Image: VolvoSugga.org

If you’re like many people, the mention of the Volvo brand conjures up images of passenger cars, but as many off-road aficionados know, that’s not the only type of vehicle the Swedish company has invested lots of time and money into creating. Enter the Volvo TP21 Sugga–the off-road workhorse of the Swedish military starting in the early 1950s. Though somewhat difficult to find these days, Sugga’s have become favorites of off-roaders all over the world, and with the rugged capabilities of these unique vehicles, we can see why they remain in demand.

Image: Cars Database

First introduced in passenger and commercial vehicle forms, starting in 1950, the TP21 Sugga military vehicle saw its debut in 1953. The successor of the previous four-wheel-drive TPV (Terrängpersonvagn m/43) off-road military vehicle built during World War II, this three-ton beast of a vehicle was built to be able to overtake anything in its way.

As part of the Volvo PV800 series, this particular off-road vehicle can trace its ancestry back to the original Volvo Suggan (translated to English as Sow) taxicab first produced in Sweden in 1937. It was through its ties to this series that the TP21 (or the Radio Personnel Carrier 915 as it was called within the Swedish military) mostly maintained the passenger car-like body design of its predecessors, making it a somewhat odd looking off-road adventurer. The endearing term given to all the TP21 vehicles of Terräng-Sugga, or just Sugga, reflects upon this overall aesthetic, particularly the rear of the vehicle that is said to look like that of a mother pig.

Image: VolvoSugga.org

Though typically equipped with a passenger car-like body with seating for four to five adults, the TP21 could also be fitted with a special two-person cab and rear platform setup or larger body with seating for seven. Overall, the vehicle was just about 15-½ feet long, six feet wide and seven feet tall at the rooftop. The antenna added nearly another three feet to the vehicle’s overall height.

Image: Cars Database

Under the hood of the cumbersome beast sits a 223ci inline-6, side-valve Penta ED engine tied to a Volvo E9 transmission, which gave the overly weighty TP21 produced just 90bhp at 3600RPM and 159 foot-pounds of torque.

Though extremely underpowered by today’s standards, this little engine was well-proven in its performance back in the day and made for a good cruising powerplant between the Sugga’s front fenders. Because of this, the TP21 was well known for being the vehicle that would not only get soldiers in the Swedish military to where they were going, but also get them back home.

Off-roaders today typically replace the vehicle’s inline-6 with a much more powerful engine, like a more modern V8 gas engine or even a diesel.

Image: Cars Database

Because the TP21 was a rather expensive model to produce, less than 1,000 four-wheel-drive versions are believed to have been built for military use between 1953 and 1958.

However, this particular model did put the gears in motion for the next-generation vehicle known as the TL22.

This much smaller model (weighing only about 4,000 pounds) was much more nimble with a much more rugged frame and six-wheel-drive, as well as more powerful with a 105hp OHV engine under the hood, merely sharing an outwards resemblance with the TP21.

A true beast, both back when it was first introduced, and now, the Volvo TP21 is certainly not your typical off-road machine, but an interesting and reliable one none-the-less. So next time you’re looking for an extremely rugged off-road vehicle, that’s just a little out of the ordinary, a TP21 might be right up your alley!

Image: Cars Database