Automotive News Canada - June 2024 - 4

4
* JUNE 2024
Volvo assembled cars in Halifax for 35 years. The
automaker cited globalization and the North American
Free Trade Agreement for ending operations in 1998.
PHOTO: VOLVO CAR CANADA
Volvo opened its first assembly plant in Canada in 1963,
in Halifax. That was replaced by a new plant on the
Halifax waterfront in 1967, pictured. Garry Sowerby's
record-breaking 245 DL wagon was built there.
PHOTO: VOLVO CAR CANADA
A marketing drive
down memory lane
Halifax Volvo store taps
into the nostalgia of a
record-holding wagon,
the city that built it and
the two men who drove it
around the world in 1980
By ROSEANN DANESE
WINDSOR CORRESPONDENT
A MARITIME DEALERSHIP IS
reaching into history to highlight Nova
Scotia's automotive ties with Volvo and an
iconic car that went on to set a record for
driving around the world.
Young: Wants
to remind
Benjie Young, general manager of Volvo
Cars Halifax, was so
enthralled by the story of
the Volvo 245 DL wagon
and the two Maritimers
who embarked on the
worldwide trek in 1980
that he commissioned a
replica of the vehicle -
decals and all - to proudly
display in his showroom.
people
what a
great history
Volvo has
with Nova
Scotia and
Canada.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
" Most customers that
spend any time in the
showroom ask about the
car, " Young said. " Volvo
isn't really known for its
motor sports, so the car is
an oddity to people who
don't know the history. "
Volvo Cars Halifax is
part of Steele Auto Group, which owns 59
franchised dealerships in the Maritimes.
The 1980 Volvo wagon - named Red
Cloud by owner Garry Sowerby - has
become a symbol of Halifax pride, Young
said.
" I think what it does is it ties in Volvo's
long-standing history with the province
of Nova Scotia, the Maritimes and even
Canada. "
Volvo built a plant in Halifax in 1963,
a replacement plant in 1967 and a second
plant in 1987. The automaker closed operations
in 1998, citing globalization and the
North American Free Trade Agreement.
But Young said the negative publicity
at the time doesn't negate the company's
strong history on the East Coast.
Nearly 45 years later: The Volvo 245
DL that took Garry Sowerby, pictured,
and his friend Ken Langley around the
world in a record 74 days in.
ODYSSEY INTERNATIONAL
Volvo Cars Halifax decorated a 2024
Volvo V60 Cross Country, above, to
pay homage to the Volvo 245 DL driven
around the world in 1980, right. The
tribute is intended to show customers
Volvo's lengthy history in Canada.
PHOTO: VOLVO CARS HALIFAX
AND ODYSSEY INTERNATIONAL
Sowerby and Red Cloud " tell a story of
a small brand that built a car in a small
city, partnered with a couple of young
Maritimers and captured the attention of
the entire world, " Young said. " For car people,
it's a really neat story. "
Sowerby said that when he and his
friend Ken Langley got serious about
breaking the world record for the quickest
trip around the world by vehicle, they
picked the 245 DL. That it was built
in Halifax was a bonus for the two
Maritimers, he said.
A TRULY CANADIAN UNDERTAKING
In September 1980, the pair set out on
a life-defining journey in that decked-out
blue and white station wagon, ironically
named Red Cloud, making the trip in
74 days. They finished in Toronto, etching
their names into the Guinness Book of
Records.
" The Volvo worked well for us for a few
reasons, " Sowerby told Automotive News
Canada. " One, it would fit inside a Boeing
747 passenger configuration. We had to
have a vehicle that could go into a passenger
liner because we had to air-freight it "
for one part of the trip.
" It was 18,000 bucks or something, "
Sowerby said. " We came up from Perth,
Australia, heading to Bombay [India], and
we checked it as excess baggage. It went
right into the baggage hole. "
VOLVO IN NOVA SCOTIA
* The Volvo Halifax Assembly Plant
opened June 11, 1963, at a former
sugar refinery plant in Dartmouth, on
the opposite side of the Halifax Harbour.
It was the first production car assembly
plant owned by Volvo outside of
Sweden and was established to bypass
stiff North American import tariffs.
* It was one of two nondomestic plants in
North America. The other was owned by
Rolls-Royce.
* By 1966, annual production totaled
more than 3,700 cars.
* A replacement plant was opened on the
Halifax waterfront on March 1,
1967. Production increased to 8,000
cars a year. By 1974, production was
12,000 a year.
* In late 1987, Volvo Canada opened a
plant in the Bayers Lake Industrial Park,
west of downtown Halifax, to assemble
the Volvo 740 wagon. Parts from
Sweden were delivered to Halifax via
container ship. The finished cars were
shipped to Canada and the United
States.
* Volvo announced in September 1998
that it would close operations, according
to media reports at the time, and 220
jobs were lost. The last Volvo built in
Canada left the line on Dec. 18, 1998.
Sources: Volvo, Made in Nova Scotia Museum
of Industry
Red Cloud received worldwide press coverage
because the two men struck a sponsorship
deal with the Toronto Sun, owners
of the global wire service United Press
International.
Young's modern replica is a 2024 Volvo
V60 Cross Country that is decaled and
modified with accessories to resemble Red
Cloud.
REMINDING PEOPLE ABOUT A 'COOL STORY'
" It's sort of a tribute car, " Young said.
" [It] was made to try and remind people
about this really cool story [and] what a
great history Volvo has with Nova Scotia
and Canada. "
The tribute vehicle is usually parked
in the Volvo Cars Halifax showroom but
is on display at the Steele Wheels Motor
Museum in Halifax along with the original
Red Cloud. The museum, which is affiliated
with Steele Auto Group, is displaying two
other vehicles that Sowerby drove to obtain
additional world records.
The exhibit runs through summer, after
which the tribute car will be brought to a
new Volvo dealership that's set to open in
June to replace the previous location.
Sowerby's images from the 1980 trek will
be blown up and used in the enclosed office
spaces. The photos will be available for use
in Volvo dealerships across Canada.
" This exhibit generates excitement for
Volvo at a time when ... we are about to
move into a new state-of-the-art dealership, "
Young said. " Positive stories love
company. " - ANC
Automotive News Canada - June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - June 2024
