The Svenska Volvo PV-klubben almanac 2004
The text for each months picture
are published in English translation here

Cover
The cover picture shows the filling stations at the Norra Bantorget in Stockholm. Up front is Mail Clerk Wilhelm Öhmans 1947 PV444 A. Behind it is a Simca Aronde, then a Merzedes-Benz 190SL and a Fiat 1400. To the left of the Volvo is a Scania Vabis L71. The picture was taken on Saturday November 17 1956, the day before the first "Sunday ban", the prohibition of private car use on Sundays due to fuel shortage.
Photo: Svenskt Fotoreportage.

January
The Swedish car magazine the Motor measures the noise level of tyre shriek. The year is 1958 and the location is Bulltofta airport outside Malmö. Whether the test was impartial or not is a matter of discussion. The Volvo, a 1957 PV444L was at the time registered to the Trelleborgs Gummifabriks Aktiebolag (The Trelleborg Rubber manufacturing company).
Photo: Svenskt Fotoreportage.

February
The place is Sveavägen outside the Stockholm School of Economics. Closest to the camera the senior accountant Mr Fritz Brundin from Jakobsberg has parked his 1953 PV444ES. After him there are two more Volvo cars, a 1954 PV444HS and a brand new PV444KS with red interim licence plates from Kristianstad County. Thereafter are seen Ford Taunus, Dodge, Fordson truck, PV444 and two Triumphs.
On the other side of the street is a Mercedes-Benz double-parked. So is a VW 1200. By the pavement are a DKW, a VW1200 and a Standard 8. Further down on the left hand side you can catch a glimpse of a Renault Dauphine from the first year of manufacturing. You can also discern a Fiat 1400 and a pre war DKW. The picture was taken in 1956.
Photo: Svenskt Fotoreportage.

March
Market trading at the Kungstorget in Gothenburg. To the left you can see the indoor market built in 1889. The Duett from 1965 is still alive, now serving as an A-tractor.
Note the somewhat odd placement of the trailer socket on the spare wheel lid.

Photo Christer Alvarsson

April
In 1950, Volvo engineer Per-Erik Östman lived for a while in Istanbul. The repainted 1947 PV is parked outside the Swedish consulate at the Taksim Square. The vehicle belonged to the Swedish consul general Erik Gislov. On the opposite side two 1949 Plymouth taxi cars are waiting.

Photo Per-Erik Östman

May
Within Volvo, English was demonstrably used long time ago as the company language. The number 30000 is the body number. With some mathematical calculations one can assume that the picture was taken in 1959. The shipment went from Karlshamn, where the bodies were manufactured, to Gothenburg for final assembly.

Photo: Fotoservice, Karlshamn.

June

One could guess that Spock from the American science fiction Star Trek is driving a 1953 Volvo PV444ES. More likely it is the reindeer owner Jonas Fjällgren´s dog. Both were from Funäsdalen.
The picture was taken on June 15 1955 on the Flatruet. This was the first time for the season the road was cleared for traffic.

Photo J.B Fjällgren.

July

Bertil and Ingbritt Larsson from Ocklum have breakfast with their three daughters protected by a plastic rain cover. (From The Motor number 31 1958).
The picture was taken at the Bredäng camping site in Stockholm. The magazine had calculated that no less than two million Swedes had been camping with a car during the summer of 1958.

Photo: Svenskt Fotoreportage.

August

It almost looks like Gösta Niklasson has exposed the camera a little to early. Everyone has not yet taken his or her positions.
The man to the left, almost kneeling, is the owner of the PV: Olle Jacobsson. By the swimming ball is Pelle Eiserman with his wife and daughter behind him. The lady in the middle of the picture is the photographer's wife Ingalill. With her back to the camera is Annika Niklasson. To the right is a man named Sverker.
The car behind the company is a 1953 Studebaker imported from America and owned by the Niklasson family. Olle´s PV is a 1957 PV 444 LS.
Further back is an Austin A35, one PV with roof cuckoo, Volkswagen deluxe bus, Saab 93, some Opels and a VW1200. The picture was taken in the resort Gustavsberg outside Uddevalla in the summer on 1958.

Photo Gösta Niklasson

September

On a quiet summers day outside the Esso filling station on the Borås road in Svenljunga. The building was erected in 1939. Bertil Svensson and Harry Nydén operated the filling station. The latter lived in the flat with the balcony.
The filling stations does not exist any longer. Today there is a saddler in the ground floor.
On the parking nowadays is a Bilia Volvo dealership.
Closest to the camera is a 1950 Volvo PV444B. Right in front of the road sign meaning densely built-up area is a 1935 Ford V8. The truck with the front towards the camera is a Volvo from the LV290 series.

Photo AB Almquist & Cöster, Helsingborg

October

After parking on a marked square the driver had to rush to the Dodge owned by The Motor for three tests with an unfamiliar car". The M controller, Birgit Rådö and Stina Rådö are here on the run. (From The Motor # 41 1958)
The national finals in the competitions Motor woman of the year was held on the Östermalm sports ground in Stockholm on Saturday October 4 1958.

Teacher Stina Grill from Vingåker was number five in the finals after having won several local competitions. The car she drove is a 1956 PV445GL registered as a truck.

Photo: Svenskt Fotoreportage.

November

The Volvo engineer Per-Erik Östman in 1950 went on a long test ride together with his wife Britt. When the picture was shot they made a stop somewhere in Greece.
The mission was in part to test the PV444 thoroughly, in part to visit Volvo dealers in Europe and not the least to show the new PV444. Here the couple has come the a Greek orthodox church with the A-model.

Photo Per-Erik Östman

December

21 years old Gösta Löfqvist with co driver Per-Olof Lennartsson during a stage of the Götenerundan rally in February 1969. Gösta raced in class 2, tuned standard cars and came third in his class with 40 competitors. The car is a 1965 PV544 Sport.

Photo Lars Elfvenstam

Research and picture texts: Magnus Björkquist and Dan Jansson
Graphic design and coloring: Göran Blomquist.
Printing: PrintGraf Stockholm 2003.