Happy Birthday to the PV!

70 years ago yesterday (September 1st), Volvo introduced the PV444 at the recently built Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm.

Family enjoying a picnic with their PV444.

Circa 1947. Volvo plant workers assembling the PV444.

Volvo had started working on the car a few years prior to the show, and didn't have a working model ready to debut. Still, interest was high at the show, with many folks gathering round to catch a glimpse of the "Little Volvo".

Volvo would take 2300 preorders before the show was over. It was an instant success. Volvo wouldn't deliver any of the cars until after WWII had ended (the first production car was signed off in February of 1947).

Kodachrome colour photo of a Family with their PV444.  Circa 1949.

The first batch of PV444s came in Black, with a light green interior.
This photo is taken outside the Volvo factory.

It would be the PV444 that would introduce the USA market to Volvo. Delivery began in LA during August of 1955 to promising numbers. The cost of a PV444 in 1955 was $1995 (about $18K today.)

By the time that production ceased on the PV444 / PV544 in October of 1965, exactly 440,000 units had been built.

The car that turned Volvo into a worldwide brand celebrates it's 70th birthday.

Interior of a 1947 PV444.