Volvo's place in the sun

It's hard to beat a soft-top for summer days. ALASTAIR SLOANE reports that Volvo, which considers itself to be something of a wild child, will be promoting a stylish cabriolet in New Zealand this year.

THE best-looking conversion from sedan to soft-top is the Saab 900, no question. It looks like it was tailored to take in the sun, which is why it is the bestselling imported soft-top in California.

Many of its rivals, especially the variants from Germany, look like they have had their tops chopped off from the windscreen back.

But now Saab has a genuine competitor, certainly as far as looks are concerned. It's the C70 cabriolet from fellow Swede Volvo. And it's going to be on the road in Auckland in August, in time for the razzmatazz of the America's Cup.

Volvo wanted it this way, given its multi-million dollar sponsorship from now on of another yachting classic, the global race once known as the Whitbread.

It wants exposure. It wants a new image. It wants to be seen as bit of a wild child, its vehicles a technological cross between what Indiana Jones, James Bond and Luke Skywalker would use.

Besides, it is a prestige European carmaker and it wanted to do what other prestigious European carmakers do. Mercedes-Benz has the tennis tour, BMW and Jaguar back golf, Range Rover hangs with horses.

But Volvo looked for something more rough-and-tumble to support its new attitude. First, it got together with Cannondale, the mountain-bike people. Then it chose a yachting classic, tossing its landlubber's hat into the briny.

All the time it was mindful in a marketing sense of the cabin boy who returned from his first ocean voyage to tell a few old salts that he never saw a sea he was scared of. "Did you ever see one that was scared of you?" they asked.

Volvo knows the sea can play tricks, that yachting can be elitist. But it reasoned that sailors have come to depend on its marine engines long enough, why not its cars?

It started off, from a New Zealand marketing point of view, by loaning Grant Dalton one during the last round-the-world race. That got it a bit of ink.

It got more this week when it confirmed Auckland as a stopover on the next race.

Over the America's Cup regatta it will no doubt go further, asking four or five bronzed beauties to drive a soft-top C70 back and forth along the waterfront between the city and St Heliers. It's all about image - like the Saab, it's that sort of car.

"Any auto manufacturer would be proud to have the C70 cabriolet in its model line-up," said John Snaith, the head of Volvo importers Scandanavian Vehicle Distributors.

"We are very excited about the C70's potential. It blends all the pleasures of open-top motoring with Volvo's customary attention to safety and quality."

The cabriolet is built at Volvo's Autonova plant in Sweden in a joint venture with British performance specialist Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR).

It is powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine developing 142kW at 5100 rpm and 270Nm of pulling power at 1800 rpm.

The turbo is a light-pressure unit, typical of Volvo and Saab powerplants these days, and propels the cabriolet from zero to 100 km/h in under eight seconds.

The obvious appeal of the cabriolet lies in its electric soft-top. It uses a push-button mechanism and, like the Saab, folds quickly and quietly into a section of the car's boot.

No buckles, catches or secondary locking devices required and a glass rear window avoids the problems drivers can have with plastic designs.

In case of a rollover, twin metal hoops behind the rear seats spring up in a split-second above the head level of occupants. Volvo says the cabriolet is designed to rest on the hoops and the windscreen's A-pillar.

Safety equipment includes antilock ABS brakes, four airbags, pre-tensioner seatbelts, traction control, electronic brake distribution, side-impact protection and anti-whiplash headrests first designed by Saab.

The bells and whistles run to leather upholstery, climate-control air-conditioning, electric front seats and a surroundsound stereo unit.

The C70 will cost under $100,000. Just how much under we don't yet know. But Snaith reckons the C70 cabriolet will be the most enjoyable open-top motoring experience in New Zealand next summer.

He's counting on a good summer, too. His dealers will put a tube of sunscreen into the glovebox of every C70 cabriolet sold.