Loads of practical thinking

By DAVID LINKLATER

No carmaker is as closely associated with practical station wagons as Volvo. And it's exactly 50 years since the Swedish carmaker unveiled its first family load-lugger.

The original PV444-based wagon grew out of an excess stock of chassis structures originally designed for use by small coachbuilding firms. In July 1953 the Volvo-built PV445 DH was released as an airy estate car, along with a van version called the PV445 DS.

The third version, 1955's PV445 PH, was a more comfortably appointed wagon (the PH indicated in Swedish that it was primarily for passengers). These three versions were known as the Duett series.

In 1960, the Duett name was dropped and the model was known instead as the P210. It was available in two versions as a van or estate car.

The very last Duett/P210 was built in February 1969. This dark-blue vehicle was driven straight to Volvo's historic-car collection, where it still has pride of place with just over 100km on the odometer.

The 1962 P220 wagon was the third version of the Volvo 120 or Amazon sedan. Innovations included a two-piece tailgate where the glass opened upwards and the bottom panel downwards.

By the mid-1960s, Volvo was an established manufacturer of station wagons. Summer 1966 saw the launch of the Amazon's successor, and it was Volvo's first model with a new numerical designation. It was called the 144 and was based on much of the technology from the Amazon.

The wagon arrived in 1967, and it was named the 145 (series one, four-cylinder engine, five doors). It was technically identical to the four-door sedan apart from the reinforced rear suspension which was bolstered to handle heavy loads.

The 245 is possibly the most famous Volvo wagon. It did the marque no favours style-wise, but it was safer than just about anything else on four wheels and it swallowed prodigious loads.

It also attracted a loyal following. The 245 was intended to last into the early 1980s, but neither circumstances nor age succeeded in ending this model's production run until 1993. As late as 1991 the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety noted that the Volvo 240 was still the safest car on the US market.

The 1982 760 GLE grew into a whole range of versions, among them the 745. In principle, the rear of the car was all that set it apart from the corresponding 740 sedan model. The 740 turbo version was one of the fastest five-door cars of its time.

In 1990 the 900 series - an updated version of the 700 - was launched. From the outside, the 900 could be distinguished by its somewhat smoother, more rounded lines and more modern headlamps.

All of Volvo's cars so far had been rear-drive. But in 1991 it shifted to front-drive with the 850. The wagon arrived in 1993 and was acclaimed for both style and packaging. It also famously competed in the British Touring Car Championship, in the hands of Rickard Rydell.

At the start of 1996, an entirely new model was introduced in Sweden, a product of the co-operation between Volvo and Mitsubishi at the jointly owned factory in Born in the Netherlands. The car was a sedan called the S40, followed a few months later by the V40 wagon.

With the S40/V40, Volvo introduced a new model designation system: S stands for Sedan and V for Versatility.

In November 1996, Volvo presented a further development of the 850 wagon. It was called the V70 and it had a more aerodynamically efficient front. The exterior panels were somewhat more rounded and the interior was entirely new. From 1997 a four-wheel-drive Cross Country was also launched.

With the launch of the current Volvo V70 in January 2000, Volvo's then-design chief Peter Horbury had penned a completely new design language.

This V70 was also developed into a Cross Country version, with a more macho appearance than the previous model.

The V70 continues, but Volvo has also expanded its wagon range into the off-road segment. The high-riding XC90 seats up to seven and was launched last month in New Zealand in $94,990 2.5T and $112,990 2.9 T6 forms.