Volvo first used the PV (for PersonVagnar) designation in 1927 on their PV4 saloon, and continued with it until the introduction of the 120 or Amazon series. Volvo’s PV444 series was introduced to the Swedish public in 1944, the company having decided during WW2 that they would need to produce smaller, more economical cars to secure their future. Reaction to the car was very positive, but it was to be another three years before they were able to start manufacturing, due in large part to a nationwide strike in the engineering industry.
Prior to this, they had made larger 6-cylinder saloons, such as the PV53 and the PV60 – indeed, the latter car was produced alongside the PV444 until 1950.
Once the company was able to start full production, sales were very encouraging, with over 10,000 PV444’s sold- but not yet on the road – within a few weeks. In fact it took until the folowing year for supply to catch up with demand – after all, Volvo was still, up to this point, primarily a bus and truck manufacturer.
As well as being popular in its home market, the 2-door, 4-seater PV444 was Volvo’s first car to be exported in any significant numbers – as just like in the UK, Swedish industry pushed to earn as much as it could in foreign markets. It was an interesting and modern car, if not particularly handsome – it was Volvo’s first uni-body car, and the first four-cylinder car produced by the company for almost 20 years. Having originally planned to build just 12,000 examples, almost 200,000 were built by the time the PV544 was introduced in 1958.
The name change was to signify that the personvagn could now seat five instead of four (at a push). The main visual difference was the larger front and rear windows, but these hardly constituted major developments.
Two engines were used; a 1584cc unit that developed up to 85bhp and, from 1961, a 1778cc one that pushed out an extra 10bhp. Sport models boasted twin carburettors and additional equipment and are reputed to still be great cars to drive to this day; unfortunately I’ve never had the chance to drive one of these stately Swedes. The PV was meant to be superseded by the still very upright but considerably more modern-looking 120-Series ‘Amazon’, but they were sold side-by-side for seven years, and just under 244,000 PV544’s were built before the last PV544 was built in October 1965.
As was the case with the PV444, the PV544 was made available in estate – known as the P210 Duett – and van configurations, and also in a sportier, more powerful variant imaginatively known as the PV544 Sport; these tend to be harder to find and cost correspondingly more than the standard cars.
Both the PV444 and 544 were successfully campaigned in motorsport, particularly rallying, with a PV544 famously winning the RAC Rally in 1963 and ’64 as well as the demanding Safari Rally in 1965 in a car that had already covered 42,000 miles!
As the car that marked Volvo’s transition from being a bus and truck builder to primarily a motor car manufacturer, the PV444 and PV544 represent significant stages in the company’s development on its way to becoming an internationally known motor-car brand and one of Sweden’s biggest and most famous exports, with the possible exception of ABBA.
Sweden’s biggest – or certainly most famous – exports
This brings us to our Prime Find for this week, which is a very late – 1966 model year but built in ’65 – PV544 for sale with a dealer in The Netherlands. There isn’t a great deal of information about the car on the website, but what there is tells us that the car has led a very pampered life for the last 24 years, having been stored in a heated garage and only been used on summer days for classic events. It’s in a smart pale grey that I think suits the car well, with matching interior, both described as “beautiful” and the car is claimed to be in “excellent condition” – it certainly looks good in the photographs, some of which we have borrowed from the dealer’s website as per our usual practice.
The odometer reads just under 64,000km but this is not warranted and being a Volvo, is more than likely to be on its second time around, but these were exceptionally durable cars. The asking price for this very tidy looking piece of Volvo history is €16,950, at the higher end compared with other examples I’ve found currently for sale, but it does look to be in above average condition.
I don’t know how many there are in the UK, but I haven’t seen many – obviously there’ll be more in its native Swedish market – and thanks to Brexit, if a UK buyer wants to import it, they’ll now have to pay 5% VAT, but for someone looking for a good example of the PV544, that shouldn’t be a hindrance.
As usual, if you are interested in this Volvo, we recommend arranging an inspection before you had over your hard-earned cash, if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk