Volvo recoups its 60s appeal

The front end of the Volvo C30 has been restyled to give a more 'dramatic' and 'expressive' look. Photo / Supplied

Volvo's C30 attracted a lot of interest on debut with its unusual good looks that hark back to the 1800 series of the 1960s and 70s. The 1800 series was for years the only curvy Volvo in a range of squared-off designs.

Three years after its introduction, Volvo has restyled the C30 coupe and examples should be on sale here in the first half of next year.

Stylists have redone the front to give the car an appearance that's meant to be more dramatic and expressive.

But they've wisely left alone the distinctive glass rear door, based on the talking point of the final 1800, the ES. However, some other aspects of the rear have been tweaked, among them replacing black plastic panels with body-coloured ones.

An accessory styling kit is available in Europe and may or may not be offered here. It includes foglamps, a front skidplate, side scuff plates with engraved C30 logo and a rear skidplate with an aluminium look.

There's plenty of symbolism inside. The pattern of the floor mats forms a world map. Other aspects of the interior are said to be inspired by an ancient nautical chart and a sea adventure map.

A new interior colour combination is called Espresso/Blond. This comprises a dark brown upper section and a lighter shade somewhere between grey and beige on the lower door sides. The blond tone is said to be an expression of Volvo's Scandinavian design tradition.

An optional sport chassis has been designed to sharpen the car's handling. Steering is more precise and 10 per cent faster in response.

Spring stiffness has been increased by 30 per cent to increase poise during enthusiastic driving.

The C30 1.6D DRIVe version, which may not come to New Zealand, is available with a start/stop function that switches off the engine when the car is stopped, for example when waiting at traffic lights. This cuts fuel consumption to as little as 3.9 litres per 100km.