Volvo Cars is revisiting the Art Deco era at this year’s Techno Classica Essen in Germany, the world’s largest historic car show, with a 1935 Volvo PV36 once owned by one of the company’s founders.
Gustaf Larson, one of Volvo Cars’ two founding fathers back in 1927, drove the American-styled PV36 for several years and that car will headline the company’s display in Essen. The show will also serve as the German car show debut for the all new US-built Volvo S60 sports sedan.
The PV36 is an example of Streamline Moderne, one of the most prominent design trends in the US in the early thirties. Buildings, trains, boats and even home appliances, such as toasters and steam irons, were designed in this late Art Deco style, described as, “Art Deco on the move,” due to the aerodynamic features.
Engineer and designer Ivar Örnberg brought the style to Volvo when he returned to Sweden in 1933, having worked in the American automotive industry for a few years. At Volvo, he was tasked to design the PV36, and it was clear that the years at companies like Hupmobile were fresh in his mind.
With the new Volvo model, he introduced the Streamline Moderne influences to Sweden. The exotic-looking car was soon nicknamed the ‘Carioca,’ most probably after a popular Latin American dance at the time. According to plans, Volvo only produced 500 cars of this model between 1935 and 1938.
The PV36 on display in Essen has low mileage but a rich history. The model was one of the first to be produced by Volvo, just a few years after engineer Gustaf Larson and economist and salesman Assar Gabrielsson decided over a crayfish dinner in 1924 to start a Swedish car company.
Eleven years later, Larson got the key to this Volvo PV36 with chassis number 85. He kept the car for three years, and barring a respray in its early days, it has been practically untouched since.
This PV36 is a unique link directly to one of Volvo Cars’ founders, and a fascinating example of how a decidedly American design style reached a small Swedish car company in the thirties.
The Techno Classica car show attracts around 200,000 visitors every year. Dates for the 2019 show are April 10-14. Other historic Volvo sedans that will be presented at the Volvo Cars stand include:
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Volvo Car Group in 2018
Voor het boekjaar 2018 liet Volvo Car Group een bedrijfswinst optekenen van 14.185 miljoen SEK (14.061 miljoen SEK in 2017). De omzet voor dit boekjaar bedroeg 252.653 miljoen SEK (208.646 miljoen SEK). In 2018 verkocht Volvo Car Group wereldwijd 642.253 auto's, ofwel 12,4% meer dan in 2017 (571.577). De resultaten accentueren de uitgebreide transformatie van Volvo Cars’ financiën en activiteiten gedurende de voorbije jaren en stuwen het bedrijf in de richting van de volgende groeifase.
Over Volvo Car Group
Volvo is actief sinds 1927. Vandaag is Volvo Cars een van de bekendste en meest gerespecteerde automerken ter wereld. In 2018 werden 642.253 Volvo's verkocht in ongeveer 100 landen. Volvo Cars is sinds 2010 eigendom van de Chinese Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding). Het bedrijf maakte deel uit van de Zweedse Volvo Group tot 1999, toen het werd gekocht door het Amerikaanse Ford Motor Company. In 2010 werd Volvo Cars uiteindelijk overgenomen door Geely Holding.
In 2018 telde Volvo Cars ongeveer 43.000 (39.500) voltijdse werknemers. De hoofdzetel, productontwikkeling, marketing en administratie van Volvo Cars zijn hoofdzakelijk gevestigd in Göteborg, Zweden. De hoofdzetel van Volvo Cars in China is gevestigd in Shanghai. De grootste autofabrieken van het bedrijf zijn gevestigd in Göteborg (Zweden), Gent (België), South Carolina (VS), Chengdu en Daqing (China), terwijl de motoren worden gemaakt in Skövde (Zweden) en Zhangjiakou (China) en de carrosserieonderdelen in Olofström (Zweden).
