Volvo C303
Overview
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...
.
The car was developed in the late 60s based on the successful L-3314
Volvo L-3314
The Volvo Laplander L3314 is the base model of a range of military vehicles produced by Volvo.In the early 1950s Volvo received an order to develop a new utility vehicle for the Swedish Army. A pre-run series of 90 vehicles, named the L2304, was delivered between 1959 and 1961. It was powered by a...
series and went into production in 1974. This version was produced both as a 4x4 and a 6x6. An 8x8 was planned but dropped. Engines were the B30
Volvo B30 engine
This B30 was a straight-6 automobile engine produced by Volvo Cars starting in 1969, and used in the company's 164 sedan from 1969 through 1975. It was also used in the Volvo C303 military vehicle. Other uses included marine, industrial and agricultural applications. It was a robust pushrod engine...
(B20 in the prototypes) from Volvo's civilian cars. The C3 series feature portal axles with locking differential
Locking differential
A locking differential, diff-lock or locker is a variation on the standard automotive differential. A locking differential may provide increased traction compared to a standard, or "open" differential by restricting each of the two wheels on an axle to the same rotational speed without regard to...
s resulting in very high ground-clearance (similar to the Unimog
Unimog
Unimog is a range of multi-purpose auto four wheel drive medium trucks produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The name Unimog is pronounced in German and is an acronym for the German "UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät", Gerät being the German word for machine or device...
) and outstanding performance offroad.
