The tough Scandinavian

In the late 1950s the Swedish military was looking for a special vehicle, which should be primarily used for the transportation of troops. The constructors of Volvo were charged to develop a four-wheel-driven cab over engine, which ensured mobility even in very rough terrain.

Under the direction of chief designer Nils-Magnus Hartelius the engineers of Volvo developed a solid ladder frame and installed a box-shaped driver’s cab, which merged into a tub-shaped rear end on it. This design was very stable and provided the possibility to install a variety of different rear structures. With measures of 8,90x16 inch the unusually large-dimensioned low-pressure tires dominated the visual appearance of the Volvo. These were also one of the few components, which were not taken from the shelves of series production. Generally the guideline applied to ensure a cost-efficient production and that is how it came that the engineers used many parts of the then-current passenger car range. This was also applicable to the 1.8-liter engine with a power of 75 hp. The mass production  of the Volvo with the type designation L3314 – known in common usage as the “Laplander” – started in 1963. The exclusive customer was initially the Swedish military, whose wishes and guidelines were directly taken into account during production. Its generous chassis clearance, the extra wide tires, the short wheelbase and its large departure angle made it easy for the Volvo to climb high-lying areas, which were normally inaccessible for motorized vehicles.

Volvo produced overall 7,737 copies of the military version.    

Sales flyer by Autocult Models: Vertical Divider

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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.

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)