Volvo C70

Volvo C70

Manufacturer	Volvo Cars Pininfarina Sverige AB (2nd generation)
Production	1997-present
Assembly	Uddevalla, Sweden Jakarta, Indonesia (Indobuana Autoraya)
Class	Cabriolet Coupe
Layout	FF layout

The Volvo C70 is a automobile manufactured by Volvo Cars in two generations: the first from model years 1997-2002 as coupé and from 1999 to 2006 as a softtop convertible. The second generation C70 has been marketed since 2006 as a retractable hardtop convertible.

First generation (1997-2006)

First generation

Production	1997-2006
Body style	2-door cabriolet 2-door coupe
Transmission	4-speed automatic 5-speed automatic 5-speed manual engine=2.0L turbo 125 kW 163 PS I5 2.0L T3 turbo 166 kW 230 PS I5 2.4L 125 kW 170 PS I5 2.4L turbo 145 kW 200 PS I5 2.3L T5 turbo 180 kW 240 PS I5
Wheelbase	1998-99 Coupe: 104.7 in (2,659 mm) 1998-2002 Convertible & 2000-02 Coupe: 2660 mm (104.9 in) 2003-05: 105.0 in (2,667 mm)
Length	1997-2002: 4720 mm (185.7 in) 2003-05: 186.0 in (4,724 mm)
Width	1,820 mm (71.7 in)
Height	1998-99 Coupe: 55.7 in (1,415 mm) 1430 mm (56.3 in)
Curb weight	1,450 kg (3,200 lb)-1,650 kg (3,600 lb)
Designer	Peter Horbury

Volvo introduced the first generation C70 at the 1996 Paris Motor Show, following a European introduction as a 1997 model, and later as a 1998 model in North America — with 2.0 (sold mostly in Italy), a low-pressure turbo (2.4L) and a high-pressure turbo (2.0L and 2.3L), 5-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engines and manual and automatic transmissions. Peter Horbury designed the exterior and Mexican designer Jose Diaz de la Vega led the interior design team.

1999-2002 Volvo C70 convertible (Australia)

1999–2002 Volvo C70 convertible, Australia

1997-2002 Volvo C70 coupe, Germany

The C70 broke Volvo's decades-long styling tradition of boxy, rectilinear designs. According to Peter Horbury, Volvo's design chief from 1991 to 2002, with the C70, Volvo threw away the box, but "kept the toy inside!" Our vision was to design a convertible that would meet the needs of a family of four looking for comfortable blue-sky motoring in a vehicle also providing stylish looks, performance and faultless driving and road-holding."

In a development program of 30 months and working with a Volvo 850-derived platform, Britain’s TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) co-designed the car's basic design and suspension tuning with Volvo. Manufacture of the C70 was a joint venture until the two companies experienced disputes that threatened to interrupt production; TWR did not contribute to the second generation C70.

Volvo's first modern convertible, the C70 was manufactured in Uddevalla, Sweden on a separate assembly line from the 70-series sedan and station wagon. The four-seater convertible featured an electrically heated glass rear window, automatic (pop-up) rollover hoops, seat belt pre-tensioners, boron steel reinforced A-pillars, front and side airbags, and a safety cage — a horseshoe-like structure around the passenger compartment.

The cloth convertible top, initially available in four colors, was fully automatic, operated by a single, dashboard-mounted button. The top stored automatically under an integral rigid tonneau cover in a system pioneered in modern convertibles with the fourth generation Mercedes SL.

The C70 convertible exhibited two negative traits endemic to convertibles: poor rear visibility and pronounced scuttle shake, a characteristic whereby the structural design of the bulkhead between engine and passenger compartment of a convertible suffers sufficiently poor rigidity to negatively impact ride and handling, allowing noticeable vibration, shudder or chassis-flexing into the passenger compartment.

Early special editions featured two-tone leather interior with wood trim and a SC-901 (1998) Dolby Pro Logic I stereo with 3-disc integrated changer unit (via a cartridge) 400 watts of power and 11 high end Dynaudio speakers.

The C70 was introduced to the press in a signature color (saffron pearl metallic) and for the debut marketing, the 1997 movie The Saint featured a C70 — recalling the notable connection of the Volvo P1800 and the TV series from the early 1960s, The Saint with Roger Moore as Simon Templar.

There was no 2005 model C70 in North America, the 2004 left over models were sold into 2005 there. 72,000 first generation C70s were produced in the seven years up to 2006, less than 50,000 were convertibles.

Second generation (2006-present)

Second generation

Production	2006-present
Body style	2-door Coupé convertible
Platform	Volvo P1
Engine	2.4L 125 kW (170 PS; 168 hp) I5 (2006 - 2009) 2.5L 162 kW (220 PS; 217 hp) I5 turbo charged petrol (2006 - 2007) 2.5L 223 hp (166 kW; 226 PS) I5 turbo charged petrol (2008 - 2009) 2.5L 230 hp (172 kW; 233 PS) I5 turbo charged petrol (2010) 2.4L 132.5 kW (180 PS; 178 hp) I5 turbo Diesel (in Europe)
Transmission	5-speed automatic 6-speed manual
Wheelbase	2,640 mm (103.9 in)
Length	2007-2010: 4,582 mm (180.4 in) 2011-: 4,615 mm (181.7 in)
Width	2007-2010: 1,820 mm (71.7 in) 2011-: 1,847 mm (72.7 in)
Height	1,400 mm (55.1 in)
Curb weight	1,725 kg (3,800 lb)
Designer	Fedde Talsma[citation needed]

The second generation C70 model was debuted at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show, sharing the Volvo S40 platform, designed by John Kinsey^{[citation needed]} and built by Pininfarina Sverige AB, a joint venture between Pininfarina and Volvo. It went on sale in the U.S. in spring 2006. The three-piece retractable hardtop raises or lowers in under 30 seconds and replaces both the convertible and the coupé, the latter which had been absent from Volvo's lineup since 2003. The C70 is offered with a normally aspirated gasoline engine with variable geometry turbocharger and common-rail direct injection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States recently conducted its first crash tests of several convertibles and designated the C70 a "Top Safety Pick".

Safety systems include a door-mounted side impact protection inflatable which inflates upward when activated. The curtain has an extra stiff construction with double rows of slats that are slightly offset from each other. This allows them to remain upright and offer effective head protection even with the window open. The curtain also deflates slowly to provide protection should the car roll over. This is a unique solution in the automotive world.

The C70 retractable hardtop also features a roll over protection structure (ROPS) with two pyrotechnically charged roll hoops hidden behind the rear seats that deploy under roll-over conditions whether the roof is retracted or not. Volvo featured this advancement in a copy of the "Volvo Saved My Life Club" brochures. There, a woman was able to walk away from an accident after she slid off an ice-covered mountain road and rolled her C70 which then slid more than 30 feet (9.1 m) down the mountain face.

2011 update / facelift

2011 Volvo C70 (US)

Volvo introduced an updated version of the C70, in new Flamenco Red Pearl paint, at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The new C70 includes a redesigned front end, new rear LED lamps, and a redesigned, wider instrument panel. The engine and transmission remain the same as before, and the interior is largely unchanged as well. It went on sale in early 2010, as a 2011 model in North America.

See also

• Roll over protection structure

External links

• Official Volvo C70 website (international)