Volvo

Volvos have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I always associated them with grown-ups and families, steady income and mortgages and saw them as solid, dependable and somewhat dull. Over the years, of course, this is what I have become (not dull of course, never dull), and it came as rather a shock on the day.

But really, that’s all a bit of a cliche as Volvos have moved on, helped I feel, by the wonderful Wallander in his elegant, understated V50. Either that, or my tastes have changed and the Volvo range now looks very different and appetising.

What I needed was immersion therapy and I certainly got that after a day spent with the entire range which was laid out for me to drive. My only regret being that I didn’t have time to sample them all and had to restrict myself to a mere handful (the estates and the XC90 SUV), figuring these would appeal to the women in the family. We tend to do a lot of lugging.

I came away rather delighted, allowing myself a little fantasy about how my life might be with each Volvo I drove, from the entry-level C30 to the upmarket XC90. The same husband kept appearing in these day-dreams though which was slightly disappointing. See the video for the full narrative.

From the girl-about-town C30 to the all-singing and all-dancing XC90 with its seven seats, to the gorgeous new V60 with its powerful engine, stylish design and sheer comfort. So many to choose from. I’ll take them all, thanks.

You might notice the DRIVe badge-of-honour. This is attached to those models that deliver the best environmental performance in their class. The C30, together with their V50 (a medium-size estate) both with 1.6 litre diesel engines, can give you 74 miles to the gallon while only producing 99 g/km of CO2. This allows you to drive into the London congestion charge zone for nothing, while also exempting you from car tax. And they go, too.

But apart from all the wonderful savings you can make if you owned a DRIVe Volvo, it was the actually the way these cars drove and their looks, particularly the supremely elegant interiors, that impressed me.

These are premium cars and can generally match their obvious rivals for fit, finish and style, but it was a pleasant change to be sitting in something with a badge other than the obvious star, four rings or a blue and white badge on the front. It’s a different drive and a different image, and none the worse for that.