Overview

Important and innovative Swedish manufacturer of cars and trucks (though the car division has been part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group since 1999). Probably its best known models are the Amazon (aka 120 series), the P1800 (as used in the TV series The Saint) and the 140-series, the first of the boxy models which for many years almost became a trademark of the marque.

Founding of company

The company was founded in August 1924 when engineer Gustaf Larson and Assar Gabrielsson, Sales Manager of the Swedish engineering company SKF, met and agreed to begin work on developing and "large-scale" manufacturing of a Swedish car. Design work began the following month, aided by a number of young engineers, the most important of which was Jan G Smith, who it is belived designed much of the first model.

To help raise finance, Larson and Gabrielsson built a number of prototypes, and with the first of these, they managed to persuade SKF to back the project, and Volvo was born (SKF had previously used the name Volvo -- from the Latin for "I roll" -- 10 years earlier for deep-groove ball bearings). The first production-line car was produced on April 14, 1927. 

Key events

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Key models

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Key Individuals

Gustaf Larson

Assar Gabrielsso

Gunnar Engellau 

Racing History

Despite producing vehicles that were often well suited for racing, rallying in particular, there was little official involvement for much of the company's history (Gabrielsson was quoted in 1956 as saying "Car rallies are about as useful to the industry a dog racing") 

There was some early success in September 1928, when an OV4 won a 1,360km rally from Moscow to Leningrad and back again, however, it was not until the late 40s that the PV444 started to appear at rallies, with team of three Swedes competing in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally. 

In 1958, Volvo, now under the management of Gunnar Engellau, finally began competing in earnest, with the result that Gunnar Andersson won the European Rally Championship in a PV444, following this up with the Gran Premio Argentina in 1960, and the European Rally Championship again in 1963, in a PV544 and a 122S. Other winners of the championship included Tom Trana in 1964 in a PV544, and Ewy Rosquist, with the Ladies' Championship, in 1959. 

Notes

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