In 1924 Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson founded the Volvo car company in Sweden.
It was the first Scandinavian car company. The first Volvo (Latin for I roll), the ÖV4, also called Jakob, left the factory. ÖV stands for the Swedish öppen vagn, which mean open top car. As it, due to the fairly high price, didn’t sell to well, the company also produced a saloon version, the PV4. The cars, with 4-cylinder engines, were able to withstand the cold Swedish climate much better than the imported American cars.
In addition to the passenger cars, trucks and busses were built and dominated the production in the first decades. In 1929 the PV651 was introduced. It had a 6-cylinder engine and was wider and longer than the Jakob. The PV651 was more successful and as it was a 5-seater, often used as a taxi.
In 1932 10,000 Volvo cars were produced. The PV444, introduced in autumn 1944, was a car that had not only American flair but also a European size, and it was an instant success.
During WW2 Volvo produced vehicles mainly for military use. Through to the 1960s the PV444 and the PV544 dominated the Swedish car production. Another very successful car was the Volvo 120, also called Volvo Amazon, which was introduced in 1956.
In 1959 The PV544 and the Amazon were the first cars world wide to be equipped with 3-point safety belts as standard. Accident protection and safety were always very important factors of the Volvo car design. The first sports car created by Volvo was the P1800, well known from the TV series “The Saint” with Roger Moore behind the wheel.
In 1966 the first cars of the 144 Series were introduced, first as saloon cars and later also as estate versions. The cars were equipped with disc brakes on all 4 wheels, a safety steering column and crumple zones in the front and in the rear. The Volvo 240 was the first car worldwide with lambda sensor and catalytic converter.
