In the late 1970s, Volvo built a series of cars for the royal family and the dictatorship in East Germany. One of the cars is in Finland, and they refuse to send the car 'home'.
– We will never release the Volvo 264 TE.
"The museum has been interested. But the car will stay in Finland," Mia Pelttari, communications manager at Volvo Cars Finland, tells the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat .
In the late 1970s, Volvo built a special edition of the 200 series. Some were sent to the Swedish royal family, while others ended up in the hands of East German dictator Erich Honecker.
The car is actually also available as a Landaulet. That is, with a folding roof. It was the car that East Germany ordered for the dictator at the time. Allegedly because Sweden remained neutral during the Cold War.
Only 335 examples of the car exist. Or at least that was the number Volvo itself built. But the one that stands in Finland today will never return.
Rare Volvo will never return to Sweden
Even though the now Swedish-Chinese car brand has asked to have the car back. Even the employees at Volvo in Finland, who have tried to buy the car several times over the years, have been turned down. And every time.
The car, which Volvo in Finland has parked, has just covered 85,000 kilometers in the 48 years that have passed since it was new. And that includes a number of very well-known personalities behind the wheel.
– In Finland, rock stars, among others, have this car. Pehr G. Gyllenhammar, who was Volvo's CEO from 1971 to 1983, also drove the car, says Pelttari.
And in Finland they insist that the cars in their collection are maintained. Just like they are kept dry and well-maintained in a heated garage. But they will never come to Sweden again.
– Our cars have always been stored in a warm garage, and their condition is continuously maintained, says the Finnish PR manager.
It is not known whether Mia Pelttari still has a job after she publicly denied the parent company in Sweden access to the cars.
But the story of the 264 isn't the only exciting Volvo story you can find on Boosted. Back in 2023, for example, we told you about the last Volvo 240 ever.
It was purchased on a May day in 1993 by the couple Lena and Ulf Smith. At that time, Volvo had built 2,862,413 copies of the car. Read more about it here .
