Rolf Mellde (1922 – March 2009) was an engineer who specialized in performance engines and also a car racing enthusiast.

Early life

Mellde's grandfather August Johansson built one of the first cars in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and sold it to

Lars Magnus Ericsson Lars Magnus Ericsson (; 5 May 1846 – 17 December 1926) was a Swedish inventor, entrepreneur and founder of telephone equipment manufacturer Ericsson ( incorporated as ''Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson''). Early life Lars Magnus was born i ...

. Mellde's father, Evald Johansson, taught car mechanics at a school in Stockholm. Following his father, Mellde started drawing

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

compressors and

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s at the age of ten. After finishing his basic education, Mellde studied

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

for two years at the ''Stockholms Tekniska Institut'' (STI) under Folke Mannerstedt (race driver and engine designer) and Nils Gustafsson. His first job was at Bergbolagen in

Lindesberg Lindesberg () is a locality and the seat of Lindesberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 9,672 inhabitants in 2017. History Lindesberg has centuries old history, being the center of an old mining district. The earliest known trace ...

that made engine powered inspection trollies. After that he worked two years at Skandiaverken in

Lysekil Lysekil () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Lysekil Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 7,600 inhabitants in 2018. Situated on the south tip of Stångenäs peninsula at the mouth of Gullmarn fjord, it ...

working with

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

boat engines.

Work at Saab

Mellde started working at

SAAB Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

in September 1946 and was put in charge of engine development. In 1948, he started his competition career in a

DKW DKW (''Dampfkraftwagen'', – the same initials later also used for ''Des Knaben Wunsch'', ; ''Das Kleine Wunder'', and ''Deutsche Kinderwagen'', ) was a German car- and motorcycle-marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto U ...

in Skarpnäck. When he became head of testing, he suggested that SAAB participate in automotive competitions to show off SAAB's engines. In 1950, SAAB entered the '' Rikspokalen'' and won. SAAB won eight times up to the final ''Rikspokalen'' in 1961. In the 1960s it became harder to sell

cars and Rolf Mellde went ahead with his idea to test a

four stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

. They had tested several four strokers and the one that was best was the Ford V4. the

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

were invited to drive a test car but none of them wanted to. Tryggve Holm even thought the idea of a SAAB with a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

engine was absurd.

Lars Brising Lars Harald Brising (1915-1995) was a Swedish engineer and aircraft designer. He is best known for having been chief designer for Saab 29 Tunnan which flew for the first time in 1948. He became major general (the head) of the Royal Swedish Air Fo ...

refused to state his opinion. The Saab management instead wanted him to continue working with the

Saab 99 The Saab 99 is a car produced by Swedish manufacturer Saab from 1968 to 1984; their first foray into a larger class than the Saab 96. While considered a large family car in Scandinavia, it was marketed as a niche compact executive car in most ...

. Having no luck, Mellde talked with

Marc Wallenberg Marc "Boy-boy" Wallenberg (28 June 1924 – 19 November 1971) was a Swedish banker and business manager. A member of the prominent Wallenberg family, Marc Wallenberg was CEO of Stockholms Enskilda Bank until his death in 1971. Early life Walle ...

who used to drive a

Saab 92 The Saab 92 was the first production car from Saab. The design was very aerodynamic for its time, with a drag coefficient (''cx'' or ''cw'') of 0.30. The entire body was stamped out of one piece of sheet metal and then cut to accommodate doors ...

. Marc talked with his father and Rolf got the go ahead with the

V4 engine A V4 engine is a four-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V engine, V configuration. The V4 engine is less common compared to straight-four engines. However, V4 engines have been used in au ...

. Even before the go ahead, Rolf had secretly visited Ford in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and asked both Don Fray, then head of Ford US, and Fray contacted

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

, head of Ford, and he had nothing against selling the engine to Saab. The price would be the same Ford charged their own daughter companies. The switch to the V4 was done under great secrecy. Just before the factory closed for the summer in 1966, a number of workers were asked if they were willing to work on some 96s that had "faulty

brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...

s". 40 workers volunteered and then Svante Holm explained that the real reason was that they would take the unsold cars and refit them with V4 engines. 600 cars were rebuilt and the V4 Saabs became a big hit and outsold the two-strokers by a factor of three.

Work at Volvo

Shortly after, Curt Mileikowsky came in from

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' ( English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås ...

. Mileikowsky knew nothing about cars and Rolf left to work at

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

after 25 years at SAAB. At Volvo, Rolf saw what was to be the replacement of the

Volvo 140 The Volvo 140 Series is a line of mid-size cars manufactured and marketed by Volvo from 1966 to 1974 in two- and four-door sedan (models 142 and 144 respectively) as well as five-door station wagon (model 145) body styles, with numerous intermedia ...

, a huge car powered by a cast

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

. Rolf quickly formed a group to work on the new 200-series, Jan Willsgård designed a new front and the V8 was changed to an inline 4. At Volvo he worked to improve safety and also worked on an experimental

front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...

taxi cab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

. In 1979, he led the project team on the ''light component project'' (LCP) that produced the LCP2000

concept cars A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...

displayed at motor shows around the world in 1983. The car featured a very light diesel engine with direct

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All c ...

that gave very good

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...

, as high as .

Later life

Mellde died in March 2009 at 86 years of age.https://web.archive.org/web/20090326081802/http://www.automotorsport.se/news/17547/rolf-mellde-har-avlidit--pionj%C3%A4r-inom-bilindustrin/ (Swedish)

References

The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the AutomobileThe Complete Book of The World Rally Championship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellde, Rolf 20th-century Swedish engineers 1922 births 2009 deaths Saab