Volvo · 1935–1938
Volvo PV 36 Carioca
The Volvo PV 36 Carioca is a luxury car manufactured by Volvo Cars between 1935 and 1938. The word Carioca describes someone from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was also the name of a dance that was fashionable in Sweden at the time when the car was introduced. Visually the car was styled similarly to the then strikingly modern Chrysler Airflow and Hupmobile Model J Aero-dynamic. Volvo styling was heavily influenced by North American auto-design trends in the 1930s and 1940s, many of the company's senior engineers having previously worked in the US Auto-industry. The PV36 was the first Volvo to offer an independent front suspension, but the car used the same side-valve engine as the traditional Volvo cars that were still produced alongside the modern Carioca. The PV36 was an expensive car, with a price at 8,500 kronor and Volvo didn't build more than 500 cars. The last one wasn't sold until 1938.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Successor: Volvo PV51
All Volvo PV 36 Carioca data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →
Specifications
- name
- Volvo PV36 Carioca
- Manufacturer
- Volvo Cars
- Production
- 1935–1938
- Assembly
- Sweden: Lundby, Gothenburg
- Successor
- Volvo PV51
- Class
- Luxury car
- Body style
- 4-door saloon
- Layout
- Front-engine rear-wheel-drive
- Engine
- 3670 cc EC I6
- Transmission
- 3-speed manual
- Length
- 5000 mm
- Wheelbase
- 2950 mm
- Kerb weight
- 1660 kg
- Designer
- Ivan Örnberg
Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.
More photos
Sources
- Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q200523CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_PV_36_CariocaCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1362454116 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carioca.jpgPublic domain · Photo: Svennex at English Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.