Volvo PV444

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Volvo
Volvo PV444H
Volvo PV444H
PV444
Production period: 1946-1958
Class : Middle class
Body versions : limousine
Engines:
Petrol engines : 1.4-1.85 liters
(29-63 kW)
Length: 4370 mm
Width: 1500 mm
Height:
Wheelbase : 2600 mm
Empty weight :
successor Volvo PV544
Volvo PV444H
Volvo PV444L
Volvo PV444L

The PV444 is a Volvo passenger car .

Key data

The "People's Volvo"

The Volvo company co-founder Assar Gabrielsson had been cultivating the vision of mass motorization for a long time. However, this long remained an illusion, for the average consumer (Swe .: Mr. och fru-Medel Svensson) did not have the means to an automobile zuzulegen, let alone an expensive and robust Volvo. When all automobile manufacturers began building smaller cars for the general public in the mid- 1930s , Volvo began to worry too.

The main person responsible for the new project became Helmer Pettersson. The new car was supposed to have a self-supporting body , which Volvo had never worked on before. In order to fathom the construction principle, a 1939 Hanomag 1.3 liter was bought , which was about the size of the PV. Volvo's construction principles were based on the American ones at that time: Usable size, simple construction, long durability. In order to guarantee the latter in particular, they simply added a few percent when designing the body - in the hope that it would last. The body was never calculated, but it turned out to be extremely stable.

The introductory price was 4,800 Swedish kronor (SEK), a sum that could barely cover the manufacturing costs. The model was a resounding success, in 1944 2,300 people signed a sales contract, and Volvo was at the price mentioned, although it meant a significant loss. In March 1947 the regular retail price of the PV444 was then 6,050 SEK.

Due to a shortage of materials immediately after the war, production got off to a very slow start. Actual production only began in 1947 with a modest 1,920 cars. The following year, 2,176 units were built.

Volvo had planned to build a total of 8,000 cars, but increased the number to 12,000 after the demand was so overwhelming at its official launch in 1944. By the time the first PV had received state approval in the spring of 1947, over 10,000 firm orders had already been placed. A total of 440,000 of the two models (PV444 and PV544) had been built by the end of production in 1965, 55 times as many as originally planned.

What does PV444 mean?

"PV" already stood for personvagn , the Swedish word for passenger car, on earlier models . "444", according to the customer magazine Ratten (Das Lenkrad) at the time, stands for 4 cylinders, 40 HP and 4 seats.

Model variants

The first revision took place in 1950. The result was the PV444B, which was sold from September 1950. The first model was subsequently named PV444A .

Dashboard PV444 H / K

In the PV444B , the instruments have been moved from the center of the dashboard into the driver's direct field of vision. The dashboard has also been redesigned. The direction indicators were replaced by a direction indicator on the roof - in the middle on the front edge - the so-called "roof cuckoo" (Swedish: takgök), which was difficult to see and blocked the roof rack . Its beauty also seemed rather questionable to customers. A Q model, which was mainly intended for export and the Swedish telegraph factory, received blinkers mounted on the side behind the doors. The bumpers were also modified. Finish: black or dove gray for the deluxe model.

The PV444C (June 1951 – July 1952) continued to run with the new direction indicator despite all the criticism. The C model had 15-inch rims with five fastening screws instead of 16-inch rims with four screws.

The PV444D was produced from August 1952 to November 1953 , in which the direction indicator was finally replaced by side flashing lights, but only after a change in the law during the production period. In addition, you could purchase an interior heater for a surcharge . In addition, the deluxe model PV444DS had a metallic paintwork, which, however, did not prove to be very resistant to polishing and faded after a short time.

The PV444E (December 1953 – November 1954) finally had a standard heater and was the last model with a split rear window. A special incentive to buy was the five-year guarantee included in the purchase price, which also covered damage to the car, so it was also a kind of comprehensive insurance. This idea brought Volvo into a long legal battle with the Swedish insurance industry.

At the end of 1954 the PV444H (December 1954 – November 1955) came onto the market. The most important change: a continuous rear window for a better view to the rear. Nevertheless, reversing remained a risky undertaking because the close range remained invisible through the sweeping rear. Many owners of older models had the new rear window retrofitted. In the new model, the rear lights were moved upwards and the engine output rose from 44 to 51 hp at the end.

Towards the end of 1955, the PV444K followed (December 1955 – January 1957), the front of which was adorned with a radiator grille instead of the previously usual transverse ribs. The boundary between the H-model and the K-model cannot be precisely defined, many unsold H-models were fitted with the new engine and grill at the factory.

The PV444L (January 1957 – August 1958) received a larger engine with more power. The engine was now called the B16A, consequently had a displacement of 1.6 liters, three crankshaft bearings and an output of 60 DIN HP and 66 SAE HP; for the USA there was the B16B engine with double carburetor, which even made 85 SAE-PS. Both engines were still combined with the slightly antiquated three-speed gearbox with unsynchronized first gear. In addition, the grille was adorned with an oversized V. The PV444L was also equipped with seat belts on the front seats on request .

On August 25, 1958, the PV544 model appeared , which was a further development of the PV444. At the time, nobody had expected that the model would be built at all, after all, the successor, the Volvo P120 , known as Amazon, had been on sale for a year. The PV was cheaper and, much to the annoyance of Amazon drivers, also faster thanks to better aerodynamics , so demand remained strong.

The combination version was the PV445 , also known as the duet .

Export to North America

In 1955, Volvo began exporting its vehicles to North America for the first time . The H-model received US bumpers and mostly light-colored vinyl upholstery. In America, an engine with greater power and two carburettors was also offered, which came from the Volvo P1900 (sports car from Volvo). During the rest of the production time, this sport version was only offered outside of Sweden, which some Swedish customers complained about. The reason for this model policy, which now seems strange, was that the amount of the customs duty to be paid for each car for cars imported into the USA was based on the most powerful engine offered in the country of manufacture.

Shortly after the export began, Volvo created the export model PV444HE, mainly intended for Denmark and Norway, which turned out to be an economy version. Paint instead of chrome, no heating, no rear armrests and no vent windows at the front did not exactly lead to sales success. And so the series was discontinued a few years later.

The US version of the L model had to do without the oversized V in the radiator grille, as this stood for a V8 engine in America and was therefore not justified.

Rally success in the PV444

In 1958 Gunnar Andersson won the European Rally Championship in the PV444L.

Web links

Commons : Volvo PV444  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Volvo PV444. Volvo Car Germany GmbH, accessed on August 26, 2020 .