23 hours ago
10
Volvo's ain depository was a treasure trove of legendary cars of the brand's past
The Volvo Museum was a treasure trove of the brand’s finest machinery.
Now permanently closed with galore of the exhibits transferred to the caller World of Volvo, the depository showed the marque made much than conscionable bricks. It’s existent that, adjacent with its classical cars, the institution often enactment a overmuch greater accent connected information than connected design.
But it has besides shown a tremendous magnitude of creativity since its inception successful 1927 - with many classic Volvos sporting stunning exteriors. Walking done the authoritative Volvo depository successful Gothenburg, Sweden, reveals however decision-makers injected show and luxury into the brand’s line-up without diluting its image.
Let’s instrumentality a look:
ÖV 4 (1927)
Volvo made its archetypal series-produced car, the ÖV 4, connected 14 April 1927. Sales manager Hilmer Johansson got down the instrumentality of car fig 1 to ceremoniously thrust it disconnected the assembly enactment and rapidly noticed it lone moved backwards.
The differential cogwheel successful the rear axle had been installed improperly. Shop foreman Johan Fingal fixed the car successful 10 minutes and the celebrations carried connected arsenic planned. Volvo made 204 ÖV 4s betwixt 1927 and 1929. Only a tiny fistful past today.
PV 36 (1935)
Introduced successful 1935, the daring PV 36 looked markedly antithetic than Volvo’s different models. It wore an aerodynamic plan characterized by headlights integrated into the assemblage and covered rear wheels.
Many motorists recovered the look excessively futuristic and hard to get utilized to. The PV 36 – which earned the nickname Carioca – was besides heavy, underpowered and expensive. Production ended aft Volvo made astir 500 examples implicit a three-year period.
PV 444 (1947)
Per-Åke Fröberg, Volvo’s caput of heritage, told Autocar the game-changing PV 444 was acceptable successful 1944 but accumulation didn’t commencement until 1947 owed to a labour shortage caused by World War II. The steadfast had implicit 10,000 orders to capable astatine location and overseas erstwhile it started making the PV 444.
The PV 444 – which aboriginal morphed into the PV 544 – deserves credit for putting Volvo connected the representation successful the United States. Sales successful America officially began successful 1955 and it became the 2nd best-selling European car (behind the Volkswagen Beetle) in California 2 years later.
PV 61 (1949)
Volvo continued offering bare chassis into the 1950s. Most examples were transformed into pickup trucks, transportation vans, oregon ambulances but a tiny fistful were promised a much exotic beingness arsenic stylish convertibles prized by Sweden’s jet-setters.
This PV 61 was turned into a roadster by Stockholm-based coachbuilder Nordbergs successful 1949 and afloat restored by Volvo.
Philip (1953)
In the 1950s, decades earlier the word ‘Scandinavian design’ became marketable internationally, Volvo designers often looked crossed the Atlantic for inspiration. The 1953 Philip prototype looked similar an American car with its generous dimensions and large chromed bumpers connected some ends.
It drove similar one, too, due to the fact that it utilized a 120hp V8 motor designed in-house by Volvo. The steadfast notes the Philip remained a one-off exemplary due to the fact that it would person outgo acold excessively overmuch to mass-produce. The V8 motor aboriginal powered trucks and boats, however.
Sport (1954)
On paper, Volvo’s archetypal sports car intimately resembled the original Chevrolet Corvette. Called Sport, it took the signifier of a two-seater roadster with a fiberglass body, an eye-catching exterior plan and wall-to-wall leather upholstery inside.
Assar Gabrielsson, Volvo’s co-founder and CEO successful the aboriginal 1950s, commissioned the car aft taking a travel to the United States successful 1953. Production started the pursuing twelvemonth and ended successful 1957.
Sport (1954)
The Sport sold poorly due to the fact that it was expensive, it suffered from prime problems and Swedish motorists showed small involvement successful buying a roadster they'd person to parkland fractional the twelvemonth successful bid to avoid hypothermia.
Volvo made 67 examples of the Sport, and it’s the lone Volvo ever made with a fiberglass body.
P1800 prototype (1958)
The memorably ill-fated Sport didn’t discourage Volvo from trying to marque a sanction for itself successful the sports car segment. In 1958, it showed a prototype called P1800 that accurately previewed a sporty coupe introduced successful 1961.
The differences betwixt the prototype and the accumulation exemplary were minor; aboriginal cars adjacent came with two-piece bumpers.
Rally-winning PV 544 (1965)
Brothers Joginder and Jaswant Singh won the 13th variation of the grueling East African Safari Rally successful this purpose-built PV 544.
The modifications included squeezing much powerfulness retired of the four-cylinder engine, adding stronger suspension components and fitting heavy skid plates beneath the captious mechanical components.
Rocket (1967)
Jan Wilsgaard, the caput of Volvo’s plan department, began moving connected a successor to the P1800 successful the 1960s.
He considered 2 antithetic options. The archetypal wore a much blimpish plan that fell successful enactment with what buyers broadly expected from Volvo. The 2nd took the marque into uncharted territory. Officials couldn’t determine betwixt the 2 truthful Volvo asked Italian coachbuilder Frua to physique a drivable prototype.
Rocket (1967)
Called Rocket, Frua’s prototype looked similar a P1800 from the extremity of the beforehand bumper to the B-pillar. Beyond that, it received a longer extortion line, an upswept rear overhang and a solid hatch underlined by horizontal lights.
Frua’s Rocket looked excessively utmost to acceptable into the Volvo line-up truthful Wilsgaard’s squad selected the archetypal enactment and fine-tuned it into the P1800 ES.
164 (1968)
The 164 stood retired arsenic the archetypal Volvo offered with a six-cylinder motor since 1950. The illustration displayed successful the company’s depository is the archetypal 1 made erstwhile bid accumulation started successful 1968.
The steadfast notes the car spent overmuch of its aboriginal beingness successful Belgium. It joined Volvo’s postulation during the 1980s with astir 50,000 miles connected the clock.
VESC (1972)
The Volvo Experimental Safety Car (VESC) explored ways to marque driving safer. Bumpers with 7 inches of question protected the expanse metallic successful the lawsuit of a low-speed collision.
Volvo installed beforehand and rear airbags positive centrifugal mounts designed to propulsion the motor nether the rider compartment successful a crash. Its astir innovative diagnostic was a rear-view camera provided by Mitsubishi Electric. It transferred footage to a television-like surface connected the dashboard.
244 (1974)
Some of the information features baked into the VESC trickled down to the 200 series, an improvement of the 100 bid with bigger bumpers, an improved chassis and a much contemporary-looking design.
The line-up included two- and four-door models positive a spacious presumption wagon. Volvo made 2.8 cardinal examples of the 200 bid betwixt 1974 and 1993.
In hindsight, it astir single-handedly cemented the company's estimation for gathering safe, coagulated cars.
66 (1976)
Volvo received the 66 erstwhile it purchased the car-building part of Holland-based DAF successful 1975. Its mentation of the car received insignificant plan tweaks and respective important information upgrades similar caller seats with integrated headrests and a alleged information steering wheel.
There were nary large mechanical changes; the 66 carried connected with a Renault-sourced four-cylinder motor that spun the rear wheels done a continuously adaptable transmission (CVT). Production ended successful 1978.
343 (1976)
Volvo’s acquisition of DAF besides included an unfinished task called 77. It was a brand-new car that shared astir nary parts with the 66 oregon its predecessor, the 55.
Volvo finished the plan and re-named the car 343. It went connected merchantability crossed Europe successful 1976 with a four-cylinder motor and a CVT.
The line-up aboriginal grew to see much almighty engines and, by fashionable demand, a accepted five-speed manual transmission.
Electric prototype (1976)
Volvo’s 90-inch agelong electrical prototype could person go the Smart Fortwo of the 1970s.
It’s 1 of 2 experimental battery-powered metropolis cars tested connected the nationalist roads astir Volvo's office successful Gothenburg, Sweden. The institution rapidly shelved the task due to the fact that some prototypes were amazingly heavy, excruciatingly dilatory and offered a constricted driving range.
262C (1977)
Volvo envisioned the 262C arsenic a replacement for the P1800 ES. The two-door, four-seater flagship exemplary was based connected the 200 bid and received the top-spec PRV V6 engine.
The database of modular features included leather upholstery, powerfulness steering, powerfulness windows, powerfulness mirrors and a three-speed automatic transmission. Early cars came with metallic overgarment and a achromatic vinyl extortion portion aboriginal ones were offered successful metallic golden without the vinyl.
Bertone made 6622 examples of the 262C betwixt 1977 and 1981. 75% of the accumulation tally went to the United States and lone 200 cars were sold caller successful Sweden.
760 (1982)
Volvo remembers it held merchandise clinics for the archetypal clip portion processing the 700 series.
The invaluable feedback gathered from participants helped the steadfast recognize what prospective buyers liked and didn’t similar astir the car and marque changes earlier it arrived successful showrooms.
Light Component Project (1983)
Volvo built the Light Component Project (LCP) prototype to exemplify ways to marque lighter, much businesslike cars. This ground-breaking instrumentality made its debut successful Stockholm successful 1983.
Volvo replaced robust and alloy with lighter materials similar aluminum, magnesium and composites. It notably made the doors retired of c fiber, a worldly astir exclusively reserved for costly contention cars successful the aboriginal 1980s.
Shedding value allowed the LCP to usage a comparatively tiny 66hp three-cylinder diesel motor without sacrificing acceleration oregon apical speed.
240 Turbo Racing (1985)
In the 1980s, Sweden’s turbocharged car of prime wore a Saab emblem connected the grille. Volvo nevertheless jumped connected the forced-induction bandwagon successful 1981 erstwhile it released the 240 Turbo.
It started racing the car successful 1984 and sponsored 2 mill teams the pursuing twelvemonth successful an all-out effort to triumph the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Volvo took location the driver’s title successful 1985 aft drivers Gianfranco Brancatelli and Thomas Lindström won six of the 14 races held that year.
The triumph astir didn’t happen, however. Race officials astir kicked Volvo retired of the bid aft questioning whether the steadfast had genuinely built the 500 cars required for homologation. Volvo executives famously waited until the extremity of their summertime interruption to wide the company’s name.
780 (1985)
Volvo again asked for Bertone’s assistance erstwhile it began the process of turning the 760 into a two-door luxury car. Presented astatine the 1985 Geneva car show, the 780 arrived with an elegant plan that arguably gave it a much balanced look than the 262C, its predecessor.
Volvo offered a precocious level of instrumentality and either a four- oregon a six-cylinder engine. Bertone made 8500 examples of the 780 until 1990. Most of the accumulation tally went to the United States and Japan.
480 (1986)
Volvo broke caller crushed erstwhile it introduced the 480 astatine the 1986 Geneva car show. The sharp, wedge-shaped exemplary was the firm’s archetypal series-produced front-wheel thrust car.
The 480 complied with American regulations (hence the five-mph bumpers and the airy reflectors connected some ends) but Volvo abruptly canceled its plans to merchantability the car crossed the Atlantic owed to the disadvantageous krona-dollar speech rate.
76,375 examples of the 480 rolled disconnected the assembly enactment betwixt 1986 and 1995. The illustration displayed successful Volvo’s depository is the precise past 1 made.
480 Cabriolet (1990)
Volvo made and tested a fewer examples of the topless 480 but yet canned the project. The 480’s aborted US motorboat apt had a important power connected Volvo’s determination to cancel the convertible due to the fact that America would person been the model’s biggest marketplace by a agelong shot.
The institution besides remembers that respective suppliers who participated successful the task filed for bankruptcy during the model's investigating phase.
850 BTCC (1994)
Volvo raised eyebrows erstwhile it entered a brace of 850s successful the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) successful 1994.
No 1 had dared spell racing with a long-roof exemplary before. Volvo’s introduction did its champion to fend disconnected fierce contention from rivals specified arsenic the Alfa Romeo 155 TS, the Ford Mondeo, the Vauxhall Cavalier and the BMW 318i with 280hp from a five-cylinder engine. The squad finished the 1994 play successful eighth place.
850 T-5R (1995)
The 850 T-5R was Volvo’s show leader during the 1990s.
It packed a 240hp punch from a 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine. Volvo quoted a 0-62mph clip of 6.9sec, which was speedy capable to interest the contention from Germany, and yellowish overgarment and a model-specific assemblage kit fto different motorists cognize they weren’t looking astatine a run-of-the-mill 850.
Volvo intended to physique 2500 examples of the T-5R. The archetypal accumulation tally sold retired rapidly truthful it made 2500 further T-5Rs painted successful achromatic and astir 800 cars finished successful olive green.
XC90 Lego (2004)
This is the lightest XC90 that Volvo has ever built. It’s a life-sized exemplary made with nary little than 201,076 Lego bricks.
It’s hollow – it’d beryllium a batch heavier different – and the integrative assemblage sits connected an existent XC90 chassis. Five Lego employees spent 10 weeks gathering the XC90 arsenic portion of a concern betwixt the Swedish steadfast and the Legoland amusement parkland successful California.
YCC (2004)
Volvo presented the Your Concept Car (YCC) astatine the 2004 Geneva car show.
It envisioned the plan survey arsenic a car for women. It assembled a squad of women engineers and designers to make it and asked for a car that was casual to park, required small maintenance, offered astute retention solutions and boasted bully visibility.
The YCC ne'er reached accumulation but immoderate of its plan elements influenced the C30.
If you enjoyed this story, delight click the Follow fastener supra to spot much similar it from Autocar
English (US) ·