It was actually called the PV-40 but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and the point. Also, I did ask what this car led to. The PV-40 idea was abandoned because of expense and the conventional PV444 was developed in its place.
Sorry, that was a typo on my behalf. I meant to put PV40 (as it says in the captions to the pictures..)
Also, I should have re-read the question as of course I could have answered the other bit too!
So instead I'll add that before WW2 Volvos were known for rather large cars and the management wanted something a bit smaller, which they thought was what people would want in the future; that's what the PV40 attempted to be (with 8 cylinders!!). As we now know it didn't lead to anything and the PV444 was developed to fulfil the job instead.
