The Volvo C30 T5 has just about the most comfortable seats of any car in the Press Fleet ~ which follows a Volvo tradition

2008 Volvo C30 T5Zoom In
The New York International Auto Show car, this C30 gets the Swedish touch. (Photo: Jon Rosner, Canadian Auto Press)
that includes light clutch, direct steering, tight turning circle, great interior space utility and a space-frame chassis safety-cage that shows Volvo's long history of concern and success with  active and passive occupant safety.

The roots of the C30 T5 go back to the Volvo 1800 ES Wagon, a car that came to the North American market in 1972 and 1973. The clean lines and all-glass tailgate made it look sporty. It didn't hurt sales that Roger Moore drove an 1800 coupe in the very popular television program, “The Saint.” And as opposed to the 1950s stylings ~ that preceded it and the “let's make lots of boxes, nice boring boxes” that followed it ~ the 1800 Series was stylish and attractive.

In the 1980s, following the lead provided by Saab, Volvo starting turbocharging its cars, and even went so far to post ads in 1985 stating that the Volvo Sportwagon matched the acceleration of the Lotus Esprit Turbo. This was good. Because earlier Volvos came in three speeds, slow, slower and “I just got passed by a horse.” In the last few years, Volvo has discovered something that Detroit has known for five decades ~ style sells.

The

2008 Volvo C30 T5Zoom In
As you can imagine, this car's flag through torn metal decal drew crowds. (Photo: Jon Rosner, Canadian Auto Press)
exterior of our test car was a brilliant blue with a blue and yellow Swedish Flag graphic covering the entire roof plus matching flag graphics “bursting through the metal” on each side of the C30 T5. Not one day went by that someone didn't either give me a thumbs-up or come over and ask about the graphics.

At first glance the interior looks plain but appealing. Soft-touch plastics, industrial-grade woven cloth seats with a nice tight fit to all the pieces and good colour matching. Nice touches include a seatbelt rail that is the first simple and logical approach to prevent rear passengers from having to dive under, over or around the front seatbelts. The interior has its nice touches of aluminum and black. The rear seats offer plenty of comfort, room for two, with space for a Costco run in the hatchback tail. Or, fold the rear seats and gain enough room to move a kid off to college. This simplicity has appeal to the kinds of Volvo owners the author hangs around with ~ i.e. those who think that their Volvo hasn't been broken-in until it's been pushed over 300,000 kilometers.

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