This image shows the very new 1954
Volvo P 1900 prototype.
Volvo Car
Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer
founded in 1927, in
Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the
ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo
AB was introduced on the Swedish
stock exchange in 1935, SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo
produces models ranging from SUVs, station wagons (estates), and sedans
(saloons), to compact executive sedans and coupes With approximately 2,300
local dealers from around 100 national sales companies worldwide, the US is Volvo Cars' largest market, followed by Sweden, the United
Kingdom, China
and Germany.
In 2010, Volvo recorded global sales of 373,525 cars, an increase of 11.2%
compared to 2009. Volvo is known for its high safety standards. Owners are
often proud of achieving high mileage; one well-documented 1966 Volvo P1800 has
been driven over 2.8 million miles, a Guinness World Record for most miles
driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle. According to some figures,
the average age of a Volvo being discarded is 19.8 years, second only to Mercedes.
Volvo company was founded in Gothenburg,
Sweden in 1927.
The company was created as a subsidiary company 100% owned by SKF. Assar
Gabrielsson was appointed the managing director and Gustav Larson as the
technical manager. "Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle
behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain,
safety", Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson 1927. The trademark Volvo
(which is latin for I roll) was first registered by SKF the 11 May 1915 with
the intention to use it for a special series of ball bearing for the American
market (however in the application for the trademark, it was also designated
for the purpose of automobiles), but it was never used for this purpose. SKF
trademark as it looks today was used instead for all the SKF-products. Some
pre-series of Volvo-bearings stamped with the brand name 'Volvo' were
manufactured but was never released to the market and it was not until 1927
that the trademark was used again, now as a trademark and company name for an
automobile. The first Volvo car left the assembly line April 14, 1927, and was
called Volvo ÖV 4. After this the young company produced closed top and
cabriolet vehicles, which were designed to hold strong in the Swedish climate
and terrain. In the registration application for Volvo logotype in 1927, they
simply made a copy of the entire radiator for ÖV4, viewed from the front. In
1964 Volvo opened its Torslanda plant in Sweden, which currently is the one
of its largest production sites (chiefly large cars and SUV). Then in 1965 the Ghent, Belgium
plant was opened, which is the company's second largest production site
(chiefly small cars). Finally in 1989 the Uddevalla plant in Sweden was opened, which is now
jointly operated by Volvo Car Corporation and Pininfarina of Italy. A
collection of Volvo's most important historical vehicles are now housed in The
Volvo Museum, which opened in a permanent location in Arendal at Hisingen on
May 30, 1995. For several years, the collection had been housed at "The Blue
Hangar," at the then closed Torslanda
Airport. In the early
1970s, Volvo acquired the passenger car division of the Dutch company DAF, and
marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built Volvo 340,
which went on to be one of the biggest-selling cars in the UK market in the 1980s. Volvo cars
have long been marketed and stressed their historic reputation for solidity and
reliability. Prior to strong government safety regulation Volvo had been in the
forefront of safety engineering. In 1944, laminated glass was introduced in the
PV model. In 1958, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the modern
3-Point Safety Belt, which became standard on all Volvo cars in 1959. Volvo was
the first company to produce cars with padded dashboards starting in late 1956
with their Amazon model. Additionally, Volvo developed the first rear-facing
child seat in 1964 and introduced its own booster seat in 1978. The 960
introduced the first three-point seat belt for the middle of the rear seat and a
child safety cushion integrated in the middle armrest. Also in 1991 came the
introduction of the Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) on the 940/960 and 850
models, which channeled the force of a side impact away from the doors and into
the safety cage. To add to its SIPS, in 1995 Volvo was the first to introduce
side airbags and installed them as standard equipment needed in all models in
1996. At the start of the 1995 model year, side impact protection airbags were
standard on high trim-level Volvo 850s, and optional on other 850s. By the
middle of the production year, they were standard on all 850s. In Model Year
1996, SIPS airbags became standard on all Volvo models. In 1998 Volvo also
developed and was the first to install a head-protecting airbag, which was made
standard in all new models as well as some existing models. The head-protecting
airbag was not available on the 1996 C70 due to the initial design deploying
the airbag from the roof; the C70, being a convertible, could not accommodate
such an airbag. Later years of the C70 featured a head-protecting airbag
deploying upwards from the door, negating the issue of roof position. It has
been stated by many testing authorities that side head protecting curtain
airbags can reduce risk of death in a side impact by up to 40% and brain injury
by up to 55%, as well as protecting in a rollover situation. In 1998, Volvo
introduced its Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), a safety device to prevent
injury of front seat users during collisions. In 2004, Volvo introduced the
BLIS system, which detects vehicles entering the Volvo's blind spot with a side
view mirror mounted sensor and alerts the driver with a light. That year also
saw Volvos sold in all markets equipped with side-marker lights and
daytime-running lights. Much of Volvo's safety technology now also goes into
other Ford vehicles. In 2005 Volvo presented the second generation of Volvo
C70, it comes with extra stiff door-mounted inflatable side curtains (the first
of its kind in a convertible). In 2006 Volvo's Personal Car Communicator (PCC)
remote control has been launched as an optional feature with the all-new Volvo
S80. Before a driver gets to their car, they are able to review the security
level and know whether they have set the alarm and if the car is locked.[citation
needed] Additionally, a heartbeat sensor warns if someone is hiding inside the
car. The S80 is also the first Volvo model to feature Adaptive cruise control
(ACC) with Collision Warning and Brake Support (CWBS). Since 2004 all Volvo models
except for the coupes (C70 and C30) are available with an all-wheel drive
system developed by Haldex Traction of Sweden. Even though Volvo Car Corp
is owned by the Ford Motor Company, the safety systems of Volvo are still made
standard on all of their vehicles. Volvo has patented all of their safety
innovations, including SIPS, WHIPS, ROPS, DSTC, IC, and body structures. Some
of these systems have shown up in other Ford vehicles in related forms to that
of Volvo systems only because Volvo has licenced the FOMOCO and other PAG
members to utilize these features. According to the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety (IIHS), Volvo's S80 became one of 2009 Top Safety Picks Award
winner, but Volvo's S40 and S60 (both 2005–09 models with standard side airbags)
failed to attain the highest rating in their side impact test. Volvo's C30 is
not tested by IIHS yet, but received 5 star safety in EuroNCAP. However,
according to the IIHS, in recent years Volvo Cars have still managed to
maintain their high class safety ratings as seen in test results. The Volvo
XC90, S80 and C70 all score top scores in these rated crash tests.
It is a very nice and very rare non period photo
that reflects a wonderful era of Volvo
's automotive history in a wonderful way. It has a nice large format
of ca. 8" x 10" (ca. 20 x 26 cm).
It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on
photo, for ebay purposes only)
No copyright
expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our
archives that we have gathered from various sources.
All items always sent well
protected in PVC clear files and board backed
envelopes.
We have
photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the
original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and
excellent quality.
After many decades
of professionally collecting photographs and posters we are clearing out our
archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They
will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a
border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace,
restaurant, bar or club!
First come -
first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any
questions before the auction ends.