Volvo Commemorates 50 Years of Its First Smash Hit, the 140 Series

Exactly what you’re looking at is the first Volvo to sell more than one million examples throughout its production cycle. Made in countries such as Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Australia, and Malaysia from 1966 to 1974, the Volvo 140 Series sold 1.25 million units. For that period and for a small maker such as Volvo, the tally is really impressive even by this day’s standards.

The forerunner of the S60 sedan and V60 estate and the follower of the famous Amazon is a car of lots of firsts for Volvo. Firstly, Volvo’s engineers began working on the 140 Series with numerous various chassis versions from the get-go.

Second of all, the 140 Series presented a naming scheme in which the very first digit designates the model series, the 2nd digit the number of cylinders, and the third digit the number of doors. As such, the model lineup comprises of the Volvo 142 two-door sedan, Volvo 144 four-door sedan, as well as the Volvo 145 five-door wagon.

Other goodies which can be categorized as forward-thinking for the 1960s consist of the crumple zones, protective roll cage, the split guiding column and control panel with a collision-protected frame, in addition to the minimizing valves of the braking system. The latter bits and bobs were developed to avoid the wheels from locking under braking.

Practically half a century after the arrival of the Volvo 140 Series, the Swedish maker now deals with followers of the old fellow celebrated in this story. In 2017, Volvo has actually assured that it will launch the very first member of the all-new 60 Series. Likewise in the future, the revitalized Volvo 40 Series will generate a compact executive-sized sedan in the type of the brand new S40.