In the late 1960s, Volvo had a first project with a focus on passenger safety called P1560, which resulted in a few different prototype models being made. The project was canceled in 1971, partly because of uncertainties about future safety rules - especially in the United States. The following project was oriented along the contemporary Experimental Safety Vehicle projects of US car companies. Using a V8 engine, it would be significantly larger than previous Volvo models. The plan called for ten prototypes, as a number had already been built into a new car model that would complement the 140 Series and become a replacement for Volvo 164. This project was also canceled, but a lot of the design and the already finished prototypes were used for the VESC project.
Safety concepts
The long car was designed for surviving a frontal collision at : The front bumper area was made particularly long; in the case of a collision, the engine would be forced down under the cabin floor by a suitably shaped and reinforced firewall; a spring would pull the steering column into the dashboard ; at the back of the front seats were large cushions to protect rear seat passengers. For resilience against a side collision, the car had strongreinforcements and crumple zones in the doors. VESC would cope with a roof before reaching 2.4 m height without pushing more than 75 mm. The headrests were folded into the seats and folded upwards. Other features of the Volvo VESC were anti-lock brakes, back-up warning signal, integrated roll cage, three-point seatbelts which pulled tight during a crash, front and rear airbags, headlamp washers and wipers, automaticride height control, center mounted fuel tank, automatic fuel shutoff mechanism, warning lights in the doors and an early rear-view camera provided by Mitsubishi Electric that used a 6.5-mm Cosmicar lens mounted between the rear taillights sending footage to a television screen in the cabin.
Outcome
Much of the car - especially the front - heavily influenced the upcoming 200 series, launched in 1974. A Volvo VESC is on display at the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg.
