Volvo PV800 Series

Volvo PV800 Series at a glance

The PV800 Series is listed in our Volvo catalogue. How it fits into the company's early years is told in the history of Volvo.

PV800 Series production timeline

Development and production history

Volvo replaced its TR670 taxi series in 1938 with a new design. Chassis and body were completely new, but the side-valve six-cylinder engine was carried over from older Volvo cars. The front end, with a bold V-shaped nose, was shared with the LV100 Series lorry, and the rounded contours followed American fashion of the time.

At launch there were two taxi versions, the PV801 with a glass division between the front and rear compartments and the PV802 without one. Both could carry eight people thanks to folding seats. The PV800 and the long-wheelbase PV810 were supplied as chassis for coachbuilders. Up to 1947 Volvo built 1,848 cars of this first series, among them 1,081 PV802s and 550 PV801s.

In 1947 the PV821 and PV822 taxis and the PV823 and PV824 chassis took over. They had the stronger ED engine and a column-mounted gear lever taken from the PV 60; 800 were built in 1947–1948. After a pause, the PV831 and PV832 followed in 1950 with a lower front profile and headlamps set back into the wings, similar to the PV444 and the L340 lorry. Together with the PV833 and PV834 chassis, 6,216 of the last series were made until 1958, the most of any PV800 generation. In 1953 Volvo added the Disponent, a civilian executive version.

Engine and drivetrain

All PV800s used a 3,670 cc inline six with side valves, bore 84.14 mm and stroke 110 mm. Volvo quotes 63, 64 or 67 kW (84, 86 or 90 bhp) depending on the version; the ED engine of the PV821–824 had 67 kW (90 bhp). Power went to the rear wheels through a three-speed manual gearbox, with a floor lever from 1938 to 1945 and a column lever later. Hydraulic brakes acted on all four wheels.

The military TP21 of 1953 used the same 3.67-litre six with 67 kW (90 hp) and a Volvo E9 gearbox, combined with four-wheel drive.

PV800 Series specifications

Variants and derivatives

The chassis versions were often the basis for proper ambulances, as well as estate cars and small vans. Even the PV802 taxi could act as a spare ambulance: with the right-hand seats folded, a stretcher could be loaded through the boot lid. The TP21 was nicknamed "Terräng-Sugga", the off-road sow, and enthusiasts now call it "Suggan".

In service and legacy

The PV800 Series was built for taxi work and gained a reputation for durability: Volvo itself describes the cars as virtually impossible to wear out, and a few were still in service in the 1980s. When production ended in 1958, Volvo had no direct replacement. A V8-engined successor, the P358 project, never went into production, and the Amazon was too small for taxi use. It took almost ten years before the Volvo 144 gave Swedish taxi operators a new Volvo saloon.

Preservation and collecting today

Because most PV800s spent their working lives as taxis, ambulances or commercial vehicles, a buyer should check which variant a car really is (the type number tells taxi, chassis or long chassis apart) and whether special coachwork is original. The military TP21 is a separate field for collectors of off-road vehicles. Other Swedish and European classics are gathered in our classic cars section.

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