The Volvo Titan was a heavy-duty truck built from 1951 to 1973. The L395 of 1951 was Volvo’s largest truck, with a payload of up to ten tonnes, and the Titan name carried through several generations until the forward-control Titan Tiptop of 1964.
Volvo Titan at a glance
| Production | 1951–1973 |
|---|---|
| First model | L395 Titan, autumn 1951 |
| Payload | up to 10 tonnes |
| Engine | VDF, replaced by the D96 in 1953 |
| Turbodiesel | the first Volvo truck so equipped, 1954 |
| Air brakes | fitted from 1956 |
| L495 | the refined Titan of 1959 |
| Titan Tiptop | L4951 of 1964, forward control with a tilting cab |
| Successor | Volvo N88 in 1965 |
History of the Volvo Titan
In the autumn of 1951 Volvo introduced its largest truck, the L395 Titan, with a payload capacity of up to ten tonnes. Its large VDF engine was replaced in 1953 with the further developed D96, and the following year the Titan became the first Volvo truck offered with a turbodiesel. In 1956 it gained air brakes.
The refined L495 Titan appeared in 1959, and in 1964 Volvo introduced the forward-control L4951 Titan Tiptop with a tilting cab, a layout that made engine access far easier and set the pattern for the company’s later cab-over trucks.
Successor
In 1965 Volvo introduced its System 8. As part of those changes it presented a successor to the Titan called the N88, which kept the Titan’s cab but underneath carried all the new features of the forward-control F88: a new engine, a fully synchronised eight-speed gearbox and an improved chassis and suspension. The Titan name disappeared, but its cab lived on in the N88 and in the F88 family that followed, and the forward-control concept of the Titan Tiptop became the standard for Volvo heavy trucks.
Design and features
- Ten-tonne payload: the largest truck in Volvo’s range in 1951.
- First turbodiesel: a Volvo truck milestone in 1954.
- Air brakes: standard from 1956.
- Tilting cab: the 1964 Titan Tiptop made maintenance much easier.
- Cab heritage: the Titan cab continued in the N88 and F88.
Volvo Titan versions
- L395 Titan (1951): the original heavy truck.
- L495 Titan (1959): refined version with the D96 engine.
- L4951 Titan Tiptop (1964): forward control with a tilting cab.
- N88 (1965): the System 8 successor that kept the Titan cab.
The Titan led to the Volvo F88 and F89, and its lighter relatives were the Snabbe and Trygge. More trucks are in the Volvo collection.
Sources
- Volvo Titan, English Wikipedia: models, engines, turbodiesel, air brakes, N88 successor
