Troll

Development

The Troll was developed by businessman Per Kohl-Larsen and engineers Bruno Falck and Erling Fjugstad, and designed by Hans Trippel.

The first car was revealed to the press in October 1956. It was not completely finished, and although the form of the chassis was final, the car could not be driven. This car was later used as a prototype, and many changes were made during later testing. Norwegian and foreign press showed much enthusiasm towards the project, and the car was compared to those from brands like Porsche, Citroën and Saab.

Production and bankruptcy

The first Troll was sold to a customer on May 1, 1957.

As production commenced, Kohl-Larsen faced difficulty obtaining a permit from the Norwegian government to sell the Troll. He was allowed to sell only 15 cars in Norway, the reason being a barter treaty Norway had with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to buy cars from them as they bought fish products from Norway. As such, the government was afraid that domestic car production would disrupt this trading balance. Kohl-Larsen therefore started plans to export cars to Germany and Denmark, with requests from other countries like Finland and Belgium. At one point, the company had plans to build 2,000 cars per year, but settled on one finished car per day afterwards.

Troll Plastik & Bilindustri was also unable to secure the investment capital necessary for large-scale production. When the Norwegian government made their lack of support for the Troll clear, all potential investors closed negotiations, resulting in bankruptcy in early 1958.