After a somewhat fumbling start the serious coachbuilding began in 1923 in the former brickworks and the tar producing factory in Valbo outside Gävle, Sweden. When World War II began in 1939 there were about 80 employees with the founders son Gunnar Åhlénius in the managerial post. Customers were the Swedish army, the Swedish Mail authority, the department for telecommunications and the electricity power company Vattenfall. After the ending of World War II the activity prospered following the growing need for vehicles. In the beginning of the 1950's the production was put on conveyor belt. At this state 1-1/2 cars were produced per shift. The commercial advertising for the van built on the PV 445 chassis said: "Van for workdays - estate wagon for Sundays."

In 1960 figures according to the production from the start in 1923 were presented. 10 000 vehicles overall, of which 4 000 were vans, firetrucks, ambulances and other larger units. After some 40 years of activities the company went into liquidation. With new owners the company AB Gävle Motorfabrik was started in 1962. In 1985 the company had 25 employees and an annual turnover presenting 6 million Swedish kronor. The production in big followed the former company structure in the old localities. Now there were cars produced for the Swedish Television network, prisoner transporting vans and vehicles for car shows.

Information about Valbo karosserifabrik is fetched from the book "Motormän i Gävleborg" written by Allan Synnemark and published by Winbergs in 1985. The book has ISBN nr. 91 970445-8-x. A big thanks to Jan Carlsson who gave the tip about the book.
(text published 2001-11-22)

The Volvo 164 was a step up for Volvo. Offering an official 165 estate would have made the 164 less prestigious and it would have made the production of further body forms §way more complicated. The production was based on the wheelbase length and the 164 was roughly 100 mm longer as the 140/145 so that the long straight six cylinder would fit. 
Around 1970-71 an engineer at Volvo Annes Sture Levin who worked with special cars had an 165 ambulance produced by a coach builder. In February 1972 the assembly plant in Australia which built Volvo's had a few knock down kits (CKD-kits) left and they took a 145 and a 164 and built both into a 165. That is the only 165 that has been built in a Volvo factory. It does even have is specific Volvo VIN number. According to a Volvo designer I know one or two were built in Gothenburg, but I don't have any hard evidence of that. Then in July 1972 Sture Levin wanted to build a special car for himself and gets a brand new 164 US spec from Torslanda and drove it to Yngve Nilssons Karosserifabrik in Laholm (SE). The coach builder then built the car according to Stures ideas. 
Further 165's have been built ever since by private persons and car shops all over the world.

Volvo 165 – drömmen om lyxkombin
av Fredrik Nyblad

Volvo 165 är modellen som aldrig serietillverkats men som ändå byggts av Volvo i Australien, karosserifirmor och inte minst som hembyggen. Fredrik Nyblad på tidningen Klassiker hittade en bild från 1972 i ett arkiv och blev fascinerad av fenomenet Volvo 165.
Fotografiet han fann ledde till att han blev ägare av den enda Volvo 165 som Yngve Nilssons karosserifabrik byggt. Det här är boken om drömmen om en Volvo som är mer. En Volvo som lastar mer, är snabbare och har mer lyxutrustning. Här finns historierna om Volvo 165-hembyggen från hela världen. I ”Volvo 165 - drömmen om lyxkombin” berättas också historien om bilarna som är förutsättningen för en 165: Volvo 145 och 164. Slutligen landar historien i två av de lyxkombibilar som Volvo verkligen serietillverkade.
Format: 260 x 240 mm
124 sidor
Ordinarie pris á 250 kronor

This was the first Volvo ambulance of this type to be used in The Netherlands. It was purchased by the private local ambulance service Westerbaan in Dedemsvaart (NL) in full Swedish color including the black bonnet. The bonnet (hood) was later painted white. In 1986 it was sold to the Volvo-factory (later NedCar) in Born (NL) for their emergency service.

The Volvo 900 Series is a range of executive cars produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1990 to 1998. The 900 Series was introduced in 1990 to replace the 700 Series from which it derived. Prior to the end of its production, the 960 was renamed as the Volvo S90 (saloon) and Volvo V90 (estate), and the 940 was renamed 940 Classic, becoming the last rear-wheel-drive cars from Volvo.

Visible differences between the 700 and the 900 Series included redesigned rear styling of the saloon models (late 700 estates and early 900 estates are visually identical.) The 960 was introduced in 1991 along with a new family of modular engines, and then was substantially revised for the 1995 model year, improving the handling. The range was first augmented and finally supplanted by the Volvo 850 in 1993, with the last of the 900s being sold in 1998. Some 900 Series were built as chassis for ambulances and hearses after the main production run had been completed.
The Volvo 940 is among the last in the long-running line of large rear-wheel drive cars from Volvo.

Introduced in September 1990, the 940 was essentially a cosmetic reskin of the 740. All drivetrains, and most options available in the 940 had been available in the 740, with the exception of the 780 Coupé. The 940 was more closely related to the 740 than the 760, sharing the same dashboard, drivetrain choices, and sheet metal from the A-pillar forward. In contrast, the 960 was an evolution of the 760. The 760 / 960 front sheet metal, independent rear suspension, dashboard, and other interior features were all exclusive to the two upscale models. The estate, introduced in May 1991, was even harder to tell apart from its 745 predecessor.

The engines remained largely the same as for the 740, with 2-litre and 2.3-litre four cylinder gasoline engines, either naturally aspirated or turbocharged, as well as the familiar 2.4-litre Volkswagen six-cylinder diesel and turbodiesels being fitted. There were also sixteen valve versions of the gasoline engines, with a turbocharged version of the 2.0 16V available in some markets with tight tax limits, such as Italy, Belgium, and Portugal. An interesting version added somewhat later was a low-pressure turbocharged version of the B230 – maximum power was only up slightly, from 131 to 135 PS (96 to 99 kW), but torque increased throughout the range and the car suffered from virtually no turbo lag because of the small size of the charger. The 155 PS (114 kW) turbocharged 2.0 was first presented in February 1991,[4] originally intended for Italy and other such markets it was later also installed in the British market 940 SE.

The SE badge was one of the more confusing badges. In the US, the 940 SE was in fact a 960 Turbo with the four-cylinder B230FT engine, the 940 SE badge presumably chosen by Volvo in order to maintain the link between name and number of cylinders. In Sweden, the 940 SE was an ordinary non-turbo 940 with some optional extras as standard, most notably painted mirrors and bumpers. In the UK, the 940 SE was a 2-litre Turbo with some extras as standard aimed specifically at the company car market as 2-litre engines receive a tax benefit. In Thailand the 940 SE was a Turbo (LPT) model with leather seats, ABS brakes and SRS Airbag.
North America
In the United States, the 1991 940 was offered in three versions: the 940GLE used a DOHC 16-valve version of the 2.3-litre engine with a 6,000 rpm redline. The 940 Turbo used a turbocharged 2.3-litre engine, and the top-end 940SE (turbo) included body-coloured trim, and the premium features (leather, power seats/moonroof, etc.) as standard equipment.

This is one of the Volvo vehicles that was produced at Volvo's former manufacturing facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1993, 940s built at that plant were affixed with roundels at the rear window, to celebrate the plant's 30th anniversary.

In 1991, the 940 GLE was downgraded with a 114 bhp 2.3-litre 4-cylinder engine and sold as the 940 GL (or basic 940 in some export markets). The 940 SE was in actuality a 960 Turbo sold as the 940 SE, while the 940 Turbo remained largely unchanged. Production of the 940 Series ended on 5 February 1998.

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