The Volvo LCP2000 Previewed the Car of the Future 30 Years Ago

Thirty years ago, VolvoVolvoSweden, 1927 > present49 models
4535 photos
6 videos
unveiled a concept car at an environmental seminar in Stockholm, Sweden, that would influence them up until the modern day. The Volvo LCP2000Volvo LCP2000Sweden, 1983 > 1983 imagined a car from the year 2000 with low weight, alternative fuels, low fuel consumption and new design.

The Light Component Project was created in the late spring on 1983, but the project began in 1979. It built on the a previous Volvo electric car concept and the Volvo Ellen, a project to build ultra-light weight small car, but focused even further on efficiency. 

Volvo engineer Rolf Mellde led the project and he wanted to take advantage of new materials and technology to create a car that would weigh 700kg (1543lb), could carry four people and would use 4.0l/100km (59mpg) of fuel. It was an impressive goal in 1979.

Volvo completed four LCP 2000 cars, and all of them were slightly different. The design used a simple wedge with two doors and a hatchback. The rear seat faced rearwards for safety and was accessed via the rear hatch.

The materials used were on the absolute cutting edge for the time, including carbon fiber for the doorframes. It also used recyclable plastic and aluminum in the platform and some magnesium as well.

The four cars used two different transversely mounted turbocharged diesel engines. There was a 1.3-liter unit made from magnesium with 50hp, but the 1.4-liter version made from cast iron with 90hp pushed technology at the time by being partially air-cooled. Instead of coolant, the engine oil circulated around the cylinder heads. Both engines could run on any type of fuel including rape seed oil, which made the exhaust smell like a fryer.

All of them were front-wheel drive, but Volvo showed versions using both a five-speed manual and a CVT, which did not become common on cars until quite recently.

The design of the LCP 2000 was eventually adapted for the Volvo 480Volvo 480 ESNetherlands, 1987 > present1 photo
in 1986.

Today, the LCP 2000s are on display at the Volvo Museum in Arendal, Sweden.