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RSSVolvo Turned 80; Celebrated Birthday with a Rally
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Volvo Cars celebrated its 80th birthday on April 14. As a part of the celebration, the Swedish carmaker rolled out a production consisting of antique and modern product lines. This remarkable milestone in the history of the Swedish auto giant showcased a parade of cars through the Gothenburg city which is its very own hometown.
The parade included the Volvo OV4 - the automaker’s very first car.
It flaunted eighty years of history rolling from the Volvo museum in the outskirts of the city to downtown Gothenburg where the a large public came out on both sides of the way to gaze at Volvo’s engineering and vehicle know-how.
The highlight of the event,was the driving of 1927 convertible by Carl-Magnus Skogh, 82, a veteran Swedish rally legend. The 1927 convertible is the first car that Volvo mass-produced. Skogh have helped the company to become popular on the world map. It was in the 1960s, along with racing legends like Joginder “Flying Sikh” Singh and Tom Trana, Skogh garnered Volvo headlines around the globe for his achievements on the international rally circuit from the Saharan Africa to Greek Acropolis.
Skogh joined Volvo in 1963 after a successful stint as a rally driver for Saab, the Swedish competitor. He was victorious at the Swedish championship in 1960 and 1961, driving a SAAB 96. He won the Acropolis Rally in a Volvo Amazon in 1965. Skogh’s automotive expertise helped Volvo not only on race courses around the world, but also in product research and development.
It was in 1978, Skogh created the world speed record for diesel cars with 209 kph in a Volvo 340. The rally legend contributed a lot in improving driveability and stability features of the cars.
The rally legend expressed his happiness and pleasure in being part of the celebration. He sounded extremely joyful in getting a chance to drive the most important car in the parade. His co-passengers were not ordinary persons. He was accompanied by the CEO of Volvo Trucks, Leif Johansson and the CEO of Volvo Cars, Fredrik Arp, who were spotted in the backseat of the car Skogh drove.
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Hide Sites Tags: Cars, Volvo, racing, diesel, Saab, Swede, birthday, Carl-Magnus Skogh, Leif Johansson, Fredrik Arp
January 14th, 2009 at 5:28 am
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