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There is a short history of Volvo Trucks at the foot of this page.

VOLVO, Gothenburg, Sweden.

‘Volvo’ is Latin for ‘I roll’.

Assar Gabrielsson and engineer Gustaf Larsen were the two men behind the formation of Volvo, both spent part of their careers at Svenska Kulgerfabriken, better known as SKF the Swedish ball-bearing manufacturer.  Earlier Volvo had been formed as a subsidiary of SKF in 1915, the two men secured the rights to the dormant company in 1926.

Volvo avoided high overheads by subcontracting their work to established firms, one such company Penta Engineering Works produced Volvo’s car and truck engines from the outset and in 1931 took the company over renaming it AB Volvo-Pentaverken in 1935.  Within a year of building its first car, Volvo introduced a bonneted 1½ tonne truck, the LV40: the ’LV’ signified ‘Lastvagen’ or lorry, the range was expanded which took the GVW to 9 tonnes.

Several new trucks appeared in 1935, the LV81, 83 and 93, these new models had a streamlined grill and were stylish for the time.  After the war when British and European manufacturers were introducing austerity pattern wartime cabs Volvo were doing the opposite, introducing rounded radiator grills and the front was designed with stylish flowing lines.

Volvo expanded through the 1950s and 60s building up an extensive export market. In 1963 Volvo introduced its most famous range, the ‘system 8’. The prefix ‘F’ for forward control or ‘N’ for normal control was used followed by ‘85’ ‘86’ or ‘88’.  The system 8 concept was based on the eight components that underwent major renewal: engine, gearbox, rear axle, frame, steering, brakes, suspension and cab, the range was an immediate success.

In the UK the F86 and F88 were well received and an agent was appointed in the person of Jim McKelvie one time haulage contractor of Glasgow who set up Ailsa Trucks, within 3 years Volvo held a commanding position in the UK market.  A Scottish assembly plant was set up in 1972 and was responsible for building Volvo’s first F86 rigid 8-wheeler.

The next important range was the F10 and F12, these appeared in 1977, in-cab comfort was a high priority culminating in the superb Globetrotter range in 1983.

Later came the FL range, then the FH and FM range, all superb trucks.

In August 1999 Volvo announced a takeover bid for Scania but the EU Competition Authorities blocked the bid.

Later Volvo acquired Renault the French truck manufacturer.

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