The automotive industry is currently experiencing its deepest crisis ever. In the USA the government has had to organize emergency loans in order to prevent bankruptcy for some of the major auto manufacturers. Toyota, the world’s largest car producer, recently reported the very first losses in its long history.

Sweden’s two car manufacturers – SAAB and Volvo – are owned by GM and Ford respectively and it is hard to predict their future as they have both been losing money for quite some time. The two companies have been greatly affected by the plummeting car sales.

On January 29, 2009, Post Sweden issued a most interesting set of stamps featuring classic cars. The issue basically comprises a booklet containing five different designs for first-class inland mail and a 12-kronor coil stamp for international letters.

On January 1, 2009 there was a rate hike in Sweden. The cost of a first-class letter is now 6 kronor. Swedish first-class stamps nowadays carry the word BREV (= letter) rather than a denomination. These stamps have unlimited validity.

Post Sweden has done its utmost to simplify the rate system. One BREV-stamp is needed for an inland letter or postcard for that matter. A first-class international letter requires two BREV-stamps which of course correspond to 12 kronor. Older stamps with denominations can of course still be used to make up the necessary postal rates.

Now let’s take a look at the booklet stamps. They feature cars from Sweden, France, Germany and the USA.

The Swedish car is a Volvo PV444 from about 1953. This model was a huge success during the late 1940s and early 1950s. More than 200,000 cars were sold. It probably wasn’t the most beautiful car ever built but it was spacious and very reliable. In fact, some are still in daily service today.

When I lived in France in the 1970s, I owned an old Citroen DS car. It was extremely comfortable and we used it to drive out to the beach. The car model was introduced by Citroen in the mid 1950s and quickly became a favourite with French motorists. The car on the stamp is a 1957 model.

A Volkswagen 1200 is also included in the set. This was an extremely popular model which was developed in the late 1940’s. The 1200 was inexpensive and quite reliable and it quickly became one of Germany’s (and Europe’s) most popular cars.

Two US classic cars are also included in the set – a Cadillac Coupe de Ville and a Ford Mustang. Both these cars became quite popular in Sweden. Today these cars are more than 50 years old but they are still immensely popular. Their owners cherish their precious automotive treasures and spend endless hours keeping them in good shape. Each summer big meetings are organized where the owners can show off their classic cars.

This writer is not really a great car buff but he drives a 1962 Volvo Amazon. Despite its old age it still works perfectly well. Whenever we park the cark people approach to comment on the car and the shape it is in. A 1958 Volvo Amazon model is shown on the 12-krona stamp. The Volvo Amazon was a huge success and quite a few of them are still around today.

In recent years Post Sweden Stamps has become increasingly commercial in its approach to marketing collectables. They apparently feel that cars are a popular topic and they want to make the most of it. Thus they have produced a souvenir sheet containing six of the Ford Mustang stamps. The franking value is 36 kronor but the cost of the sheet is 41 kronor. To make it more attractive to collectors only 20,000 sheets have been produced. Unlike the booklet stamps the souvenir sheet stamps have perforations on all four sides making them a collectable variety.

Cars on stamps are popular and in all probability the souvenir sheets will sell out quickly netting a nice profit for Post Sweden Stamps. In the past printing figures were never announced in advance but it is obvious that there has been a change at least as far as the souvenir sheets are concerned.

As is often the case there were also a number of other associated products such as First Day Covers and maximum cards.

I expect a lot of Swedish letter-writers will use the new car stamps. Once sold out the souvenir sheets can be expected to increase in value as it is a very popular topic of special interest to US collectors.

Post Sweden Stamps probably decided to release the classic car stamps long before the current financial crisis occurred. In the worst of possible scenarios many of the car makers whose models adorn these stamps could vanish in the near future. Then these and other car stamps will remind us of the great times of classic cars.