Classic Swedish marques and models offer excellent value for money – but there are some models, away from even the most cherished P1800s – which have asking prices higher than others. Sweden takes its immediate pre and post war motoring heritage very seriously; if you want a Volvo ÖV 4, P1900 or Saab Sonett Super Sport, you’d better have a water cooled cheque book.
VOLVO ÖV 4 ‘JAKOB’ (1927-1929) £130,000 to £150,000
By the late Twenties, bearing manufacturer SKF had a vehicle subsidiary ready to make cars – named Volvo. Its very first chassis model, the ÖV 4 (a Swedish acronym for ‘open car, four cylinder), ran to just 275 units with convertible tourers (205 cars) and pick ups (70 trucks) included. During the same two year period, a closed model named the PV4 became available in the summer of 1927: essential given Sweden’s cold climate.
Nicknamed ‘Jakob’ after one of the ten development prototypes built in 1926, the rugged, ash and beech framed ÖV 4 was available in just one colour combination – blue with black wings. A massively undersquare 1.9-litre four cylinder engine made the most of the varying fuel available domestically; had the ÖV 4 been offered in Britain in period, it would have suffered under the rules of the RAC’s fiscal horsepower tax, just like the ‘any colour as long as it’s black’ Ford Model T.
Asking prices for both ÖV 4 and PV4 models is best determined from recent auction results; the best place to find an ÖV 4 is in its native Sweden. You’ll be paying handsomely for the privilege, too: laste year, a pair of Jakobs, both in excellent condition, fetched the equivalent of £129,625 (SEK 1,480,000) and £153,299 (SEK 1,750,000) respectively.
SAAB SONETT SUPER SPORT (1955-1957) £180,000+
Saab’s historic models have never fetched the money their rally pedigree and technical prowess otherwise suggested – a pre-production 92 saloon barely scraped £20,335 at Bonhams’ Chantilly sale last year, for example.
The Sonett Super Sport is rather different. Only six were made to take advantage of an FIA race series which was cancelled. With fibreglass panels, a lightweight chassis and front wheel drives, the Sonett Super Sport could have been a contender; alas, with so few employees and resources dedicated to its creation, production was cripplingly slow. The name did survive to adorn a closed coupe series – the 1966-1969 Sonett II, and 1970-1974 Sonett III – but few remember the legacy the Sonett Super Sport (otherwise known as Sonett I) created.
All six Sonett Super Sports survive, spread across Europe and the United States. Prizing one out of the private hands in which they now all reside would prove difficult, if not impossible; the last time one changed hands was when the Saab Cars North America collection was auctioned off in 2012.
Owner of one of the two USA-based Saab Sonett Super Sports, Iowa-based Tom Donney, told Classic Car Buyer to expect an asking price of at least $250,000 (£181,909) if one of the other five cars came up for sale; his is very much staying put!
VOLVO SPORT P1900 (1956-1957) £74,000 to £84,000.
Inspired by Chevrolet’s Corvette, Volvo – with the help of American fibreglass specialist Bill Tritt’s Glasspar company – set out to build a plastic sports car for export.
Following a difficult (some would say never-completed) two year development programme, as many as 68 Sport P1900s were built, all open topped, with 1.4 litre, twin carburettor engines taken from the PV444 saloon.
Alas, the car proved too difficult to make to the standards new managing director and chief executive officer Gunnar Engellau had set for Volvo; even without the puncture-proof Trelleborg tyres the prototypes had, fit, finish and ride comfort were poor. Legend has it that a sceptical Engellau abruptly ended Sport P1900 after borrowing a completed car for the weekend; it furthered Volvo’s distaste for open cars which lasted right up until the launch of the 1998 C70 convertible.
Nowadays, the Sport P1900 vies with the pre-war PV36 Carioca for second place honours in Volvo collector circles. Values appear to hover around the £80k mark, and have stayed in that ballpark for at least five years. Dutch dealer Classic Park had a Sport P1900 up for sale in 2014 for a currency converted £83,645; last year, Bilweb’s Swedish sale managed £73,571 (SEK 840,000) for a good (but not concours) 1956 Sport P1900.
