The Volvo C70 Convertible is a great place to be after a tough day at the office thanks to the way it blends the fun of top-down motoring with a luxuriously appointed interior, solid ride and safe handling.
‘Ambience’, according to most dictionaries, is about the quality or atmosphere offered by a place or environment. By almost any definition the Volvo C70 Convertible oozes ambience with its body hugging leather seats, wood grain panel trim, and every imaginable gadget to tease the minds of car lovers. And all packaged in a chassis providing safe, smooth handling and ride.
The Volvo C70 Convertible was designed from the inside-out to blend luxury and sportiness in one highly balanced package allowing driver and passengers to reach their destination feeling fresh and relaxed – and that the journey had been fun.
“Our vision was to design a convertible that would meet the needs of a family of four looking for comfortable blue-sky motoring in a vehicle also providing stylish looks, performance and faultless driving and road-holding,” says Peter Horbury, Volvo Cars’ award winning design chief from 1991 until 2002.
Sense of comfort and space
Peter, now executive director of design of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, recalls how immense weight was placed by the designer on creating an interior that would not feel claustrophobic or cramped for the back seat passengers.
“Even with the hood up those in the rear still enjoy an excellent forward view, while the sense of comfort and space is enhanced by the use of light colours and clean, uncluttered surfaces and shapes, all part of Volvo’s Scandinavian heritage,” adds Peter Horbury.
Buyers of the Volvo C70 Convertible have a huge combination of fabrics, leather and colours to choose from to reflect their individual tastes. The C70’s sculpted leather sports seats, for example, win regular praise from the motoring press for being among the most comfortable and supportive offered by any carmaker, wide, firm and bolstered on each side to provide pleasant support. Finding a perfect driving position regardless of height is made easy by the extensive range of adjustments for both driver’s seat and steering wheel.
The designers of the Volvo convertible also recognised that luxury top-down motoring demands a car suitable for all seasons. An interior automatic climate control unit maintains the set temperature inside whatever is being thrown at the car from the outside, but at the press of a button and the hood is raised in just 30 seconds with no catches to release or fasten.
Sophisticated sound system
The sound system in the Volvo C70 Convertible probably ranks one of the most sophisticated available, permitting enjoyment of your favourite tunes even during wind in your hair motoring.
Volvo’s advanced factory-fitted sound system provides ten loudspeakers as standard, with 12 or 14 available as options, as well as substantial 4x60w or 4x100w amplifiers. For real music buffs, Volvo Cars offers the option of installing the world’s first in-car Dolby™ Surround Pro Logic™ system, with a built in amplifier for a central speaker.
Enhanced handling
The front-wheel drive Volvo C70 is designed to provide exceptional handling characteristics, regardless of whether the driver is tackling mountain roads, motorways or a tight city parking space. Volvo’s patented Delta-link rear suspension and broad track in combination with a torsionally-rigid body gives both a firm grip on the road and superb ride comfort.
The rear axle allows the back wheels to steer slightly so that they track together with the front wheels when entering a curve, permitting swift steering response. Additionally, Volvo’s Stability and Traction Control anti-spin system (STC) automatically ensures that the driven wheels get just the right amount of power to retain a firm grip on the road, while also enhancing stability when cornering.
With its powerful five cylinder turbocharged engines producing 245 bhp, 200 bhp or 163 bhp, the C70 comes with a powerful anti-lock braking system featuring Volvo’s EBD system (Electronic Brake Distribution) which allows breaking in a straight line even on snow covered roads.
Owners have a plethora of options to suit just about every taste and further enhance the C70 motoring experience, from manual to automatic transmission, a lowered chassis with stiffer suspension for more sporty driving, computerised road and traffic information and remote controlled alarm, for example. Volvo has even designed a special range of extra equipment for transporting skis, snowboards and large suitcases to expand luggage capacity.
For more information, please contact: Christer Gustafsson, tel +46 31 596525
Date of issue: 23 May 2003
Dept, 50210, dn
