As Volvo Week approached, I knew it was time again to dust off some of my many Volvo dealership promotionals. Volvos large and small were a big part of my childhood, and I received many of these mini Volvos as a child. Sadly, I was a destructive little kid, and Mom would toss many of these cool little cars once I’d sufficiently messed them up. But today I have approximately 100 of these little Volvos.
How? Simple, eBay in the late ’90s and early ’00s. At the time I was in college but still living at home, and that combined with working at Dad’s office (microfilming closed claim files–remember microfilm?) after school and during the summer, I had a pretty healthy checking account.
So, what to do with the money. Let it sit, perhaps invest a bit, or just open a savings account? Hah! No, I spent it. Spent it on ’60s Corgi and Dinky miniatures, spent it on 1960s-1980s car brochures, and perhaps most of all, spent it on Stahlberg promotionals.
Stahlberg was a Finnish company that made promotional cars and trucks, primarily Saab, Volvo and Scania trucks, although a W123 Mercedes TD and early ’80s Toyota Corolla were also produced. See, I felt bad about all those cool Volvo promos I’d destroyed. Probably better than a dozen cool little 240, 740 and 760 sedans and wagons fell to my chubby little fingers, though a few of my originals have survived to the present day–albeit in varying conditions.
1967-70 Volvo 142 two-door sedan
If I could take it back, I would have, but it was too late. However, I could most certainly rebuild my collection and give other Stahlbergs a happy retirement sitting on display! And I could get some of the ’60s and ’70s models that were no longer available from the dealership parts counter when I got my first one in the early ’80s. Like this 142, for example. I also have an Amazon two-door sedan somewhere, but did not unearth it in time for this article. I also have a 242 and several 264GLs and 264GLEs.
1986-88 Volvo 240GL sedan
Looking back, I went a little nuts, considering how many of these little Volvos I bought between 1999-2002. Way more than I can display. In fact, of all the mini CCs seen here on this post, only the blue 760GLE is displayed. All the others were bubble-wrapped in boxes in the garage! I do have about 35 on display however–probably a third of the total collection.
1984-87 Volvo 760GLE sedan
Since the owners of the local Volvo dealer were friends with my parents, I spent a lot of time at Lundahl Motors, eyeballing the new rolling stock, snagging brochures and begging for a promotional car when the time seemed opportune. I also got one from Mike and Cathy sometimes at Christmas, or for helping feed their cat when they were out of town (mostly I assisted Dad in feeding the cat, but I got the toy!).
1979-80 Volvo 245GL
By the time I was eight or nine years old, I had finally realized the destruction of these little cars was really dumb, so I have a slightly-beat black 1986-88 240 sedan, two very nice light yellow 1986-88 240 wagons the same color as my Mom’s full-size 1986 240DL wagon (one a gift from a family friend, the other purchased with my allowance circa 1992), gunmetal-gray 1988-90 760GLE wagon and dark red 1991-93 240 wagon that all survived my childhood–and predated my eBay spree. The copper 260 sedan, white 240 wagon, burgundy 240 wagon, yellow 240 wagon (my original one, but a duplicate of the two I still have today) and a slate blue 760GLE sedan all perished. There were probably others. Of all those long-gone cars, I have a steering wheel here and a wheel cover there to remind me of their loss. Why was I so stupid??
1988-90 Volvo 760GLE sedan
Unlike U.S. promotional cars of the 1950s-1970s, these were made of a soft plastic that, while more durable than the styrene Cadillacs and Galaxies, was more prone to scratching and scuffing. The bodies actually had some flex to them. Only the glass was the more traditional styrene.
These were very well-detailed, with separate pieces for headlights, turn signals and parking lights. Each model also had correct wheel trims and side trim. Also, all Stahlbergs were European versions, as shown by the fender repeater light on this 240GL sedan.
These models were also bigger than 1/24 and 1/25 U.S. promos, at about 1/20 scale. They were unmarked on the bottom, with only “MADE IN FINLAND” stamped mid-chassis. The later 760 models did get a more accurate baseplate with driveshaft, engine and exhaust stamped into it, along with “Volvo 760GLE”
Many also had the traditional “Volvo” mud flaps. These are on most of my 240s, well up to the mid-’80s.
While the year was never stamped on any of these Volvos, they did keep up with the design updates. When the 760GLE received a new “aero” nose for the 1988 model year, the promotional was updated right along with the real deal.
As is well known, the 240 was Volvo’s evergreen model, as is proved by the 1986+ sedan sitting alongside a late ’70s wagon. They just didn’t change much, but that made them all the more endearing to their fans.
Stahlberg appears to have stopped developing new models after the late ’80s, though the existing 240 and 760 promos continued to be offered through the early ’90s. The one and only Stahlberg promo I bought myself was the aforementioned light yellow 240 wagon, sporting Turbo five-spoke wheels. I believe I bought that in 1992 or 1993, and it was the last Stahlberg promo Lundahl Volvo had.
The early ’90s 240 I also previously mentioned used the same tooling as the Stahlbergs, but it was made of a harder plastic and had a bit more detail. That one, only available as a wagon and only available in dark red, was produced by Emek, which apparently acquired the molds for it.
image: eBay.com
I received one for Christmas in 1993 or so, and it remained available from the Volvo accessories catalog through the early 2000s. I bought a second one in about 2001 from Lundahl’s, as they were clearing out some of their old stock and it was discounted.
And that was the last gasp for the large-scale Volvo promo. Today, you can get 1/43-scale diecast versions of most of the new Volvos from the parts counter, made by Minichamps. But they just don’t have the same appeal as these big, plastic Volvos. I’ll always love them!
I remember those as toys. But I didn’t know they were promotionals. And I remember that soft plastic, and that they would regularely miss pieces. It’s a mindblowingly incredible collection there…
Great article! I myself have a collection of about 50 old promos, many of them Corvettes. I have never seen Euro promos and they are quite nice. But now I must have a stahlberg volvo 240 wagon. Off to Ebay!
Thank you ! Now I finally know what I won at a lottery, about 35 years ago. It must have been a genuine plastic Stahlberg Volvo, it was a puke-green 244.
What’s the emoticon for *intensely jealous of that red 142*?
Then you probably don’t want to hear about the white 142 I also have… 🙂
That red one looks better in the photos than in reality. It is lightly scored on the sides and top, as if someone took steel wool to it. It’s also missing one taillight.
Great collection! Be sure to store in a cool place. When I think of what I did to my 50’s and 60’s Lionel Trains that I no longer have, it just makes me sad. I was almost as bad as Gomez Addams, minus the explosives.
On a side note, I’m still waiting for Lionel to send the yacht that was missing from my 1964 train set!?
Great collection! Most of my Corgi and Dinky toys went to a better place decades ago after my young cousin ate the rubber tires!?
Did Stahlberg ever make an 1800 example?
No, they never made an 1800 or 1800ES, unfortunately.
Cool collection. I like the photography, makes the cars seem almost life size.
I have a red 240 wagon similar to the ebay picture; it’s missing its’ passenger side window frame.
I find it odd that they used separate parts so religiously, to the point of reengineering the 240 to include separate black window frames when Volvo started blacking them out rather than pad-printing the trim. Likewise using solid white pieces for headlights instead of, say, clear with a chrome-foil decal on the back, or for that matter chrome like the old AMTs.
100 model Volvos??! (Says the man with over 5,000 sales brochures). In order to help you deal with your addiction Tom, I think it would be best for you to send a number of the models to me, starting with that really rather splendid 240GL sedan. I shall await your parcel with anticipation! 😉
Tom, Tom – a boy and his toys… Seriously, love your collection. I’m guessing there are quite a few here who regret the impact of chubby little fingers on toy and model cars from the past. In my case, some relatives’ children managed to destroy most of my 50’s/60’s Japanese tin toy cars while I was away at college. I’m grateful I managed to retain quite a few toy and promotional model cars (these were off limits when the kids visited) from my childhood – actually way more than I have room to display.
I think the reason I got so many was guilt over the ones I trashed in my youth!
I have five Stahlbergs – three Volvos, a Mercedes wagon and a Saab sedan.
I vaguely remember a Volvo dealership Stahlberg display from about 1968-1973 era that was designed to demonstrate the structural strength of the Volvo body. It was a stack of five or so 140 series cars of differing colors, one on top of the other.
Tom, did you ever see that piece at Lundahl? I remember it from Cars of the Continent in Rockford.
Yes!! Mike had it in his office, and I would always drool over it when we were there. His appeared to have big-bumper 1974 142s, I specifically remember one was orange. A couple were missing headlights and trim, but it was mostly complete. Years later in the early 2000s I asked him about it, and he said if he could find it he’d give it to me, but he never found it. I suspect it may have been tossed when they moved from their downtown location to a new building in Rock Island in 1995.
There have been a few of those stacked Volvos on eBay but they’ve always gone for crazy amounts of money.
100 of these things? Man, I thought that I was obsessive with my collection of at least ten Citroen 2CVs, but that pales in comparison to your assemblage of Stahlbergs. On a business trip to Sweden in 1986 I picked up a silver 760GLE for my son. I recently returned it to him, busted A-pillars, warped plastic body and all. He wasn’t all that impressed.
So what scale are these? Very cool stuff, that I never knew of when I was a kid. The detail looks really nice for a plastic model.
They are about 1/20–bigger than a ’60s-’70s Ford or Chevy promo, but smaller than a 1/18 diecast.
I’m a police car collector and I enjoy seeing the police versions of Stahlberg cars. Of course, those probably wouldn’t have been available at Volvo dealerships in the USA! Most of them were Swedish police cars but they made at least one or two Finnish police models, a couple of Dutch versions of the Volvo 340 and at least one that was either Danish or Norwegian (both use the same word, Politi, for police). Most of the Swedish police cars were white with a blue and yellow stripe (Swedish police graphics of the late ’70s and ’80s) but I’ve seen at least one in the earlier black and white. Saab promos also were made in police versions by Stahlberg.