a labor of love…I don’t know how many people get to restore an 1800…but how many get to restore their Dad’s 1800?

Enjoy the pictures, and look for more when I finish in the spring!

Contact information:
Marc Mackin 2006-01-07
Kinnelon NJ USA
Email:   mackinmarc@gmail.com