Volvo

Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, established Volvo. The first car was put into production in the year nineteen hundred twenty-seven. Gabrielsson studied economics and was a sales manager for a Swedish bearings company. Larson worked for Whites and Poppe, an automotive company in Coventry England and then he too worked for SKF and later as a technical manager for AB Galco. .

Gabrielsson and Larson set out to build a vehicle that was better suited to the Scandinavian climate than the US cars they were importing. Ten prototypes were built through Gabrielsson’s financing. These prototypes so impressed SKF that they agreed to fund the production of the first thousand cars. In addition, they allowed the partners the use of one of the company’s patented names, which was AB Volvo.

Initially, 203 steel-bodied open cars were manufactured and 721 closed fabric-bodied. PRV models were produced. A three-liter straight six was manufactured in 1929. This model was called the PV650 and was produced until 1937. After that time, 3.2 and 3.6 liters were manufactured. At the same time, 1.5 ton trucks were also being produced.
In the mid 1930’s SKF relinquished control of Volvo with a stock flotation. Volvo also took over Pentaverken. This became AB Penta, which was Volvo’s marine-engineering unit.

Volvo built their millionth car in 1966. The car was the Amazon and this car was phased out in 1970. Five million cars were produced by Volvo by 1983. Over the years, Volvo continued to launch new series. Most of these cars were luxurious and they were rectangular in shape. The 850 were launched in 1992. This car was different than its predecessors. It had a new five-cylinder engine and was front wheel drive. There was also a turbocharged, 2.3 liter engine option. This car became known for its outstanding performance. This car became the first in the world to have side airbags.

Through the years, Volvo has continued to design new cars. Many of their cars are considered more stylish than ever before. The C70 was introduced in 1998. This car was able to compete with BMW and Mercedes. Car insurance groups for the C70 range from insurance group 15 to car insurance group 20 for the high spec cars.

Volvo has been known for building very safe cars, and in 1998, the new S80 became their safest car to date. It includes side impact curtain airbags and whiplash protection. Ford bought Volvo in 1999. Volvo has continued to introduce great new cars.