The Volvo L3314 is a range of

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...

s produced by

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 ...

. In the early 1950s Volvo received an order to develop a new

utility vehicle A utility vehicle (UV) is a vehicle, generally motorized, that is designed to carry out a specific task with more efficacy than a passenger vehicle. It sometimes refers to a small truck with low sides. Types of utility vehicles Military ...

for the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

. A pre-run series of 90 vehicles, named the L2304, was delivered between 1959 and 1961. It was powered by a

Volvo B16 engine Volvo's first overhead valve passenger car engine was the Inline-four engine, inline-four B4B of 1944 and its descendants, the B14A and B16. These were cast iron engines, and used just three main bearings. B4B Introduced in 1944, the B4B displac ...

. Full scale deliveries of the somewhat improved L3314 began in 1963. The L3314 was powered by the 1.8L B18. The L33-series was offered with different body-variants such as hard-top, half-cab, soft-top, or special versions mounting

anti-tank weapon Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

s. All vehicles are

forward control Cab-over, also known as cab over engine (COE), cab forward or flat face (U.S.), flat nose (Canada), or forward control (UK), is a body style of truck, bus, or van that has a vertical front, "flat face" or a semi-hood, with the cab of the t ...

(where the cab is located over the front axle), except the open L3304. The base version was the L3314SU softtop. Other versions were the L3314HT hardtop with mechanical

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension (physics), tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a Bobb ...

, the L3304 anti-tank gun vehicle and the L3315 communications version, with a shielded 24V system. The L3314 was succeeded by the Volvo C303 in the late 1970s. An upgraded version of the L3314 was offered on the civilian market in 1977 as the C202 Laplander. It was a hard-top with the more powerful B20 engine instead of the B18, but with less robust axles and no differential brake. The C202 was manufactured exclusively in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Csepel Car Factory as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive C303. Civilian versions of the L3314 series, as well as the C202, are often called the Volvo "LAPLANDER".

Military use

Sweden

The L3314SU was adopted by the Swedish Army in 1959 as the ''Personlastterrängbil 903'' (Pltgb 903) and the L3314HT as the Pltgb 903B. The hard-top L3315 communications and command version was named the ''Radiopersonterrängbil 9033'' (Raptgb 9033). (The L3315 was soon nicknamed ''Valp'', meaning "puppy", from its clumsy looks.) The L3304 low profile open bodywork version was called the ''Pansarvärnspjästerrängbil 9031'' (Pvpjtgb 9031) and armed with a Pvpj 1110 90 mm recoil-less antitank gun. The Swedish Army also used a few half-cabs, designated the ''Pansarvärnsrobotterrängbil 9032'' (Pvrbtgb 9032) and fitted with a

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Locate ...

Bantam

ATGM An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

. There were some deliveries of a version for fire fighting, called the ''Brandterrängbil 921''. These could be connected to a trailer via a

power take-off A power take-off or power takeoff (PTO) is one of several methods for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and power transmission#Mechanical power, transmitting it to an application such as an attached implement or separate ...

at the rear of the vehicle. VolvoL3314N

Norway

The

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

adopted a version called the L3314N with a fold-down windscreen and 24

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, Voltage#Galvani potential vs. electrochemical potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units, International System of Uni ...

electrical system to comply with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

regulations. About 2,000 vehicles were purchased and assembled at

Raufoss Raufoss is a town in Vestre Toten Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. It is located about south of the larger town of Gjøvik. The town is located along the municipal border wi ...

in Norway. In Norway the L3314 is commonly known as "Felt", meaning "field", from its Norwegian military designation: ''Vogn, felt, 1/2 tonn, 4x4, Volvo, modell L3314N''.

Netherlands

The

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...

bought a special version able to ford extra deep water (compared to the standard 0.5 metre limit).

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia took delivery of some 200 ''L3314N Öken'' (Desert), which was an adapted version of the Norwegian version, the L3314N. A curious fact is that these desert-bound vehicles retained the Norwegian ski-racks.

Civilian use

Both versions are employed by civilians for rescue services and private use. Many L3314s have been sold as

military surplus Military surplus is goods, usually materiel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when held in excess or are no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Usually the goods sold by th ...

and are used by off-road enthusiasts.

Technology

The Laplander used

constant velocity joint A constant-velocity joint (also called a CV joint and homokinetic joint) is a mechanical coupling which allows the shafts to rotate freely (without an appreciable increase in friction or backlash) and compensates for the angle between the two sha ...

s, of the type invented by

Alfred H. Rzeppa Alfred Hans Rzeppa (January 23, 1885, Gleiwitz – January 1965) was an American engineer of Silesian descent working at Ford Motor Company who invented a version of constant-velocity joint A constant-velocity joint (also called a CV j ...

, in its front axle.

Data L3314

Engine

Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

: B 18 A *

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

: 65 hp (DIN) at 4500 rpm *

Volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

: 1778 cc *

Compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the maximum and minimum volume during the compression stage of the power cycle in a piston or Wankel engine. A fundamental specification for such engines, it can be measured in two different ways. Th ...

: 8,5:1

Transmission

Gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

: Modified Volvo M 40 *

Transfer case A transfer case is an intermediate gearbox that transfers power from the transmission of a motor vehicle to the driven axles of four-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, and other multi-axled on- and off-road machines. A part of the vehicle's drivetr ...

: ZF VG 50 *Front axle: Salisbury 4HS-001-85 *Rear axle: Salisbury 4HA-00-92 with POWR-LOK differential brake

Wheel

*Rim: 6,50"×16" *Tyre: 8,90"×16, modern designation 280/85R16"

C 202 Laplander

Engine

: B 20AVolvo C202 Instruktionsbok AB Volvo TP1473/1 (svenska).1500.3.77 R 1000. 11.81 *Configuration: inline 4-cylinder *

Carburettor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Vent ...

: 1 SU HIF-6 *

93 octane *

: 82 hp *

: 1978 cc *

: 8,7:1

Transmission

: Volvo M 45 *

: Volvo FD51 (part-time 4x4) *Front axle: Salisbury 4HS-001-294 B *Rear axle: Salisbury 4HA-001-293 B (sperr differential, without differential lock)

Other

*Tyre: 285/80 R16 *Top speed: *Weight: Hard top , Pickup , Total (both) *Dimensions: length , width , height

Production

The L3314 and the L3315 were manufactured at Volvo's Lundby plant in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. *L3314: 7737 Olsson, Christer; ''Volvo Lastbilarna under sextio år''. p. 119 *L3315: 1116 *L3304: 367 *C202: 3322 (3324)

References

External links

Basic info about L3314. Archived.

Detailed technical data for military series.
{{ColdWarSwedishAFVs L-3314 Military trucks Vehicles introduced in 1959 1959 establishments in Sweden Cab over off-road vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s