We recently spent a few days in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the unveiling of the brand new Volvo S90. We got the chance to visit the Volvo museum, and we were delighted to see a handful of classic Swedish cars putting around the city. Notably, we found a beige Saab 99 in a parking lot right downtown, and there are still plenty of Volvo 740s left on the road.
The trip got us thinking: what’s the greatest Swedish classic car of all time? For the sake of this argument we’ll say a classic is any car that’s at least 25-years old.
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It has to be the Amazon? Enduring design, fabulous build full of great detail (impossible to hotwire, a drain plug in the radiator) a great cruiser in overdrive, A credible rally proposition, First seats designed to be good for your back. Lovely horn ring. …
Oh but…
SAAAAB! And I can’t choose between the 92 and 99. One wilfully different (big tick), the other very designey but suffered terrible facelifts lenghthenings etc.
I might have opted for the very obvious P 1800 for its unique looks, great space agey dash but it was never viable real sports car and build was terrible even when repatriated from Jensen’s clutches.
But what about the PV? Oh dear this is really hard!
Maybe you should ask what Swedish car DOESNT qualify! Top of my list by a long way is the shovelnose Volvo 240.
One tried to kill me when its tail stepped out and I over-corrected and it rolled five times – but then it saved my life by not caving in on me.
For Volvos, the only choice is the PV544. Funky don’t-care looks and great to drive, with fabulous steering and shifter feel. Among Saabs, gotta be the multiple-rally-winning GT850. Again, you have to have driven one to get how fantastic the steering, brakes, and overall balance are. The bullnose style is cooler than the later Montecarlo 850.
Which of the two? I say the GT850 on the basis of its giant-killer competition record.
the volvo safety car which the U S goverment used for years as a benchmark to set safety standards.
Although I like old Saabs, especially the 95 & 96 models, my all time favorites are the Volvo 140 models.
Volvo 240.
140 series Volvos shared their basic design with the later 240s,in fact the volvoness as we know it was born with the 140’s. Early models follow classic sixties styling, white later ones have modern dashboards, safety steering wheels etc. Greatest Swedish car for me, ever.
Has to be either the original Saab 99 Turbo, or the 1985 Saab 900 Turbo 16S.
Volvo 142S? A bit of a sleeper – an early attempt at a faster Volvo, dual carburettors, other small ‘go faster’ mods, clean, simple late ’60s styling.
Volvo Carioca. And I personally like the PV60 for some reason. OK, the PV800 is kinda nice, too (that’s the one the “Volvo Suggan” is based on!).
Carioca has always been a favorite of mind. Very forward-thinking design.
1971 142E