Volvo celebrates 80 years

At the 2007 Classic Motor Show this weekend (9th – 11th November, Birmingham’s NEC) Volvo will celebrate its 80th anniversary with a display of historic vehicles. In recent times Volvo has made a great effort to (successfully, I think) shake off its rather stuffy image. For years the square-rigged 144, 240 and 740 models provided safe, sensible transport for smug middle-class families. But now Volvos manage to be both safe and stylish. To emphasise a tradition of stylish the emphasis is on convertible models:

Volvo PV655 Norrmalm drophead coupe 1933 ­– A magnificent one-off, generally considered to be the world’s most beautiful Volvo.
Volvo 445 Valbo convertible 1953 – Built on the 445 light truck chassis, this is one of five survivors out of 10 originally built.
Volvo Sport 1956 – Often referred to as the P1900 this nice sportscar with its original plastic body carries chassis number 1.
Volvo 122S Amazon Coune convertible 1963 – The only rolling example of the five open Amazons built by Belgian carrossier Jacques Coune.
Volvo 480 convertible prototype 1990 – One of the two prototypes built by Volvo Car B.V. as design and feasibility studies.
Volvo C70 T5 convertible 2008 – The current open top Volvo in the model range is offered with a broad range of engine alternatives.

I’ve got my ticket to the Classic Motor Shows and I’m looking forward to it this year.