Volvo C70 Inscription is sleek, fun to drive
Volvo’s C70 convertible has been around for 14 years, six of them in the current body style with a nifty three-piece hardtop. Pete ’n’ Pam dropped that top and worked on their tans for a couple of weeks in the 2012 C70.
Pete: Thousands of low-slung European luxury cars travel Texas streets, Pam, but I can’t think of many prettier than our blue C70 Inscription. This car is a real looker, especially after Volvo stylists face-lifted the sheet metal in 2010. It’s a lovely piece of sculpture.
Pam: It’s definitely the transformer of the car world. When the hard top’s up, it doesn’t look like a convertible at all. Press a button, though, and an elaborate metamorphosis takes place. I watched with rapt attention as the articulated lid unhinged, separated into sections and folded itself neatly away, in about 30 seconds.
Pete: Righto, and the Volvo has an advantage over most convertibles that’s not so apparent. When the top is up, the trunk is really roomy. It’s a convertible someone could use every day, not just on weekends.
Pam: Traditional soft-top convertibles usually generate a lot of road noise. A retractable hardtop like this one means less buzz when the roof is up — a nice bonus.
Pete: The noise is well-managed and so is the wind with the top down. My hair wasn’t whipped into knots. Papers I had on the passenger’s seat weren’t sucked out and blown all over. The C70 was comfortable to drive for long periods, and the white leather on the seats was gorgeous.
Pam: I’m glad your long hippie hair didn’t get tangled, Pete. Here’s a problem, though. Volvo engineers didn’t have Texas in mind when they designed the steering wheel and gearshift. There’s metal on both, and you need kitchen hot pads to handle them in the midst of an Austin summer. I nearly seared the skin off my palms!
Pete: You could fry a steak on most cars in Austin’s summer. What did you think of the understated interior look and the narrow, Scandinavian-styled control panel? I liked the unique appearance, but the ergonomics were clumsy.
Pam: Actually, the entire car was a wee bit understated for my taste. It kind of faded into the woodwork, inside and out. I found it pleasing to look at but not in a way that says, ‘You’ve just got to drive me!’
Pete: To me, the C70 was a nice break from the visual “me-first” noise of most luxury cars.
Pam: Despite the lack of pizazz, it had lots to like, including rear parking sensors. The car actually beeped to let me know I was about to hit a brick wall when I was backing up in a parking lot.
Pete: Even with the C70’s many amenities, including more leather than a West Texas tack room, I was surprised to see the $50,400 price tag. That’s a lot for a Volvo, even one with the C70’s gelato-smooth, 227-horsepower, turbocharged five-cylinder engine. Pam: That’s a lot of moolah for a serving of gelato, even one as fun to drive and powerful and sleek as this one. That engine got just an estimated 18 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the highway.
Pete: Pam, I doubt few C70 buyers would be deterred by the gas mileage, or for that matter, the price.
Pam: Clearly I’m not sophisticated enough to own one. I should have realized that when I kept pressing the ‘lock’ button on the key fob in attempt to lock the car but discovered the doors would still open when I tested them. The Inscription’s smarter than me. Turns out there’s a proximity sensor in the key fob that automatically unlocks the doors when you are near the car. It took me three days to figure that out.
Pete: Maybe you’re too sophisticated. I didn’t notice that the proximity sensor in the fob was unlocking the doors when I walked near the car. And by the way, thanks for not backing into that wall. It would have been an embarrassing call to make to Volvo. In that case, technology saved the day.
According to Pete ’n’ Pam …
