That’s what Click and Clack said - that the old boxy Volvos are now considered cool. I guess “boxy Volvo” means the 240 series. Do you think it’s true? And among what kind of people (age group, gender, etc)?
They’re not “cool” in my circles, but I don’t have a nationally syndicated radio show with which to proclaim such. Of course, we don’t see a lot of Birkenstocks around here, either.
Check in with Ann Arbor.
They have been cool ever since they switched the model numbers from 3-digit numbers to S-xx, V-xx, and C-xx models.
The C-70 and S-60 being the absolute “coolest” IMO.
Volvo rules.
The newer Volvos are OK, but the older ones looked much better IMHO. The Amazon and P1800 were the best. The 240 series was more boring, but still had more character than the current models. I’ve owned two 240 series cars myself.
Though of course I was aware that not many people thought my car was cool. I’m just wonderinf if this has changed at all in the past few years.
Can I ask a supplementary question?
In Australia, Volvo has recently started running a series of ads desgined to challenge the image not of Volvos themselves, but Volvo drivers. Here, Volvo drivers are the target of stereotyping: they are said to be poor and selfish drivers. Motorcyclists distributed a bumpersticker in response to a government safety campaign for car drivers to be “Motorcycle-aware drivers”. The bikies’ sticker was “Volvo-driver aware rider”.
The ads feature people saying “Bloody Volvo driver” in inappropriate situations - where someone driving inattentively is called a “bloody Volvo driver” when they are clearly driving a Mercedes for example.
That’s all background. My question is this: Volvo claimed that this attitude towards Volvo drivers is unique to Australia. Is that right?
Howyadoin,
Here in the US, the common perception of Volvo drivers is that they’re terrified of automobiles, therefore they choose the safest, slowest, least potentially harmful vehicle available. Picture a person in a perpetual orbit of a rotary intersection, too afraid to attempt to exit for fear of being sideswiped. That person would be driving a Volvo…
-Rav
Yes, that is NOT the image of Volvo drivers here in the US. If I could pick one brand of car that might be associated with that type of attitude (low skills and selfish) it would probably be BMW, but even that perception is probably far from universal here. Personally as BMWs have become more common on the roads here my perception of their drivers has actually improved (ie, they are not all a**holes).
When I was a kid Volvos were generally perceived as being the kind of car for a driver who would prefer not to be driving a car at all. Left-wingers, academics, hippies. To me the stereotypical Volvo driver is from New York City and has a PhD. in Classics or philosophy and moves to Vermont and buys a house in the country. He would drive a Volvo.
Getting back to the OP, my dad always admired the boxy Volvos although he never owned one. Yes he is from New York, but he doesn’t have a PhD and never lived in Vermont.
I never liked the older Volvos but some of the newer ones are ok. They wouldn’t be my first choice if I had the money to buy one, though.
They will never ever be cool.
They are for people that either can’t drive themselves or think that nobody else can, or both (“well if I can’t drive, what are the chances of other folk…”)
A few months ago my car was in the shop for a week and a kind neighbor let me borrow his “extra” car, which was an older Volvo.
I loved driving it. In fact, I’m thinking about buying one for my next car.
Volvos will never be cool. Nor will Saabs. They have a stunning lack of design. Their designs bring tears to Italian car designers.
The Volvo S80 is consistently on the stinker list for being really unreliable (i.e., breaking down a lot), so I’d also treat anything else from Volvo as suspect (which is why I stopped looking at the S60).
Beat me to it. Transmission, brake and electrical problems are common. I wouldn’t own one.
I think they used to be cool. Like around the early 90’s.
There are lots of Volvos in Ithaca. I have never seen so many in my life. They just fit in so perfectly there, too.
I’m a car enthusiast, and I absolutely love the boxy-looking Volvo’s. The last ones, were awesome. Why?
They had such an anti-design look to them, a unique “I’m not trying to be anything more than an appliance” appearance that I can’t help but like them.
It’s just the uniqueness, and the sheer ugliness of them I liked.
I’d be thrilled if someone handed me a S70 T5
I loved the look of the old boxy Volvos. I owned one (2000 version) for a couple of years - and ended up driving head-on into an ambulance going through an intersection. I can attest to the safety factor, since I escaped with minor arm damage from the airbag - totalled the car, of course. I should have purchased another one, but have driven BMW’s since then.
If Volvo ever goes back to their original look, I’d buy one.
I drive an S70. I love it.
It’s solid, safe, fun, fast and sexy.
Yes, I said sexy.
All my friends (and I admit, they are all poor college students with P.O.S.s, ) adore my car. I think it’s the heated leather seats.
My stereotype of Volvo drivers is the safety conscious (sp?) mom that doesn’t want to drive a minivan because they’re deathtraps.
As for problems, I’ve never had a serious problem with mine. It’s a 98 and has a bit of a dash rattle annoyance, but no real drivablility issues. My mother drove her 94 to 100,000+ miles and then bought this one that she later sold to me. It’s got 80,000 on it and still going strong.
I’ve never heard the volvo drivers can’t/don’t like to drive stereotype. Maybe an 80s version, because they last forever and don’t require a lot of maintenance. But no one who doesn’t like to drive is going to spend $40,000 on a car.
Exactly what is not cool about these cars:
etc
The day Ford bought Volvo was a sad day for us Swedes… You Americans don’t seem to appreciate quality cars…
My grandmother drives a Volvo…she has driven 3 Volvo’s her whole life and she keeps each Volvo for 20 years. She is currently on her 17th year(1986 Volvo) with this one. Time to sell the car Granny!
Other than Bush being re-elected, there is nothing more that I fear than getting behind a Volvo driver.
My philosophy is that, considering Volvo is supposed to be the safest car on the road, the world’s worst drivers buy them, hoping to put off the inevitable death at their own hand.
Doing 40 miles per hour on the freeway, a blinker that has been on for the last ten miles, a panic-stricken driver grabbing the wheel like it was a lifeline, wearing a straw hat, never looking in the rear view mirror - or any mirror for that matter…with a PETA bumper sticker and a “Baby On Board” sign on the window.
Volvo’s cool?
93 percent of all Volvo drivers think polka should win more Grammy awards.