Whereas (in all probability) doing a little bit of spring cleansing upfront, the Volvo Museum stumbled upon an idea few of us have in all probability heard of. The Mild Part Venture 2000 is far more than 22 years outdated as you may be tempted to imagine given its title. The thought was born in 1979 and it stemmed from a earlier EV research. The idea wasn’t finalized till a number of years later because the premiere happened in 1983 at an environmental seminar in Stockholm.
The museum in Gothenburg, Sweden has now taken the idea out of what’s often called the “hiding place.” Technically, it isn’t a automotive per se, however quite a painted shell on wheels. It has now been actually unboxed and Volvo plans to carry the LCP 2000 to a automotive present quickly. Very like the Bertone-designed Tundra idea that went on to turn out to be the Citroën BX, this one-off has hints of fashions from that period carrying the double chevron.
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Former Saab engineer Rolf Mellde was the mission supervisor throughout improvement and the concept was to conceive an ultra-frugal automotive that will stay secure and sensible even by 2000 requirements. It needed to meet further standards, together with a curb weight of not more than 700 kilograms (1,543 kilos) and a gas consumption beneath 4 liters / 100 km (58.8 miles per gallon).
Volvo made a complete of 4 automobiles, and every had barely completely different technical specs. The wedge-shaped two-door hatchback had a plastic tailgate offering entry to the rearward-facing rear seats. Energy got here from turbodiesel engines, a 1.3-liter with 50 hp and a 1.4-liter unit with 90 hp. Output was despatched to the entrance wheels through a five-speed handbook or a CVT (sure, actually).
One constructed from magnesium and the opposite from forged iron, the diesel engines had been conceived to run on any oil gas, together with rapeseed oil. To attain the formidable weight goal, Volvo used a wide range of aluminum, magnesium, and plastic. Enjoyable reality – the door frames had carbon fiber… some 40 years in the past!
It was too superior for its time to enter manufacturing as effectivity wasn’t a precedence again then. Oh, how the occasions have modified, particularly in Europe the place stringent emissions laws are killing the combustion engine. Despite the fact that it did not hit the meeting line, design traits might be discovered within the 480 compact mannequin launched in 1986.
