The Volvo Philip was a
concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
that was built by
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
in 1952. It was designed especially for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
market and so was fitted with a prototype
V8 engine called the
B8B, which produced at 4000 rpm and was fitted with
whitewall tires and a hint of
tailfins.
The design was inspired by American cars and was similar to the 1951
Kaiser. The designer was
Jan Wilsgaard
Jan Wilsgaard (23 January 1930 – 6 August 2016) was the Chief Designer at Volvo Cars from 1950–1990, having studied at the Gothenburg School of Applied Arts (now HDK, Högskolan för Design och Konsthantverk, at the University of Gothe ...
, who also designed the
Volvo Amazon. However, it was cancelled by the board and never reached production, with only one car being made. That car was used for several years by the board at
Bolinder-Munktell in
Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna h ...
and is now preserved at the
Volvo Museum
The Volvo Museum is in Gothenburg, Sweden. It covers the development of Sweden's leading vehicle manufacturer Volvo, from the first ÖV 4 to the current cars, trucks, buses and other products. The museum also has displays of Volvo Aero and Volv ...
in
Gothenburg.
This vehicle was hand built under extreme secrecy and was subjected to thorough testing. However, the V8 engine entered production in 1956 and was used for a truck, the
Volvo Snabbe, as well as for boats. It was known for being strong and reliable but also for high
fuel consumption. Production of the engine had ceased by 1973.
Philip
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