Jan Wilsgaard was the Chief Designer at Volvo Cars

Volvo Cars

Volvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish...

 from 1950–1990, having studied at Gothenburg School of Applied Arts (today HDK) before joining Volvo when co-founder Assar Gabrielsson

Assar Gabrielsson

Assar Thorvald Nathanael Gabrielsson was a Swedish industrialist and co-founder of Volvo.- Family :He married Anna Theresia Andreasson in 1916...

 still headed the company. Wilsgaard was followed at Volvo by the noted designer Peter Horbury

Peter Horbury

Peter D. Horbury is a British car designer who is currently Vice President, Design of Volvo. He is probably best known for his design work for Volvo, but has worked in a variety of roles in the automotive industry, including as Executive Design Director, Americas for Ford between 2004 and 2009...

.

Wilsgaard's father was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 sailor. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the family fled from Norway to Sweden.

As Chief Designer, Wilsgaard designed all Volvo's projects during his tenure, with few exceptions (e.g., the Volvo P1900 Sport and P1800 Coupe). One of Wilsgaard's first jobs was to design better rear windows for the PV Duett Van

Volvo Duett

The Duett is an automobile from Volvo that was in production from 1953 to 1969.The name Duett was intended to signify a car that could be used as a delivery vehicle during the week and as a comfortable sedan away from work....

, a prophetic project, given that Wilsgaard went on to design the estate versions of the company's Amazon, 145, 760 and 850 Series — during a period which saw Volvo become closely associated with the station wagon / estate

Station wagon

A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...

 body type.

In addition to designing the Amazon, and 144, Wilsgaard also designed the highly regarded Volvo 164

Volvo 164

The Volvo 164 is a six cylinder sedan unveiled by Volvo Cars at the Paris Motor Show early in October 1968 for the 1969 model year. The company built 146,008 examples before production ended in 1975....

, as well as his successful estate adaptation, the 1800ES, of the company's P1800

Volvo P1800

-History:The project was started in 1957 because Volvo wanted a sports car, despite the fact that their previous attempt, the P1900, had been a disaster, with only 68 cars sold. The man behind the project was an engineering consultant to Volvo, Helmer Petterson, who in the 1940s was responsible for...

 Coupe. According to Simon Lamarre, chief studio designer, "the 1800ES has become one of the icons for Volvo," inspiring the design of the Volvo C30

Volvo C30

The Volvo C30 is a small family car produced by Volvo Cars. The C30 is a three-door, four-seat hatchback powered by straight-4 and straight-5 engines. The car is a hatchback version of the S40/V50/C70 range, and uses the same Ford C1 platform. It is being marketed as a premium hatchback or a...

.

When he designed the Volvo 140 Series, Wilsgaard employed a credo, "simple is beautiful".
The design symbolized the car's robust, restrained quality — but later came to represent a lack of creativity or daring. Regarding the enormous success of the Volvo 240 series in Sweden, Wilsgaard is said to have remarked "It might be because the car is a little square and sluggish, just like the Swedes themselves."

Wilsgaard lives today in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Volvo cars styled by Jan Wilsgaard:

• P179, better known as the 'Margaret Rose'
• Volvo Philip
  Volvo Philip
  Volvo Philip was a concept car built by Volvo in 1952. It was designed for the US market so it was fitted with a V8 engine producing at 4000 rpm and was fitted with whitewall tires and a hint of tailfins. The design was inspired by US cars and was similar to the Kaiser Dragon. The designer was Jan...
  
   (1950)
• PV 179 (1952)
• Volvo Amazon
  Volvo Amazon
  The Volvo Amazon was a mid-size car manufactured by Volvo Cars from 1956 to 1970, and introduced in the USA, as the 122S at the New York International Auto Show in April 1959....
  
   (P1200/120)
• Volvo P1400 (1967)(Volvo 140)
• Volvo 164
  Volvo 164
  The Volvo 164 is a six cylinder sedan unveiled by Volvo Cars at the Paris Motor Show early in October 1968 for the 1969 model year. The company built 146,008 examples before production ended in 1975....
  
  
• Volvo 140
  Volvo 140
  The Volvo 140 Series is a range of automobiles which was produced by Volvo Cars of Sweden from 1966 to 1974. The range comprises the Volvo 142 2-door sedan, the Volvo 144 4-door sedan and the Volvo 145 5-door station wagon....
  
  
• Volvo 240
• Volvo 740
• Volvo 760
• Volvo 780
• Volvo 850
  Volvo 850
  The Volvo 850 is a compact executive car produced by Volvo Cars from 1992 to 1997 and designed by Jan Wilsgaard. Available in sedan/saloon and station wagon/estate body styles, the Volvo 850 was notable as the first front-wheel drive vehicle from this Swedish manufacturer to be exported to North...
  
  

External links

• HDK Högskolan för Design och Konsthantverk (Highschool for Design and Construction)
• Photos history of the design conception of the Volvo 164