ran across this. think it's based in he Netherlands. PV/Duett thru the 850. Has info on the 300 and the 400.

from the History page:

History of Volvo

The history of Volvo starts with SKF (Svenska Kullagerfabriken), which produces ball-bearings. SKF registered the name “Volvo” (which means “I roll”) in May 1911 to use it for future ball-bearing series. In 1915 the name Volvo was used for a subsidiary of SKF. The name “Volvo” was even used for a short time for some ball bearings but SKF decided to only use their own company name.

In the early 1920s Assar Gabrielsson (1891) was the Managing Director of SKF. When he met Gustaf Larsson (an engineer) they soon were talking about a real Swedish car. They both had the idea the Swedish market was big enough to be succesfull for a Swedish car which would withstand the rough roads and cold temperature. Gabrielsson presented his ideas to the SKF board members but SKF didn’t see much in the ideas

http://www.volvotips.com/