Roger Newhouse

Stephen Bayley is one of the world’s best known commentators on modern culture. As previously mentioned his book, ‘Cars – Freedom, Style, Sex, Power, Motion, Colour, Everything’, was written to highlight the most evocative and distinctive cars of the last century. Three are Volvo’s; the Amazon of 1956, P1800 (1959) and the 144 of 1966. Here we’ll present the final Volvo featured, the Volvo 144.

Volvo 144

Stephen Bayley says “The mid-sixties were the last moment of innocence for the influential Swedish design movement before the global success of IKEA turned social-democratic aesthetics into a tacky marketing phenomenon.” The mid-sixties saw the launch of the 144, perhaps confirming this comment. In the 144 designer Jan Wilsgaard, continuing to apply the Swedish design belief that ’simple is beautiful’, produced a platform that was to be continually developed for the next 20 years. By 1974, with over 1 million made, the 144 was so developed that it was successfully relaunched as a new car; the Volvo 200 series which continued to be produced (in Malaysia until 1996).

The 144 was the starting point for Volvo’s ‘obsession’ for safety that would become central to its brand as the simple rubber strip ’stuck’ on the front and rear bumpers of the first 144’s grew over the years into the famous energy absorbing ‘crash barriers’ on the 200 series.

For more information on the 144 take a look at the Volvo Owners club or of course, good old wikipedia.

Made of ice from the pure waters of the Torne River, the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi is built every winter and melts every summer. At Icehotel everything is made from ice, from floor to ceiling, from the beds to the bar and even the glass you drink from. You can stay in the hotel itself or in the one of the nearby cosy cabins. Outside the hotel is a myriad of activities for you to enjoy; a wilderness safari on dog sleds and snowmobiles and, if you are lucky, you might see the magical, magnificent Northern Lights. One of the delights of Lapland is its cuisine. The fells, forests, marshes, lakes and rivers of the Arctic Circle offer venison, ptarmigan and wood grouse, as well as salmon and grayling. All of which can be enjoyed at the Icehotel restaurant. The Icehotel is spectacularly and wonderfully unique and you will never forget your stay here.

www.icehotel.com

A Short history of Scandinavian design

While the Bauhaus was being developed in Germany, the philosophy of Swedish design was “Vackrare vardagsvaral” – more beautiful everyday things.

The idea that beautiful and functional everyday objects should not only be affordable to the wealthy, but to all, is a core theme in the development of modernism and functionalism, but is probably most completely realised in post-WWII Scandinavian design.

Scandinavian design was a movement characterized by simple design, minimalism, functionality, and low-cost mass production. Volvo adopted and adapted all these ideas.

The ideological background was the emergence of a particular Scandinavian form of social democracy in the 1950s, as well as the increased availability of new low-cost materials and methods for mass production. Scandinavian design often makes use of form-pressed wood, plastics, anodized or enameled aluminum or pressed steel.

The Postwar Scandinavian movement, though kindred in spirit with the other design advances around the world, adapted the emerging technologies and materials in a uniquely Northern European fashion. Many of the ways this was expressed can be seen in the design of Volvo’s.

In furniture, any wood used was light in color and support structures were often exposed, which added dramatically to the elegance of the pieces. Though machine production was in vogue, the Scandinavians were espousing finished edges, curved corners, and an overall smoothness in their design language. This approach was being absorbed by the entire Swedish design  community.

A chair by Hans Wegner is a typical example; its delicately turned legs and gently sloping backrest were fabricated from teak and oak respectively, and united with the woven seat to create a simple and sensuous mass-production piece.

At some point the designs became less “crafty”-looking and more mechanic. The designers from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland managed to mix biomorphism with harder-edged geometric tendencies, a flavour at once modern and Scandinavian. They did not shy away from newer plastics and embraced the design and manufacturing possibilities wholeheartedly.

The concept of Scandinavian design has been the subject of many scholarly debates, exhibitions and marketing agendas during the last fifty years, but many of the democratic design ideals that were the central theme of the movement have survived and can be found resonant in contemporary design work by Scandinavian and international designers.

Design in Sweden today

Visiting Sweden, you’ll find great Swedish design all around you. On buildings at Stadshuset, the Stockholm Library on Odengatan, the Turning Torso building in Malmö, in shops, on street signs, on road signs (the strolling elk set against a yellow background, within a red triangle) in hotels, on buses and trains and the clothes that people wear. There is much to celebrate about Swedish form and design, from the ‘Falu red” cottages of Dalarna, to the art glass and crystal of Orrefors, to the ubiquitous Vovlo. A visit to Sweden will inspire new ideas and you might just find yourself redecorating your home on your return. And, if you haven’t already done so, perhaps buy a Volvo too!

www.visitsweden.com

www.sweden.se

Thanks also to;

www.designdictionary.co.uk

www.wikipedia.org

Stephen Bayley is one of the world’s best known commentators on modern culture. As a design consultant he’s worked on communications projects for Ford, Jaguar, Fiat, Audi and BMW amongst others, and wrote the creative strategy for Mercedes-Benz’ advertisments, so he’s more than qualified to have a view on cars.  His book, ‘Cars – Freedom, Style, Sex, Power, Motion, Colour, Everything’, was written to highlight the most evocative and distinctive cars of the last century. Three are Volvo’s; the Amazon of 1956, P1800 (1959) and the 144 of 1966. Here we’ll present the second Volvo mentioned, the P1800.

Volvo P1800

In the late 1950’s Volvo decided to build a two seater coupé running on Amazon mechanicals. The resulting car became a style icon; the P1800, perhaps best known by people of a certain age as The Saint’s stunning white sports car.

Designed in-house by the brilliant young designer Pelle Petterson. He had been an apprentice with the Italian carrozzeria Frua and I think the Italian influence can be seen in the car body’s dramatic proportions.

Launched in 1961, Volvo didn’t have the capacity to build the car itself, so early production was undertaken in England. A company called Pressed Steel made the bodies, while final assembly took place at Jensen in West Bromwich. Assembly was transferred to Göteborg and Lundbyverken while body production to Sweden and Olofströmsverken in 1963. Between 1961 and 11973 39414 cars were made in total. Production was wound up due to the increasingly rigorous safety requirements in the USA, which would quite simply have been too expensive to comply with.

For more information on the P1800 take a look at the Volvo Owners club or of course, good old wikipedia.

Stephen Bayley is one of the world’s best known commentators on modern culture. As a design consultant he’s worked on communications projects for Ford, Jaguar, Fiat, Audi and BMW amongst others, and wrote the creative strategy for Mercedes-Benz’ advertisments, so he’s more than qualified to have a view on cars.  His book, ‘Cars – Freedom, Style, Sex, Power, Motion, Colour, Everything’, was written to highlight the most evocative and distinctive cars of the last century. Three are Volvo’s; the Amazon of 1956, P1800 (1959) and the 144 of 1966. First we’ll present the Amazon.

Volvo Amazon 120 (1956)

The Amazon can be said to have established Volvo’s enduring brand values of good ergonomics and advanced safety features but it was also the first ‘beautiful’ Volvo. Jan Wilsgaard was responsible for its look. Born in the United States, he brought an American influence (with a dash of Italian) to Swedish car design. Bayley cites the “coupé-like glasshouse, an elegant profile, a distinctive face (with pescatorial nostrils) and just enough chrome to be interesting.”

In terms of ergonomics the layout of instruments was considered from the viewer’s point-of-view; clustered directly in front of the driver rather than spread across the dashboard. Later versions featured the very first car seat to be designed using ergonomics practise; it had cushions of varying resistance and adjustable lumbar support. Standard safety features included padding on the doors and seat-belt anchors! Oh, and the upholstery of the Amazon could be had in black, very radical for the times.

The last Amazon rolled off the production line in the Torslanda plant on July 3 1970, the end for a long-lived series of tough and reliable cars which strongly contributed to establishing the Volvo reputation as the manufacturer of safe quality cars at an attractive price. By then, the multi-talented car had given safe and reliable service to thousands of families all over the world, to numerous police forces plus winning the Acropolis rally, among many other things. Thousands of Amazons around the world still bear witness to a true survivor, be they well looked after collectors cars or mellowed “million-milers” still in daily use.

Cars – Freedom, Style, Sex, Power, Motion, Colour, Everything by Stephen Bayley – first published in 2008 by Conran Octopus Ltd. – ISBN: 978 1 84091 504 4

www.octopusbooks.co.uk

At Roger Newhouse, we pride ourselves on delivering top quality used Volvo sales, used Volvo service, Volvo parts & Volvo diagnostics in Skipton. We are very passionate about Volvo cars, which goes without saying as we have worked under the Volvo marque for over 30 years. We have great respect for the Volvo brand and an appreciation for it’s history, lets take a look back at the roots of Volvo;

The Volvo Car Corporation is a Swedish company that was founded in 1927 in Gothenburg. It was owned by AB Volvo until 1999 when it was acquired by Ford as part of it’s Premier Automotive Group. Geely Holding Group purchased the company in 2010.

Volvo’s largest markets are the US, Sweden, United Kingdom, China and Germany (in that order). Volvo’s global car sales totalled 373,525 in 2010, which was an increase of 11.2% compared to 2009.

Volvo cars are know for high safety standards and often get reports of high milage from their users. The Guinness World Record for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commericial vehicle is 2.8 million miles, the vehicle was a Volvo p1800. Figures show that the average age of a Volvo being disused is 19.8 years. Roger Newhouse would like to keep these sort of figures up, which is why we alway strive to provide used Volvo servicing and repairs of the highest quality.

We will continue to explore the history of Volvo in our future posts. Thank you for visiting and please return soon for more updates and information. In the meantime why not take a look around our website at the Volvo services we can offer.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars

http://www.volvocars.com/uk/Pages/default.aspx

Welcome to the new Roger Newhouse news page. Here you will find updates about our used Volvo Services, Volvo Parts and Volvo sales that we have available in Skipton.

We will also post some interesting articles about the Volvo brand, which will include updates about new Volvo car releases, reviews and much more.

Be on the lookout for frequent updates and if your Volvo is in need of a service or repairs then please give us a call and drop by the garage. We would be delighted to hear from you.