Volvo reinvents the Audi A3

I really thought Volvo had a good thing going with their 3 CC Concept Car, a cool next-generation electric sportscar.



Note the ultra-streamlined aerodynamic design and the compact size.



I just loved this view, I know it is not exactly practical for the family dog - or for divers, for that matter, but what a design!



True, it is not yet running on hydrogen fuel cells or even as hybrid, but is instead purely electric. The concept designers mention a range of 300km on a fresh charge, that sounds decent. Also, it's a three-seater, in case you wondered...



But instead of this really cool design, Volvo recently announced that they would convert another concept car into a production model later this year, and this is *yawn* going to be the so-called C30.



Derived from the Safety Concept Car, another design concept developed by the Volvo Concept Lab, it is apparently more of a "common sense" model rather than a true innovation.

At a closer look, it is just a V50 shrunk to the size of the Audi A 3, but not as well-designed and puristic in its lines. AND, it's a copy/remake rather than the original thing...;-)

The thing that disappoints me most is that most automotive journalists - and even its designers - compare it to the 1960's to 1970's model P1800,



while indeed its design has much more in common (in fact I would even speak of "direct ancestry") with the - also much more recent - 1988 to 1995-produced 480 model.



But truth to be told, that 480's project was never liked much over at Volvo headquarters: one, its design had been outsourced through a design contest, two, it was not even 'built in Sweden' but instead licenced to Netherlands Car, the automobile producer formerly known as DAF ;-), three, it was also some sort of a "concept car" at its time, with a lot of electronic gizmo's - most of whom did not really work all the time... and four, only about 80.000 units were built and sold, so it was largely a flop...