The Volvo P1900 is a Swedish fiberglass-bodied roadster of which sixty eight units were built between 1956 and 1957 by Volvo Cars.

Assar Gabrielsson, the president and founder of Volvo, got the idea for the car when he saw a Chevrolet Corvette in the United States and wanted to make something similar. He asked Bill Tritt of Glasspar, an American boatbuilder, to design and tool a fibreglass/reinforced polyester body, which was later produced in Sweden.

The total production was sixty-eight cars, plus four or five prototypes. Forty-four were built in 1956, mostly for the Swedish market, and most still survive. The bulk of the 1957 production went to the U.S. and elsewhere, and fewer of these are still in existence.

I am pleased to announce the latest in my range of vehicle models.

It is the Volvo C303 Military 4x4 vehicle. It is available from the usual source www.theessenceofthecar.co.uk. The price is £65 including postage.

The car was developed in the late 60s based on the successful L-3314 series and went into production in 1974. This version was produced both as a 4x4 and a 6x6. An 8x8 was planned but dropped. Engines were the B30 from Volvo's civilian cars. The C3 series feature portal axles with locking differentials resulting in very high ground-clearance similar to the Unimog and outstanding performance off road. The cars are narrow to make it possible to navigate between trees and on narrow forest roads.
They were also sold to civilian customers for rescue services, electricity companies etc. and private use.
In the 1983 Paris-Dakar rally a Volvo C303 won the class for trucks under 10 tonnes.
8718 vehicles of the C3 series were made. Roughly 75% of these went into military service, with the remaining sold to civilian contracts.

The latest model is of a Volvo V70 Pick Up Truck. It is a one off and there is not much known about this pick up truck apart from 2 photographs of it on a trailer being delivered somewhere.

By looking at Volvo cars on the market, I have decided that it is based on a 2013/2014 model year car, probably a Wagon version. Using this information, I have made the rear end to mimic that of the Wagon.

The model is available to buy via the usual website www.theessenceofthecar.co.uk and the price is £65.

I have the pleasure to present you this model of the Volvo Venus Bilo. This is the first scale model ever of this iconic Volvo. It was a more difficult project since not many infos are available regarding this Volvo. The most difficult task was to reproduce the unusual shapes of the front end correctly. I'm sure you will agree with me that the model maker did a great job. This 1:43 scale model made of resin is available for 60,00 £ (  71.5 € / 95 $ ). Postage and packing are included in the price. Source  : theessenceofthecar.co.uk Click here to learn more about this car.

more photos will be added shortly

The Volvo Venus Bilo was a concept car revealed by Volvo in 1933. It was a streamlined design with rear hinged doors and door in the side to access the engine bay. It was designed to have a great loading capacity. Nine specially designed suitcases could be fitted into spaces in the back and a compartment in the right front fender. The left hand fender contained a spare tyre and tools. A second spare tyre in the rear was used as a bumper.

The Swedish company was not sure how the public would react to a closed sedan with no fender lines or running boards.  So they commissioned Gustaf Ericsson to build a car and gave him full credit.  Instead of being a Volvo, it was given the name Venus Bilo

The design was done by Gustaf Ericsson and it was based on a Volvo PV655 chassis. The coachwork was done by Nordbergs vagnsfabrik in 1932. It was Volvo’s timid attempt at streamlined styling. 

The fate of the car itself is unknown. After World War II it was sold to a person in Denmark. In the mid 1950s it was owned by a Danish scrapyard owner who rebuilt it into a pickup truck. It was used as late as 1956, but then it vanished.

The concept led to the production model Volvo PV 36 Carioca

The model is available to buy from my website www.theessenceofthecar.co.uk and the price is £60 including postage.

David Roots
01926 854771
www.theessenceofthecar.co.uk

The Models

Welcome to the world of The Essence Of The Car.

This is different concept in the presentation of scale model vehicles. Instead of the high level of detail usual in the die cast ranges, these models present the vehicles in their basic form. All are made to the standard collector's scale of 1/43 and each model carries a serial number and is accompanied by a certificate authenticity.

They have been described in different ways, such as sculptures or being like the original clay model that the vehicle manufacturers make as part of their development programmes.

The Concept

The idea started because I wanted a model of a special (full size) supercar that I was working on. The scale was decided by the availability of models of comparative subjects.

It quickly became apparent that to try to achieve die cast levels of detail within the limitations of domestic model making would be too time consuming. Therefore the idea of capturing just the raw shape of the car was born.

As the body started to take shape, the wheels were the next problem. Proprietary wheels would not fit with the simplistic approach of the body. So, the wheels and tyres had to follow the same simplistic approach. The wheels and tyres should be made as separate parts, the wheel centres being simplified to the swept shape of the wheel while the tyres were reduced to simple rings to an appropriate section.

The Company

The Essence Of The Car is a low key operation. All of the master models are made in house by hand. When those are complete, the necessary moulds are made, again in house, and any production can begin. All of the models are then finished by hand.

Whilst the process has its limitations, it is being continually developed to widen the scope of subjects that can be modelled. Examples developed so far include thin sections such as tail fins, open pickup truck bodies and separate chassis and axle detail where these are an important part of 'The Essence Of The Car'.

The catalogue will always give some indication of models in the pipeline, but the simplicity of the process means that requests for a planned subject will determine its place in the development queue. Similarly, new model ideas can be responded to, even to the extent of fitting in the odd special order.