The forgotten Volvos
Volvo was overtaken in its home market for the first time last year, but has its own history of overseas success. We look at the Swedish firm’s Dutch years.
ownership drop to 30% with the government taking the remaining 70% and the resulting company licensed to use the Volvo name. At the same time it was formally agreed that the Swedish firm would concentrate on larger cars and the Dutch operation the mid-sized vehicles.
The first fruit of the new set-up was a modernised 3-Series, now renamed to Volvo 340 with the 1400 and 1700 Renault engine and Volvo 360 with the larger 2-litre Volvo unit. A four-door saloon and diesel model were added to the line-up, while the firm even created an unlikely performance offering in the shape of the fuel-injected 360 GLT.
Meanwhile, the Dutch engineers were working on a 3-Series replacement as part of Volvo’s ‘Project Galaxy’, intended to provide two modern frontdrive platforms, one for larger cars and one for smaller vehicles.
In late 1985, the first product of Project Galaxy was revealed, in the shape of the 480ES. With its style recalling the P1800ES ‘sports estate’ from Volvo history, the 480 may have been a niche seller but was a massively significant car for Volvo Car BV, representing its ability to independently design and engineer a complete model from scratch.
Apparently the Volvo grille under the nose was added at the insistence of Volvo designer Jan Wilgsaard but other than that, it was a Dutch production.
The stylish coupe was based on the platform developed for the 3-Series replacement which was duly introduced in 1988 as the 440 hatchback and then the 460 saloon the following year.
The 400-series retained the link with Renault as an engine provider and at launch was offered with a 1721cc version of Renault’s F-Series OHC engine available either with a carburettor or Renix injection or in 122 bhp turbocharged form.
In a fascinating aside, the
One of the more intriguing news stories from the tail end of 2016 was the news that the best-selling car in Sweden during the year was the VW Golf, which took a 6% market share to knock Volvo off the top spot it had enjoyed since 1962 when another VW – the Beetle – had done the same.
No doubt the measured Swedes took it in their stride though and Volvo has in any case been foreign-owned since Ford acquired the firm in 2000, with Chinese brand Geely being the current custodian.
Volvo also has its own success story of overseas expansion too, which began 40 years ago in the Netherlands of all places.
Holland’s only car maker, DAF which had grown out of the Van Doorne truck building operation, was running out of space at its Eindhoven plant and in 1967 began production in a new plant at Born, in the Limburg region.
The plant owed its existence to DAF’s decision to introduce a new, larger car to replace the diminutive rear-engined DAF 600 on which its range was based. The factory initially produced the DAF 44 which was a more powerful version of the older car but in 1968 it was replaced by the DAF 55 which discarded the air-cooled twin for a conventional four-cylinder Renault engine and added revised suspension.
It was the DAF 55 and especially its Renault connection which would later prove significant to the Volvo company.
The DAF cars were an acquired taste with their Variomatic CVT transmission but sold in reasonably large numbers across Europe to buyers looking for an affordable automatic and in 1972 the DAF 55 evolved into the DAF 66.
With an extensive facelift giving it a more modern face and a De Dion rear suspension, the 66 was offered with either 1100 or 1300 engine and saw the DAF brand being taken seriously as a credible car maker.
Although it was a major player in the heavy truck market, DAF remained a relative minnow in the car world and was struggling financially with its car building operations. The decision was taken to seek a larger partner to assist with new model development and as luck would have it, Volvo was also looking for additional manufacturing capacity outside Sweden.
The result was that in December 1972 DAF’s truck and car making divisions separated, with Volvo AB taking a 33% share in the company now known as DAF Car BV.
With sales of the DAF 66 initially buoyant, the future looked rosy for the Born plant until war broke out in the Middle East and demand slumped by a third in 1974.
The following year Volvo increased its holding to 75%, changing the firm’s name in May 1975 to Volvo Car BV, renaming the DAF 66 as the Volvo 66.
The Volvo 66 was destined to remain on sale until 1981, but in 1976 the first Dutch-developed Volvo was introduced in the shape of the Volvo 343.
A front-engined, rear-drive car, the 343 used the 1.4-litre Renault engine and a rearmounted transaxle gearbox similar to the layout employed by the Alfa 75 and Porsche 924 and was a complete departure from previous Volvo models.
Development was carried out primarily at DAF Car BV's Eindhoven facility, with input from Sweden during the final phase.
It may have sounded promising but the 343 was initially offered only as a threedoor using the DAF-derived CVT automatic, which resulted in disappointing sales. The hasty addition of a five-door model badged 345 and the option of a manual box improved things and the smallest Volvo became a steady seller, buyers loving it for its sturdy feel and quality build.
In 1976, DAF divested its final 15% shareholding and to mark the event, Volvo’s Dutch corporate headquarters were moved to Helmond from the DAF base at Eindhoven.
The following year saw the Dutch government funding the enterprise to the tune of 100 million Guilders, an event which saw Volvo AB scaling back its shareholding to 55%.
More corporate moves were in store though as the firm entered the ’80s. With the 343/345 range by then starting to look dated, a new model range and a corresponding investment was needed.
Volvo’s car-making operation (by then renamed Volvo Car Corporation) approached the Dutch government and ended up with a deal which saw Volvo’s