Doing business with the founder of Volvo
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My grandfather, Verner Lundin (1894-1969), was running, among other things, a cab station in the 1920 and 30:ties. He then lived in Sundshult, a village that is situated in between the two Bullaren lakes in the north of Bohuslan, about one hour (today!) north of Gothenburg in Sweden. Today Sundshult is really in the backwaters but in those days it was a real melting pot with a big shop, a mill, a sawmill, a power station, a brick factory and other entrepreneur activities. Verner was very into modern techniques and motor vehicles were very interesting. In 1927 he bought one of the very first Volvo automobiles to use as a cab in the area. It was a 1927 model and it did have chassis No 127. He was fond of the, then brand new, Volvo and its heavy construction was working well on the gravel roads of that time. My grandmother, Astrid Lundin (1902-still going!) did also drive the Volvo. She was the first woman in the county of Bohuslän that passed the test for a cab drivers license. This happened in 1927. "When I had my test I drove around a bit in the yard and the inspector was standing in the window looking" she recalls. Today she is a woman of 100 years. Some years ago she stopped driving and voluntarily returned her drivers license (all her life valid for every possible vehicle on the road after the 1927 test!) to the authorities. When time for regular maintenance of the Volvo 1927 came up, Verner drove down to the Volvo plant in Gothenburg. In those days it probably took several days. Down at the Volvo plant he used to have a chat with the founder of Volvo, Assar Gabrielsson! "The first time he went down for maintenance, Mr. Gabrielsson was sitting in a bit of shack. It was a bit provisional. But the next time he came around the situation had improved a lot! Then Gabrielsson was sitting in an office with glass doors!" tells my uncle, Per-Erik Lundin, who has heard the story many times. |
| The Cab as a Police Car |
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| The sheriff in the Bullaren area did not drive (!) so my grandparents had to bring out the Volvo taxi to use as a police car and assist the sheriff when needed in pursuit of criminals. There are lots of stories about my grandparents helping the sheriff to chase thugs. When the sheriff had to do court service in the near by town, Strömstad, he, of course, went in the Volvo. The tale tells that on the way home, my grandfather and the sheriff always stopped the car as soon as they crossed into the sheriffs jurisdiction and took a couple of schnapps'! |
| Ghost Driver |
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| randfather Verner also had a Ford pickup as a company car. It was a Ford model T 1922 the tale goes (can this be correct?). He bought it as an open chassis and did build the rear and the drivers cabin himself. From the picture above you can study the somewhat home made design. There are stories also about this Ford pickup. One tells that it could not be driven up the big hill in the village because the petrol then did not reach the carb. Verner always had to reverse up this hill. It was probably a mistake in my grandfathers construction. Another story tells about Verner driving home on the frozen lake one day. In those days they always made "winter road" on the lake to narrow down distances. One day, out on the lake, Verner spots another resident of the village and decides to have some fun. He tied two pieces of string to the steering wheel, put the accelerator on suitable speed and claimed, while driving ahead on the lake, on to the back of the pickup. The pickup was carrying some drums and they were excellent to hide behind while driving via the string-equipped steering wheel. At a distance it looked like a Ford pickup driving by with no chauffeur! The joke worked excellently and the poor villager told the tale about the "Ghost Ford" for many years to come. My grandfather laughed a bit behind his back but I think he never told him the whole truth. |