History of Volvo Wagons

For this post I am going to discuss how Volvo created there own version of the wagon and how they kept transforming them since the 1960s. The first noticeable wagon came around in 1962 with the Amazon wagon, and was one of the first that featured a bi-parting tailgate. The next milestone came shortly with the 145 which was introduced in 1967 and was the first model to be quoted for boxy styling. The next major step Volvo took was with the 240, which was introduced in 1974 and stayed in production until 1992. During these few years the 240 became one of the largest icons and status symbols in the arena of station wagons. The next wagon that Volvo created was the 740. The 740 featured new styling that had more rounded corners and helped give it its iconic image. In 1993 Volvo started restyling the image of the company but keeping the image of the box in their wagons. Volvo took there designs to the next level buy giving the Italians a chance with their designs. When the 850 was launched it was a huge success, in 1993 it was named the car of the year was the 850. The next step was to make it sportier, like other Volvo wagons in the past they added a turbo into the mix. In 1995 the first performance model was launched called the 850-T5R. It was designed to compete with the BMW M3 and Mercedes AMGs of the time. The next model that came around was the V70 which was almost identical to the 850 but had new styling features such as painted bumper pieces and more rounded body style. It was introduced in 1998 and is still in production but has gone through several body style changes. In 2001 the V70 went into its second body style, it was more designed to look like the other Volvos of its time. In 2004 Volvo brought back the “R” version that would help give BMW a run for their money once again. In 2008 the latest model of the V70 came onto the market. This year Volvo has launched the V60 which has been designed to be a sport wagon and nothing but sporty. There has not been that much information released in the V60 so far, but as soon as more information comes around I will try my best and keep you informed.

Why am I here

My Volvo Wagon is my first blog where I will be discussing anything and everything that involves Volvo wagons. First, you should get to know me a bit so you can understand why I am so obsessed with my wagon. To start, I am a 21 year old college student studying graphic design and wanting to work in automotive design. With my degree, I want to help re-image what a wagon is, because face it, everyone and their mothers drive an SUV nowadays. My goal for the blog is to show people in the Volvo community what I am doing with my 850. Through this goal I think I will be able to help others who might be having some of the same troubles as myself. One of my larger goals is to help show the world that there is a group of driving enthusiast who still want to drive around town in their “box on wheels.” From what I have seen in the past fews years, there aren't that many left, mainly because everyone in the late 90s and early 2000s started buying their “sporty” SUVs. By that goal I want to show the manufacturers that there is still a market out there for wagons. So the ultimate goal would be for the Volvo wagons to make a comeback in the U.S. I wish for my followers to leave questions and comments and as a student I will try to get back to them as soon as possible. For some entries and answers to questions, I will be referring to posts on the site “swedespeed.com.” I am going to try my best to post of a picture of my car every week so ya'll can see each small thing I do to it.