Volvo C303 by The Essence Of The Car

As I have written earlier this year both the Volvo C303 and their bigger sister the Volvo C304 are not really properly standard cars. So I normally wouldn't present this type of Volvo model here on minivolvo. But here is another exception from my own rule. These light utility vehicles by Volvo are a pretty rare sight among the scale model world. My guess is they do have a fan community and some of you love to buy and collect every Volvo scale model.
The British manufacturer The Essence Of The Car has recently added a model of the Volvo C303 to his program. The model is only available in military green. Each Volvo C303 by The Essence Of The Car is individually numbered.

Volvo produced a total of 8718 units between 1974 and 1984. Three basic versions were available:

• Volvo C303 – short four-wheeler (as offered by The Essence Of The Car)
• Volvo C304 – short six-wheeler
• Volvo C306 – long six-wheeler

All three versions were available with various superstructures (soft top, hard top, cargo, personnel, equipment carrier, civilian version, ....)

The Essence Of The Car offers this very boxy Volvo as C303 - short four-wheeler - with hard top. This 1:43 scale model is available for £65 (± €76/ ± $80) including postage.

Quotes from the website theessenceofthecar.co.uk:

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.

Backgound info's explaining the idea behind the Essence Of The Car concept:

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 of 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.

Source: theessenceofthecar.co.uk