this is almost not a museum

Nature abhors a vacuum. Therefore, instead of this Saab gearbox assembly plant, closed for reasons we know, Volvo was established. A stone’s throw from downtown Gothenburg, and one kilometer away from Sweden’s largest amusement park, Liseberg, which caught fire last month, the manufacturer presents his world to us.

The world of Volvo it is clear that he wants to be a museum, but not only that. In fact, out of 22,000 m2 of the complex, only 4,500 m2 is dedicated to the exhibition of models. This is a bit. Too few? Considering the quality of the cars presented, this part of the museum offers a good sampling of what the Swede has produced since 1927.

28,000 tons of wood

Starting with the Royale seen by Volvo. It is a 90 hp 6-cylinder PV60 from 1946 that belonged to His Majesty the King of Sweden Carl Gustaf. He welcomes visitors to the entrance of the 28,000-ton wooden building designed by Henning Larsen architecture firm. A little further, an electric truck thinks about dinner at a gourmet restaurant run by one of the masters of local cuisine: Stefan Karlson.

But where are the car shows? You have to go back to the Swedish forest tops to discover them. Behind his desk, one of the founders of the brand, at least his photo, looks at the Volvos of yesterday and today. In addition to the inevitable P1800S from 1961, we also discover a very interesting concept from 2004, the YCC, created by a group of Swedish designers, but in no way reserved for women.

This idea is, in broad terms, a summary of what the C30 will be, no less successful, and appear two years later. Volvo’s design is far from the first “brick” 143 from 1966 that measures a small coupe is not too far from that. The line is also far from the dandelion yellow 850 R with its famous 5 cylinders that produced 240 hp.

Further back, another concept welcomes the visitor, this one orange. It is a small car, less than 2.70 meters from 1976 and it is electric before its time. Unlike today’s EVs, apart from its simple design? It had only 13 hp.

Bigger, and more democratic too, is the car that made the brand fly from 1947. With its small 40 horsepower PV144 sold almost 200,000 copies and took the road to the Swedish glory thirties. It is certain that the price of the car, around 416 euros at the time, worked to his advantage. Even if, to change this sum to be equal to today’s, it would cost 17,000 euros. We are still a long way from the XC 90 price.

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But more than cars, Volvo wanted to involve drivers, and even more so the buyers of its cars. It is the great German photographer Martin Schoeller who is facing it. After painting a picture of Barack Obama or Donald Trump, he died, for the first World Volvo exhibition, male and female drivers who all have one thing in common: they were saved from an accident due to the security that they had closed off. Way to remember that Volvo was the first, in 1959, to create and sell a three-point belt, patenting it so everyone could benefit from it.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy the fun areas of the center, especially by collecting plastic balls using mini excavators, as Volvo, which does not lose its way, reminds us that more than cars and trucks, it also manufactures small construction equipment and tractors. .

A lot of machines, which, like cars, will be electrified, even if the change will happen faster than in a car. At least for Volvos that the end of the heat technology will come in 6 years.