Spy Shots: 2008 Volvo XC70
by Damon Lavrinc on Sep 9th 2006 at 6:54PM 
Our compatriot in the cubicle over at Winding Road received some shots of the new Volvo XC70 and despite its Missy Elliotian-camo, a few notable design cues are apparent. The Cross-Country receives a mildly angled D-pillar and side mirror-embedded turn signals that seem to be the trend du jour on several new models. Although the plastic-clad front-end doesn't lend much detail, it's obvious that a more aggressive snout will make an appearance, that, along with more bubbled fender flares hint at the XC's off-road prowess.
Click on over to "the Road" for full shots of the Swede's departure from the "brick on wheels" school of design and be sure to check out the last photo of one pissed off Volvo employee, who's apparently a big fan of "nawz."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chriseh 8:22PM (9/09/2006)
And we're suppose to get excited by another Volvo "station wagon" design?
Give me a break, this looks pretty much the same. I guess there's not to many ways you can reskin that "old shoe" shape.
Reply
epp_b 10:11PM (9/09/2006)
Eww...I've always liked Volvo's conservative box-like designs that stay away from being cutsey fashion statements. This one is just ghastly.
Reply
Car chops and Discussion 11:09PM (9/09/2006)
so far, no good :(
http://www.carchops.com
Reply
Paul Hildebrand 12:37AM (9/10/2006)
How can you judge based on such a heavily-covered car that's only a prototype? You guys know that black stuff isn't the real car, right?
I'll have to wait until I see more of the car to judge, but Volvo isn't a company that would really be helped by a major overhaul. They have a reputation for solid, safe cars, and in order to keep their core customers satisfied, they need to stick with evolutionary over revolutionary styling, and it looks like this wagon is on track. I personally think the current Volvo theme is very good...handsome without being too controversial. Plus, they're going to sell a good amount of C30s once those hit the stores, and this will branch out to more of the customer base than they currently have. Volvo is headed in the right direction, no?
By the way, I totally want to cover my car in old trash cans and plastic bags and such and drive around and see who takes pictures of me thinking i'm driving the next Ford or whatnot.
Reply
Damon Lavrinc 12:45AM (9/10/2006)
Paul - We're going off of the information presented in the original WR post, as well the information we've received from a few other sources. We know it's going to be heavily inspired by the S80, but with a bit more curve. First description we'd heard gave us the impression of a Taurus station wagon, then they laughed and we were corrected.
Reply
Blake 9:07AM (9/10/2006)
Uh, you guys DO understand it's all a bunch of plastic cladding to thwart people from knowing the car's true form, right?
Reply
Jeff 11:56AM (9/10/2006)
This is the second time i've seen that pontiac/bmw twin kidney camo on a volvo mule. Last time was a spy shot of an S80 testing in the snow. Its pretty funny when car companies dress their cars up to look like other cars... its almost like its an insult, i wonder if they take it as a sort of joke...
Reply
peter poggetto 11:01PM (12/03/2006)
Spy shot 2008 xc 70... Just the right car for Jason!
Reply
Tommy Jensen 5:37PM (12/03/2006)
6 or 8 cyl for 2008 ????
Reply