Volvo History

• Posted by admin
• 10 August 2013
• News

Original Volvo History appears on SwedeCar website here...

Volvo is Latin and means "I roll".
1920-1940

Volvo was born on April 14, 1927, when the first car, ÖV4 (nicknamed Jakob) left the factory in Gothenburg.

The 1920s was the decade when cars made a real breakthrough, both in the USA and Europe. In Sweden, people's interest in cars was seriously aroused in 1923 as the result of a jubilee exhibition in Gothenburg attended by 97 car exhibitors.

Quality was of paramount importance to the men who founded Volvo.
This basic concept, which was formulated back in 1926, still applies to Volvo's way of making cars.

The PV655, built between 1933 and 1935. The hood was modified and a "grille" had been fitted in front of the radiator for the first time.

The PV36 was intended to be a relatively expensive luxury model. A series of just 500 cars was made. The PV36 nickname was Carioca, perhaps because the Carioca was a South-American dance fashion at the time.

1940-1950

The successor to the PV53-56 was the PV60, a larger car in American style.

The new, small car, christened the PV444, was introduced in the autumn of 1944. Even at this stage, Volvo knew that the car would be unique, as it combined American design with European size. This later proved to be a highly successful combination.

IT STAYED IN PRODUCTION IN MODIFIED FORM FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS.

Taxis, ambulances and trucks where made in the 40’s and 50’s using the 800 model. Some of them had an "Americanized" front with five upright "teeth" between the front bars.

1950-1960

Volvo's plans for a two-seater sports car came as a great surprise. After all, the Volvo was known as a good, sturdy car, albeit a little boring.

The Volvo Sport, also called P1900 was subjected to grueling tests in Sweden. The engine was a B14A with twin carburetors, which developed 70 hp, but the other components had been taken from the PV444. There was little demand for the Volvo Sport in Sweden; only 67 cars were produced and production ceased within one year.

The first Volvo Duett 445 (later called 210) was introduced. The name Duett symbolized Volvo's idea of "two cars in one" one for work and one for leisure.

Volvo has been involved with manufacturing military vehicles and equipment for the Swedish Army through all the years and the 915 "Suggan" (the Sow) is just one of the many.

The Volvo management decided to make a whole-hearted commitment to internationalization. Introduction on the US market was incredibly important. Production of the 120 (called Amazon in Scandinavia) began in 1957, and a great deal of work had been put into its safety features. The top half of the dashboard was "padded", and Volvo was the first car manufacturer in the world to equip its cars with three point safety belts as a standard fitting.

1960-1970

The P1800 went into production.

In "THE SAINT”, Roger Moore drove a white P1800 much to the annoyance of the British Automobile Industry.

P1800 received awards for its attractive design at the 1961 California State Fair, and at the 24-hour race at the Sebring track in the US, the P1800 was the official car of 1963 and 1964.

In April 24, 1964 the new Torslanda Plant was opened. Its estimated capacity was 110,000 cars.

A number of new features were presented. These included disc brakes at the front on all Amazon models and power assisted brakes on station wagons.

Volvo presented a new type of front seat, which had been developed in collaboration with medical experts, who maintained that sitting in the right position had an important effect on traffic safety.

In August of 1966 a new car model was presented. It was called the Volvo 144. In terms of safety, this car was extremely advanced. It had disc brakes all round, a split steering column and a new lock on the three-point safety belts. The body had energy-absorbing crumple zones at the front and rear. Even the door locks had a safety design.

The 144 also meant the introduction of a triangle-split dual-circuit brake system. The car had two brake circuits and, if one of them failed, 80% of braking effect was still available.

The Volvo 144 was also a success abroad. In USA, the 144 complied with the new safety regulations before they had even been made public.

The Volvo 145 was introduced later that year. Technically speaking, this car was virtually identical to the other 140 models. The tailgate was made in one piece and opened outwards with the hinges located in the roof. Volvo now had three estates in its range, the P210 Duett, the Amazon/221 Estate and the Volvo 145.

For the full history of Volvo click here to go to SwedeCar website