It’s fair to say I have a real soft spot for the Volvo FM as it was the truck I passed my HGV tests in and I have always enjoyed driving them ever since.
FM means Forward control, Medium entry cab – the FH being Forward control, High entry and the FL (as in the new FLs that were built after the FM was introduced) for the Low entry.
Since their introduction 25 years ago in 1998, the FM has evolved and the basic cab has only just ended production in 2021 after 23 years and three major facelifts, the most recent being in 2013, and the most striking.
THE BIRTH OF THE FM
In 1993, Volvo launched its all new FH to replace the much-loved and hugely successful F10/12/16 models, and it first broke cover in September 1993 and was detailed inHC May 2023 to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The FH started to be seen in numbers in the UK from 1994.
The FM was basically a smaller version of the FH cab with the same raked cab aimed at improving fuel efficiency and so featured the same angled windscreen, similar grilles and headlight set upasthe FH. It looked like an FH cab with a slice taken out of it in the middle!
