Volvo vibes

the roof cuckoo
Perhaps the best Volvos ever made-

About a royal Volvo from the time when the crown prince couple had C plates. About the roof cuckoo that never became a success - and a little reminiscence about the Volvo 760, which has turned 40 years old.

 

Norwegian Volvo Club meeting

At the weekend there was a Volvo meeting at the Norwegian Transport History Center at Hønefoss station. I like Volvo better than other cars. There are few cars that are as durable. 50-year-old standard cars can be driven 8-10 miles per hit. When the hood is opened after arrival, a completely spotless engine compartment is revealed. In between the standard cars, I also found some special vehicles.

The Volvo from Skaugum

The flag attachment reveals that this 264 streched limousine has not belonged to the mean group. Only the royals are allowed to drive with the flag attached to the middle of the bonnet. The beautiful Volvo 264 TE previously had registration number C-2. It belonged to the then Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja. I assume that the car got C plates because the crown prince's family lived at Skaugum in Asker - which from old times had "C" as the registration letter. The cars with "A" were reserved for the castle in Oslo. Today, the Royal Palace no longer uses "C" as the registration number.

The stately Volvo 264 limo was probably built by Nilsson Special Vehicles and delivered to the Royal Household in 1983. The lines are as harmonious as the original models. On Saturday 14 May, the pictured car had been at the castle to shine on the exhibition "The King's Cars". The exhibition was held in the Queen Sonja Kunststall and showed the king's cars through 4 generations. On this day, the Royal Collections had invited former Royal House cars "home".


Do you hear the cuckoos?

the roof cuckoo
Imagine if the roof cuckoo had become standard on all cars?

the roof cuckoo
Two shiny Volvo PV 444. The roof cuckoo sits on the car tv

Another rarity at the exhibition was the roof cuckoo. The Swedes have always tried to be at the forefront when it comes to road safety. That was the reason why Volvo for a short period in the early 50s delivered cars with a kind of lantern on the roof - popularly called the "roof cuckoo". At that time, direction arrows were more common than turn signals. The roof cuckoo should make the flashing more obvious. On each of the wings was a flashing light. In the front center, there was a bluish light so you could see the car coming towards you in the dark. The system did not work so well in practice. Firstly, cars with roof racks could not be fitted with a roof rack. Secondly, it was difficult to perceive which way the roof cuckoo was blinking. But imagine what today's cars would look like if the roof cuckoo had become mandatory!

The story of the roof cuckoo


700 series

the roof cuckoo
Volvo 760 first series

At car meets like this, the cars in the 200 series are well represented. There are also quite a few cars from the 900 series, - while the 700 series is more rare. Sometimes I wonder where the 740s and 760s went. I found several at this meeting. Pictured is an early 760 Turbo. You can see that the font that shows the model is squiggly. From 1986, the model decals received rectilinear lettering.

The first model in the 700 series was the 760 GLE. It was put into production in 1982 and although in retrospect you can see clear similarities with the 200 series, the 760 appeared as a revolution. I can well remember the first time I saw it. I was working in Sweden at the time and was on my way out to Fornebu Airport by taxi. The driver was probably at least as interested as I was. "See!", he exclaimed. "The new Volvo!". And quite rightly so. In front of us stood a light blue metallic Volvo 760 GLE in all its glory. Low and wide with large glass surfaces, massive grill and front spoiler lip. It was like seeing a car from another world!

🙂 Where were you when you saw 760 for the first time?


the roof cuckoo
Volvo 242GT
the roof cuckoo
Volvo Duett in service for Drammens-is.

 

See

the roof cuckoo
In royal service.
1966 Lincoln Continental
The King's cars. Vehicles through 4 generations
the roof cuckoo
Volvo meeting at Jessheim

 

Terje Bjørnstad. Blog administrator, hobby photographer and car enthusiast.

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