Jan Wilsgaard

Jan Wilsgaard (born 1930;Brooklyn, New York) was the Chief Designer at Volvo Cars from 1950–1990, having studied at the Gothenburg School of Applied Arts (now HDK, Högskolan för Design och Konsthantverk, at the University of Gothenburg) before joining Volvo when co-founder Assar Gabrielsson still headed the company.

Wilsgaard was one of twenty-five designers nominated for Car Designer of the Century, and was followed at Volvo by the noted designer Peter Horbury.

Background and career

Wilsgaard's father was a Norwegian sailor. During World War II, the family fled from Norway to Sweden.

As Chief Designer, Wilsgaard designed all Volvo's projects during his tenure, with few exceptions (e.g., the Volvo P1900 Sport and P1800 Coupe). One of Wilsgaard's first jobs was to design better rear windows for the PV Duett Van, a prophetic project, given that Wilsgaard went on to design the estate versions of the company's Amazon, 145, 760 and 850 Series — during a period which saw Volvo become closely associated with the station wagon / estate body type.