18 April 2002: It is 75 years since the first Volvo car was produced on 14 April 1927 and since then the company has estanbished itself as one of the best known car companies in the world.

Over the next few months, Volvo will be celebrating its birthday and achievements across the globe.

The fireworks and celebrations started in Gothenburg with a gala banquet in the presence of the King and Queen of Sweden on 14 April, and will be followed by a special stopover by the round the world Volvo Ocean Race and a cavalcade of historic Volvos through the town in the summer.

To mark its global presence, Volvo is donating a car to the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) ‘A Drop of Water’ fund raising campaign aiming to reduce death and diseases related to unclean water by providing poor countries with wells, rainwater tanks and education in water purification and sanitation.

Over 12 million Volvos have been produced since the first 2.0-litre, 28bhp convertible ‘ÖV4’ model in 1927. Volvo now has factories in Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Thailand, Malaysia and South Africa, and achieved record exports to countries such as Russia, China and Mexico last year.

Since being bought by Ford in 1999, Volvo has ambitions to grow sales from the current annual production of just over 400,000 to 600,000 by 2005.

Volvo was the first to introduce the three-point safety belt in 1959, and has received a multitude of safety awards ever since.

One of the most glamorous and famous Volvos in the last 75 years has to be the P1800 (second from left in picture at top) driven by Roger Moore in the TV series, The Saint. A Volvo will be appearing on the big screen again this year in the next James Bond movie.

Volvo achieved sporting success in rallying and motor sport in the 1950s and 60s, and more recently for its victories in the British Touring Car Championships, and looks forward to similar success in the European Touring Car Championships this year.

©2002irishcar.com