Year and place: 1911-1969, Södertälje and Malmö. (Company formed by Scania, 1900-1911, and Vabis, 1891-1911. In 1969 Scania-Vabis and SAAB merged to Saab-Scania.)

When the former competitors Scania and Vabis formed AB Scania-Vabis, the original companies continued in business - but with the exclusion of everything that had to do with car production. This was let to the new company.

The production of private cars and other smaller cars were concentrated to Södertälje, and in Malmö the heavier cars were to be produced. All engines were manufactured in Södertälje.

The early private cars
The first two years Scania-Vabis sold a wide variation of private cars. One reason was to deliver cars ordered before the companies joined, and the other to use finished parts from the two factories. So the first Scania-Vabis cars could have a Scania engine, or a Vabis engine. And a Scania grill, or a Vabis grill. And so on ...

The 1911 catalogue presented five models, and all of them could apparently be ordered with one of four different bodyworks. 1912 came the EP model with a Vabis 4,4 litre engine, but at least three of the cars were delivered with a Scania engine.

Often the various types of chassis were used both for private cars and cabs - and for smaller transport cars such as ambulances, delivery cars and small trucks.

Despite this a bit confusing situation, Scania-Vabis already from the start built cars with high quality. The main target of customers were those who looked more at the quality than the price, such as wealthy persons, the royal court, cab owners and authorities run by the state or communities.

One of the early police cars, an open model made for a group of eight policemen, got the nickname "bilwursten" (something like "the car sausage", from Medvurst which is a kind of German sausage). The reason was an accident with one of its horse drawn forerunners. The coachman lost control and the equipage crashed into a well filled restaurant. One of the bystanders said that the sausage cracked, and the pork and the horsemeat were separated. This car, delivered in 1913, was wrecked in a collission in 1930.

Danish factory
The demand for cars was high in the years before the First World War, so Scania-Vabis founded a subsidiary in Denmark in 1913.

Initially it was a factory for assembling cars, but shortly after the start the company bought the right to produce german Der Dessauer cars. They built both cars and trucks, also with own developed constructions. These danish cars were different from the model program of Scania-Vabis in Sweden.

Scania-Vabis private cars
In 1914 came two models with new engines, both 4-cylinders. Type I had a 22hp 2,1 litre engine, and type II a 30hp 2,8 litre engine. Between 1914 and 1928 305 Type I cars were made, with two different lengths of chassis. Type II were built until 1920, in a total of 110 cars. These cars were delivered with a wide variation of bodyworks, both as private cars and light trucks et cetera.

Type III came in 1917, with a 50hp 4-cylinder 5 litre engine. This engine was constructed in 1915, but initially used only in trucks. This model was, as you may guess, much larger than the other two models. 51 cars were finished during three years, and several had elegant covered bodyworks with expensive interiors.

Among the early cars were an experimental car with an engine run on usual gas - the same kind of gas used in street gas lights. It had a huge cigarshaped balloon on the roof for the gas. I guess it was an experiment with alternative fuel during the First World War.

Early trucks and buses
A great number of light trucks were made. Various ambulances was bought by communities, hospitals and the swedish army. One model had the stretcher frame mounted with springs, another had the exhaust pipe running under the stretcher frame and the bench to give warmth for the patient and the medic.

Specially designed light cargo trucks were made for the postal service.

Already in 1911 the first real bus was built, with a chassis and body made for 12 passengers. It also had softer springs than trucks, and a lowered floor to make it easier to get in and out. I guess the softer springs were welcomed by the passengers, since the tyres were of compact rubber.

The fire brigades in Sweden were getting motorized. In 1914 Stockholms fire brigade took this decision, and the change was finished in 1916. In 1917 they had 28 fire engines, ambulances and other cars and trucks - of these 27 were Scania-Vabis. One of the earliest fire engines was bought by Norrköping fire brigade. It had a removeable mechanical swedish-made ladder with large wheels, the first of its kind. Thanks to the new functions it could be handled easily - by just four men ...

In 1916 a reporter from a swedish car magazine described a trip with a new fire engine. He had thought that the 5,5 metric ton heavy truck would provide a very shaky trip, especially when the speed was over 25 km/h, but that was not true. A special thrill he found was that they could break traffic rules, something the law-abiding citizens have to follow. Another special thrill was the fact that "everything that represents speed is impressing", and to travel with this large fire engine in the heavy traffic in Stockholm - with an average speed around 40 km/h - was something special. People on the streets seemed to move as fast as snails, and he was annoyed that, despite the fire engines bells and whistles making a loud noice, the streets were not emptied to give them free passage.

Wartime specialities
A truck, towing a 15cm gun, was tested by the swedish army in 1915 for a long trip from Stockholm via Östersund to Boden (some 1.160 km on todays modern roads). The trip took 14 weeks. Yes, they had some problems with the bad conditions of the roads.

During the First World War a number of military vehicles were produced. Among the more spectacular ones was a truck with both 4-wheel power and 4-wheel steering. This was finished in about 7 weeks from order. The tests were satisfying, but the army just ordered two. Five were sold to a company transporting timber, used among others to pull "road trains" with a total load up to 40 metric tons. With a load this large it could make 8 km/h, without load it could make around 20 km/h.

In 1916 production started of 110hp air craft engines for the Swedish Air Force.

From summer 1914 to autumn 1917 Gustaf Erikson, who had constructed among others the first Vabis car in 1897, again was employed. His task was to participate in the development of a large V8 engine. This got exchangeable cylinder tops, for liquer or petrol as fuel, and could give 140 hp. The 8 engines that were built were used as generators in electric railway motorwagons.

The first round
During these years cars (mainly trucks) were exported to several countries, also to Russia and Australia. The model catalogue in 1913 was printed in swedish, english and russian. The beginning of the war led to increased production, which gave good profits for the company. But, after a few years of war it got hard to get raw material for the factories.

After the war it was tough times for the company. Lack of material made car production hard, and as late as 1919 Scania-Vabis showroom in Stockholm displayed cars without tyres - which the buyers had to provide. Cheaper massproduced cars were imported, and Scania-Vabis could not withstand the competition. In 1919 the board decided to cease production of private cars, fire engines and heavier trucks, and concentrate on smaller faster trucks.

This decision was not taken to effect, luckily.

Meanwhile production of private cars and trucks went on. In 1918 29 private cars and 85 trucks were made, in 1919 96 resp. 130, and in 1920 80 resp. 81. Among the trucks delivered in 1919 were five 4-wheel driven fire engines.

The second round
Instead they presented a new private car. It was a modified Type II, with the wheelbase extended ten centimetres. It's engine was a modified version of the 4-cylinder engine, now giving 36hp.

News on this 1920 model was electric lights, and a starting motor (instead of the crank that some person had to use to start cars, in order to rotate the engine parts). 116 cars of this model was produced.

And the production of fire engines and heavier trucks continued, too.

Then the depression came. In June 1921 they had large financial problems.

Wizardry by the management
During the autumn the company AB Scania-Vabis changed name.

In late November the same year a brand new company was formed in the town of Södertälje. This new company had the name AB Scania-Vabis.

The new company bought lots of stuff from the renamed company.

In December the renamed company went into bankruptcy. And the new company rented factories, machines et cetera from the bankrupt's estate.

The result of these acts was that the financial situation got far better, and the name of the cars were still Scania-Vabis.

The restart
The new company were not a rich company, and the production was low in the start. Then Sweden Post ordered a number of coaches for their new traffic in the northern parts of Sweden, with mail and passengers. The first was in traffic in January 1st 1923.

These postal coaches were of an interesting construction. The snow was a large problem for communications, so the coaches got a special gear construction. Also the coaches could be fitted with two support wheels on either side, to attach a rubber track (like on the half-tracks known from the Second World War). The coaches could also be fitted with runners on the front wheels. These coaches were so functional that they also plowed the ways they trafficed.

The technical development also restarted. In 1922 they patented a carburator which was reliable and consumed lesser volumes of petrol than earlier models. In 1923 a new engine was introduced, with easy access to all parts that demanded regular service. The pistons were exchangeable, and the engine could be made with different compression suitable for either petrol or pure alcohol or various alcohol mixes.

Their last private cars
The first engine was mounted in an open Scania-Vabis Type II phaeton. By then the management already had decided to stop producing private cars, so this was the only private car with the new engine, primarily used for testing the engine.

In 1929 the last two private cars were built, mainly put together with parts from the shelves. These cars were, according to a story, made since it was concidered that the companys managing director and chief of sales ought to drive Scania-Vabis cars.

Several of the Scania-Vabis private cars were well equipped limousines. Their interiors were luxury, and some were equipped with special holders for the high hats some men used in those days.

Between 1911 and 1929 some 735 private cars were built.

Trucks at the time
Sales of trucks, buses and special cars like fire engines increased. Among the technical inventions were the way of mounting the engines at only three places, which made it less effected of the small movements in the chassis. This started in 1924, and the same year came the progressive suspensions (relative to the load) - a solution Scania-Vabis were among the first to use.

In 1925 the mechanical tipping device came, which made unloading gravel and similar loads much easier. The hydraulic 3-way tipping device was introduced in 1927. In 1929 five 85hp engines were replacing old engines in german tanks that Sweden bought in 1921, the first tanks in Sweden. Later more tanks would use Scania-Vabis engines.

From 1932 Scania-Vabis used american Hesselman-system engines, a kind of diesel engines but with spark plugs. During 1936 their own 120hp diesel engine were finished - and it was in more than one way "finished". It was sold, with only minor changes, during almost 15 years. It could be converted for use of petrol, and during the Second World War it also was used with wood-gas.

The modern truck, with the engine "beside or under" the driver instead of under a separate hood at the very front, was introduced in 1932. This construction, often nicknamed "bulldog", made it possible to increase the cargo area.

The trucks were of high quality. One probably exceptional truck was delivered to a snowplow company in 1924. It was used for snow plowing and transports until 1974, when it had made 1.500.000 kilometres!

... and fire engines ...
In competition with primarily Tidaholm, another swedish car make, Scania-Vabis delivered cars to fire brigades in swedish towns. The fire brigade in Stockholm bought new fire engines in 1931, to replace the ones bought in 1914-16 (mentioned earlier in this text). Scania-Vabis was chosen this time too, and now all firemen was placed inside doors (but still most fire engines had no roofs). These fire engines were in service until around 1950.

In early 1932 the town of Luleå, far north in Sweden, bought a new fire engine. This was made to work as a snow plow too.

Often fire engines were very well serviced, and therefore could be in use for many years. One example is the first fire engine with a covered body that Stockholm fire brigade bought in 1934. In 1945 it was rebuilt for use at Bromma airport, and later it was used as a tanker in Stockholm until 1967.

... and buses at the time
The bus traffic in Sweden was also increasing, and new buses in demand.

A bus for 17 passengers was first shown in 1923. The year after came a bus for 32 passengers.

In 1932 came also buses with "bulldog" bodies. This could carry 60 passengers. The first Scania-Vabis "bulldog" bus got so popular, that more buses than trucks were produced during most of the 30s.

War again
During the war a large number of military vehicles were produced, also light tanks.

The tanks were of the model Czech TNH (LT-38), that Scania-Vabis built under license as Stridsvagn m/41. In 1942-44 222 m/41s were delivered to the swedish army. The second series of 122 tanks had thicker armour in the front and a more powerful engine. They were in service till the late 50s, when they were rebuilt to armoured personnel vehicles (Pbv 301).

The last 16 of the second series were finished as assault guns named SAV m/43, and 18 more were delivered 1944-47. The SAV had a more powerful gun, but to get the overall strength it couldn't have a turnable turret.

(Beside these 256 tanks and assault guns, Scania-Vabis delivered over 300 tank engines to vehicles built by Volvo and Landsverk.)

One Scania-Vabis model probably got more exposed and well known than any other, the SKP (together with its Volvo twin VKP). It started as an armoured 4-wheel drive personnel carrier built for the swedish army during the Second World War. It was later modernised, and used during several decades. Some were used for more than forty years. If not elsewhere, you probably have seen these on photos showing U.N. troop missions into the 80s - a bit odd-looking whitepainted armoured trucks (actually it looks like early stealth design). (Around 350 KPs wer built. Scania-Vabis built 262 of them, given the military name SKP. The same armoured Scania-Vabis bodies were also mounted on Volvo 4-wheel drive chassis, then named VKP.)

During the war all new trucks were fitted with wood gas units, and elder trucks rebuilt with these units. Buses often had the unit mounted on a separate wagon, so the bodies did not have to be rebuilt. In 1942 almost 35.000 trucks, 90% of the trucks in Sweden, was driven by wood gas. Scania-Vabis delivered also 82 bus chassis without engines, that were used in Stockholm and Göteborg with electric engines fed with electricity via conductors on the roof (like on trams).

Peace again
At the end of the war the capacity was over 1.500 chassis a year. After the war there was an increasing demand for transport vehicles in Europe, and the Scania-Vabis factory in Södertälje grew. The first large bus chassis order came from the Netherlands, 280 chassis. In ten years Scania-Vabis capacity trippled, and more than half was exported.

In 1948 Scania-Vabis became the general agency in Sweden for Volkswagen. This gave better conditions for the service organisation in Sweden, investments and research. Export marketing was also increased.

The direct injection diesel engine was introduced in 1948, in cooperation with british Leyland. A very durable engine, of which many have made more than 400.000 kilometres (about 10 trips round this planet). All truck owners whose cars had been driven the distance got a diplom, a medal to put on the car an a globe. (It is said that one service chief got a telegram saying that the car had gone 400.000 km, and the question of how to open the hood.)

In 1949-50 Stockholm fire brigade bought three rather large fire engines, with a weight fully equiped up to 10 metric tons. Since they were built to carry 11 men they were registred as buses.

Important changes
In the late 40s the management had led Scania-Vabis from "a minor specialist company producing quality vehicles in a smaller scale, to a high-tech massproducer".

One part of the process was to work with standardized components to a large extent. But, in spite of this and a narrowed model program, Scania-Vabis had over 4.000 parts they produced.

More resellers were arranged in Sweden, for both Scania-Vabis and Volkswagen. The great number of cheap surplus-trucks in Europe after the war had been a tough competitor, but import restrictions released that pressure. Sales of Volkswagen got a breakthrough in 1950, and increased even more when the program was widened with a van, a pickup and a small bus. From 1950 Porsche was also sold via Scania-Vabis resellers.

Export was very important. In 1947-48 it was 20%. In 1951 an export department got in function, with a goal to rise exports to 50% in the mid 50s. In 1956 Scania-Vabis reached that goal.

More and better
Production facilities were increased with new factories.

Abroad it was a large demand for heavy, robust trucks usable on roads with bad condition. Since the swedish roads were of rather poor quality into the 50s, swedish producers like Scania-Vabis and Volvo had experience of constructing cars for these conditions, which now was an advantage.

However, the roads got better, and the demand grew for heavier and more powerful trucks.

One important part was the engine. 1951 was the year of the first Scania-Vabis turbine engine, a turbine compressor powered by the exhausts.

New generations
In april 1953 the serie production of L51 Drabant started. It had a 4-cylinder 100hp engine, and could carry 6 metric tons. It was made in four models with various length between the axles. Over 9.000 L51s were made until production stopped in June 1959.

One year later came the 2-axle L71 and the 3-axle LS71, both with the name Regent, with 150hp engines. (The 'S' stands for the third support axle). The gearbox was fitted for use with extra cranes, tipping devices or other equipment on the trucks. The trucks could be delivered with pneumatic brakes, and from 1955 also with servo steering.

From the late 40s bus buyers asked more and more for buses with the entrance in front of the front axle, both to increase the number of passengers and to let the driver sell tickets instead of an extra conductor. So, Scania-Vabis built buses with the engine and driver placed longer in front of the axle. At the same time Scania-Vabis developed rear-engine buses.

In the early fifties a new type of bus construction was introduced, with the engine at the rear. Among them C50 Metropol from 1953 and the lighter C70 Capitol from 1955. (Scania-Vabis had got the sole right to build the Mack C50-bus (U.S.A.) in Europe, and to market outside U.S.A.)

These buses were finished by Scania-Vabis, including the body. Metropol was a rather large bus, and it was rather heavy, so it was not able it sell it abroad. 200 Metropol was sold in Sweden. When Sweden in 1967 changed to driving on the right side of the road, many of them were exported to countries that still drove on the left side.

More passengers and luggage
In the mid 50s Scania-Vabis presented a new bus chassis, with support for the body and lesser parts mounted on the sides of the chassis between the axles. This made it easier for the body factories, and made it possible to have large luggage space alongside the bus under the passengers. The bus could take 52 seated passengers.

In 1958 came the first truck in an entirely new model serie, L75, based on the new 6-cylinder 165hp diesle engine. In the serie were also LT75, with both rear axles connected to the power line.

Still the traditional body design, with the engine under a separate hood at the front, was very usual on trucks, but the L75 truck was the first european truck with an integrated body attached to the chassis with rubber fitting. This gave better comfort for the driver.

The L75 series was the base for a serie of trucks that were produced till august 1980 - 22 years. During the years improvements were made, and the model number changed (L76, L110 and L111).

In the summer of 1959 L55 and LS55 were presented, as the replacement for L51 series.

Expansion
In 1953 Scania-Vabis made a venture to get into the market in South America. Heavy trucks sold well in Brazil, and Scania-Vabis buses that could manage the bad roads better than the competitors. In 1956 more than 600 Scania-Vabis were sold in Argentine. Scania-Vabis opened the first assembly plant in Brazil in 1957, in 1959 the first engine was made in Brazil, and in 1962 the factories could produce complete truck and bus chassis.

Scania-Vabis also had customers in and around the Middle East and the Far East, but here it was more of large orders than continuous expansion.

Trucks from Scania-Vabis won new terrain in 1960. The new LA82 was among the largest truck models built in Sweden. The customer was the swedish army, who bought 440 of this 3-axle all-wheel drive truck. It could carry 5 metric tons, and at the same time pull a 10 ton artillery piece through rough terrain. (Between 1983 and 1987 300 of them were rebuilt, for planned use until year 2005.)

In Sweden the production capacity grew, from 6.000 vehicles in 1960 to more than 11.000 in 1966. Scania-Vabis continued to grow, but in 1966 orders in Sweden decreased with 40% - and in 1967 the export orders decreased with another 40%. But Scania-Vabis continued with the planned growth of production capacity.

A factory was opened in the Netherlands in 1964.

Go Turbo
In early 1961 the turbo was introduced in the L75 series too, increasing the engines power to 205hp.

Scania-Vabis used turbo-engines on railbound motorwagons since 1951, and Volvo had used them in trucks since 1954. European producers had however some bad experiences of turbos, and the technique had a rather bad reputation.

When it was obvious that the swedish turbo trucks worked, both Scania-Vabis and Volvo got a lead that lasted inte the 70s.

In 1962 the L56 series replaced L55. An important news was the double separate pneumatic braking system, increasing safety in traffic.

L76 replaced L75 from early 1963. The series included some LB76 'Bulldog' models, the first built since the 30s, aimed at the European markets where restrictions were set prohibiting vehicles longer than 18 metres. A LB truck with trailer could carry about 7 cubic metres more than a L model. (In Sweden the maximum length was decided in 1966, to 24 metres.)

More new trucks and buses
In april 1963 the new L66 was presented, as a complement between L56 and L76.

Changed demands from customers and better roads had led to larger and larger Scania-Vabis trucks. So, in 1964 the lighter L36 came as a complement in the 8-12 ton truck segment.

Through the years the vehicles were improved with better engines, gear boxes et cetera, as well as for the comfort of the driver and the safety for the driver and others.

Bus models changed through the years, like the truck models. To meet the expected demand for vehicles, the bus production was moved to Katrineholm and the truck production got more room for expansion in Södertälje.

Among the many bus chassis and complete buses built during the 60s, I'll only tell a little about one chassis, named BR110. It was actually a front end and a rear end put together with a simple supporting frame. When the chassis had arrived at the coach factory the supporting frame was cut off, and the two ends attached to the coachwork.

Changes
Two trends in the 60s had effect on Scania-Vabis bus production. The first was the decreased demand for buses with the engine in the front, and the increased demand for buses with the engine under the floor in the middle of the bus or at the rear end. The other was that Scania-Vabis sold more and more complete buses, and less chassis.

A change in Sweden that had effect on the bus market, was the decision in 1963 to change to right-hand traffic in 1967. The decision gave two ways to go for bus owners: rebuild or buy new buses. The result was that most of the swedish buses had to be replaced in a few years.

The economic situation in Sweden got down in the middle of the 60s, but the change to right-hand traffic kept Scania-Vabis bus production going a while. Export of buses decreased too, as for trucks. But, Scania-Vabis kept on with the expansion. During the early 60s both techinque and production had been modernised, and the company had a good base.

In 1965 more than 10.000 vehicles were produced, and in 1966 vehicle number 100.000 were produced.

"Program Scania"
In 1968 "Program Scania" was presented. From now on the vehicles should be called just Scania. The reason was a trademark discussion with Daimler-Benz who thought that the old Scania-Vabis symbol could be mistaken for the star that Mercedes-Benz used. On some markets the long name was seen as too long, and the shortening was positive.

All models were renamed, and the cylinder volume was used in the new names. The L36 had a 5 litre engine and was renamed L50, and so on to L76 that became L110 (11 litre).

Among the news were also some new models, like the LB110 with a coach that had a large opening in the front for easy access to the engine and that could be tipped forward for larger maintenance work on the engine.

In 1969 a V8 350hp engine was introduced.

A new company merge
In 1969 AB Scania-Vabis was merged with Saab, another swedish company producing private cars and aircrafts. The new company got the name Saab-Scania.

(In the 'beauty competition' for vintage vehicles, held by the Royal Dutch Automobile Club in conjunction with the 1998 Tour Rally from The Hague to Paris, first prize was given to a 1917 Scania-Vabis ambulance. A 1898 Panhard-Levassor and over 200 other cars took part in the event. The ambulance is normally displayed in the Scania museum in Södertälje, Sweden.)

Photos

2000-02-01. www.konditori100.se. Text/pictures: Arne Granfoss ©. Prod: AG Informice