Volvo lifts one of the V70 veils

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

This is the first picture published in New Zealand of Volvo's new V70 station wagon. But you have to look closely to make it out. It's supposed to tease you - Volvo's publicity people like to do things like that.

The new models will break cover at next month's Detroit motor show. The V70 will go on sale in New Zealand in April, Volvo following tradition by launching the wagon before the S70 sedan.

The new models sit on the top-range S80 platform and adopt a similar styling theme. The wagon especially shows off the new rear-sloping roofline, clear in this picture by the curvature of the roof rails.

Mercedes-Benz adopted a similar roofline in its latest-model E and C-Class estates.

The new Volvos will initially be available only with 20-valve, five-cylinder, turbocharged engines, the "hottest" - a reworked high-pressure 2.3-litre unit in the T5 - producing 184kW at 5200 rpm and 330Nm of torque between 2400 and 5200 rpm Volvo says the reworked engines are cleaner and offer better fuel economy (as low as 9.3 litres/100 km).

The 2.5-litre low-pressure T model will arrive mid-year and the all-wheel-drive XC Cross Country wagon towards the end of 2000. No word on prices yet.