The car was built on a tubular steel chassis with a glassfiber-reinforced polyester body tooled by Glaspar in California, but produced in Sweden. Engines were the Volvo B14A and B16B engines fitted with twin SU carburettors, driving through a three-speed manual gearbox. Many parts were taken from the Volvo PV444.
Demand was low, and the build quality was not high. Then-President of Volvo, Gunnar Engelau, took one for a drive on a holiday weekend and was dissatisfied enough that on returning to his office the following week cancelled the remaining production. "I thought it would fall apart!" is the legendary quote.
The total P1900 production was 68 cars, plus four or five prototypes. 44 were built in 1956, mostly for the Swedish market, and the vast majority still survive. Most of 1957's production went to the United States and elsewhere, and fewer of these are still in existence.