Every Volvo estate at the end of an era

The end of an era

In early August 2023, Volvo announced that it would no longer be selling saloons or estate cars in the UK, preferring instead to concentrate on the substantially more popular SUVs.

While the business case is presumably indisputable, there is cause to regret the loss of both body styles, given how successful they have been for Volvo in the past.

That said, the discontinuation of the estates seems slightly sadder, given their status in some circles, so we’ve decided to concentrate on those.

As far as we can ascertain, every production Volvo estate car is mentioned in this feature, although not all get their own slide. The cars are presented in chronological order.

1953 Volvo Duett

Volvo estates existed before Volvo began building them.

The PV445 was related to the PV444 saloon, but had a separate body and chassis rather than unibody construction.

Starting in 1949, coachbuilders would take the deliberately incomplete PV445s and turn them into estates, pick-ups, vans and even convertibles.

Four years later, Volvo took that business in-house and produced its own PV445-based estate, known as the Duett.

It was updated – and rechristened P210 – in 1960, and remained in production until February 1969, by which time Volvo had built 89,509 examples.

1962 Volvo P220

The Volvo range known variously as Amazon or 120 Series lasted from 1956 to 1970 and consisted mostly of ponton-style saloons.

An estate version called the P220 was the last to arrive and the first to leave, being produced from 1962 to 1969.

Following North American practice, which Volvo often did at the time, the P220 had a tailgate split into two, the upper part (containing the rear window) hinged at the top and the lower at the bottom.

Of the 667,332 Amazon/120s built, only 73,196 were P220s, suggesting that Volvo estates were of only moderate interest in the 1960s.

1967 Volvo 145

The last number in the model names of cars in the Volvo 140 Series indicated how many doors they had, so we’ll leave you to work out what the 142 and 144 saloons were.

They were introduced in 1966 and 1967 respectively, and in the latter year Volvo also brought out its 145 estate.

It differed from the P220 in having a one-piece tailgate, and was also notable for its completely flat load floor and a maximum luggage capacity, with the rear seats folded, of more than 2000 litres, or around a third bigger than the 21st-century V90.

Including a variant which we’ll be coming to shortly, Volvo built 268,317 145s up to 1974 – in excess of 100,000 more than the combined total of Duetts and P220s.

1969 Volvo 145 Express

In the unlikely event that the regular 145 wasn’t roomy enough for you, the 145 Express might have been worth considering.

Introduced in 1969, it shared one thing with the otherwise unrelated Matra Rancho which came along eight years later – a roofline which rose considerably just above the B-pillar.

Used mostly for commercial purposes, or as an ambulance, the Express replaced both the Duett and the P220, which were phased out in the same year.

A possibly unlikely film star, the Express nevertheless featured in the 1988 Swedish action comedy caper, Strul, starring Björn Skifs and Gunnel Fred.

1972 Volvo 1800 ES

It’s probably safe to say that Volvo is not well known nowadays for its sports cars.

Its only really successful venture in this field was with the 1800, a handsome machine manufactured from 1961 to 1973.

Most 1800s were coupés, but right at the end of production Volvo introduced the ES – an estate version with a flat load floor and a top-hinged rear window serving as the tailgate.

In all, 8078 examples were built in two years before the 1800 range had to be abandoned due to the potential cost of upgrading it to meet new safety legislation.

1974 Volvo 245

The 245’s name suggested that it was a 200 Series with a four-cylinder engine and five doors, though eventually the whole range was known simply as 240.

Even in the early days, the name wasn’t entirely accurate, since there were 245s with five- or six-cylinder diesel engines supplied by Volkswagen.

On the whole, a four-cylinder petrol was the usual engine. When turbocharged, which it was in some cases from 1981, it provided performance far beyond what the look of the car implied.

In an exceptionally long production run from 1974 to 1993, a remarkable 959,151 245s (or, as they became known, 240 estates) were manufactured, knocking all previous records out of the park.

1975 Volvo 265

The 265 was in most respects the same thing as a 245, but it was also the first Volvo estate fitted with a six-cylinder petrol engine.

This was a V6 co-developed by (in alphabetical order) Peugeot, Renault and Volvo, and is therefore generally known as the PRV.

It had a capacity of 2.7 litres when it was introduced to the 200 Series range in 1975, but this was later raised to 2.9 litres.

Production of the 265 ended in 1985, after 35,061 examples had been built.

1975 Volvo 66

As part of its gradual acquisition of Dutch manufacturer Daf’s car-building operation, Volvo took on the Daf 66 in 1975.

The resulting Volvo 66 had more safety equipment, including larger bumpers, and was available as a saloon or an estate, but no longer as a coupé.

Otherwise, there were very few changes. Volvo retained Daf’s continuously variable transmission (CVT) and the 1.1- and 1.3-litre versions of the Renault Cléon-Fonte engine.

The 66 saloon was the shortest car Volvo ever produced, the estate the shortest with that body style.

1985 Volvo 700 Series

With the exception of the 780 coupé, the 700 Series of 1982 to 1992 consisted of saloons and estate cars with a variety of engines.

The first model was the 760, which started out with a development of the PRV V6 petrol engine, but later gained both a six-cylinder diesel and a turbocharged ‘four’.

The 740, introduced two years later, was only ever powered by a 2.3-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine, and was by far the most common version – 1,009,395 of the 1,239,820 cars in the series were 740s, of which 358,952 were estates.

Volvo updated the whole range substantially in 1987, changing the front-end appearance and introducing multi-link rear suspension.
 

1990 Volvo 900 Series

The 900 Series was the flagship model in the Volvo range from 1990 to 1998.

As with the 700 Series, the name depended on what engine was fitted – the 960 had a 2.5- or 3-litre straight-six petrol, while the 940 had either a 2- or 2.3-litre ‘four’, or a six-cylinder diesel.

Buyers of the 960 preferred the saloon over the estate by a margin of nearly three to one, but the 940 estate (231,677 made) was very nearly as popular as its saloon equivalent (246,704).

In 1996, following a change in Volvo’s naming policy which will be described later, the 960 estate became known as the V90.

1993 Volvo 850

Rounder than, but reminiscent of, the earlier 700 Series, the 850 was introduced in 1991, and was initially available only in saloon form.

The five-door which arrived two years later was Volvo’s first front-wheel-drive estate car.

A year after that, Volvo caused a huge stir by entering two 850 estates in the 1994 British Touring Car Championship.

Unlike the later saloons, they weren’t particularly successful, never finishing higher than fifth, but they attracted an enormous amount of publicity, and are still among the most famous Touring Cars of their era.

1994 Volvo 850 T5-R

No direct equivalent of the 2-litre Volvo 850 estate Touring Cars was ever made available to the public, but in 1994 you could buy something with vaguely comparable performance in the form of the T5-R estate.

With 237bhp available from its turbocharged 2.3-litre five-cylinder engine (as opposed to nearly 300bhp in the naturally aspirated 2-litre BTCC car), this, along with its saloon equivalent, was the equal most powerful roadgoing Volvo to date.

There were drawbacks. The ride was un-Volvo-ishly firm, and both cars had a level of torque steer which caused adverse comment at the time and would be completely unacceptable today.

Against that, they were remarkably fast, and – if this was important to you – being at the wheel of the estate in particular made it look as if you were a racing driver.

1995 Volvo V40

The V40 was the estate version of a car developed jointly by Volvo and Mitsubishi, whose variant was known as the Carisma.

Although V40 seems like an easy name to come up with, it actually took Volvo three attempts to get there.

The saloon was originally to be known as the S4 and the estate as F4 (the F standing for Flexibility), but Audi already had the rights to S4, so Volvo switched to S40 and F40, which was also problematic because Ferrari had the rights to the latter.

No doubt sighing heavily by this point, Volvo abandoned Flexibility and went for Versatility instead. Nobody complained about the resulting V40, so that’s how the estate was known when it went on sale in 1995.

1995 Volvo 850 R

The limited-edition 850 T-5R was quickly replaced by the even-more-potent 850 R.

The engine was broadly the same as before, but some upgrading raised its power output to 247bhp, a new high for Volvo.

Transferring so much power to the road was at least as much of a problem as it had been in the T-5R, but at least this time Volvo made the effort to fit a limited-slip differential to the versions with manual gearboxes.

The 850 R had a short life, but that was because the 850 range in general was about to be updated. A similar car with a different badge would be along soon.

1996 Volvo V70

The V70 was a major upgrade of the 850 estate, with softer body styling, a new interior and improved safety.

As with the 850, every available engine was a five-cylinder, measuring either 2 or 2.5 litres. Depending on which one you chose, they could run on petrol, diesel or, in the case of the Bi-Fuel, either petrol or compressed natural gas (CNG).

This first-generation V70 was launched in late 1996 and replaced in 2000.

Not including the XC variant, which we’ll be meeting soon, Volvo built 319,832 V70s in that period, compared with 243,078 of the S70 saloon equivalent.

1996 Volvo V90

As mentioned previously, the 960 estate became the V90 in 1996, the only time Volvo used that name in the 20th century.

Differences between the old and new cars were so minimal that the V90 was effectively another 960 estate, built slightly later.

The nearly three-to-one preference among Volvo customers for saloons in this sector was also carried forward – just 9067 V90s were produced until the model was replaced in 1998, compared with 26,269 S90 saloons.

Despite this lack of public interest, the V90 is historically significant in that it was the last of the rear-wheel-drive Volvo estates.

1997 Volvo V70 R

The first V70 R, launched in 1997, was the immediate replacement of the 850 R.

Although all versions looked much the same as each other, the line-up was in fact quite varied.

Customers had the option of front- or four-wheel drive, and a manual or an automatic transmission.

Power outputs varied according to the above, but generally averaged around 250bhp, and reached a peak of 261bhp in 2000.

1997 Volvo V70 XC

A very different variant of the V70 joined the range at about the same time as the R.

The XC (for ‘Cross Country’) was a type of car which became increasingly popular in later years – a derivative of an existing estate car optimised for off-road use.

Like the Audi A6 allroad which followed shortly afterwards, the XC had four-wheel drive as standard, along with a higher ride height than the stock V70 and extra body protection.

Since it answered questions that not many people were asking at the time, the XC was never going to be the dominant car in its range, but it certainly found an audience.

Out of 616,767 first-generation V70s, nearly one in 12 (53,857) was an XC.

2000 Volvo V70

The second V70, launched in 2000, was based on a new platform which had first been used two years earlier for the S80 saloon.

It was designed by Peter Horbury who, speaking figuratively, said that his team had tried to combine the front of a Jaguar E-type with the back of a Ford Transit van.

“Thankfully,” Volvo commented drily, “the end product is rather more handsome than Horbury’s image suggests.”

The range included a new XC and, from 2003, a new V70 R.

The latter took Volvo estate performance to a new level thanks to its power output of nearly 300bhp, and was a rival (Volvo suggested, perhaps optimistically) to the Audi S4 Avant.

2002 Volvo XC70

Going by its name alone, the XC70 introduced in 2002 appeared to be a new model, but it was in fact just the second-generation V70 XC with a new badge.

The change was prompted by the introduction in the same year of the XC90, Volvo’s first SUV.

All future Volvo SUVs would have names starting with XC, and since this version of the V70 was sort of SUV-ish, it made sense to include it in the new convention.

Although based on a different platform from the previous car, the new V70 XC (or XC70, as it became) retained the greater ground clearance, extra body protection and standard four-wheel drive of its predecessor.

2003 Volvo V50

Late in 2003, Volvo introduced the second generation of its small family saloon and estate.

The saloon was still called S40, but the estate – which Volvo apparently wanted to differentiate more than previously from its stablemate – became known as V50.

Both were based on a new, and eventually widely used, platform which also underpinned the Mazda3 and the Ford Focus.

Of the Volvos, the V50 was by far the more successful.

From launch until its discontinuation nine years later, Volvo built 519,007 examples, far more than the 352,910 S40s produced in two generations in well over a decade and a half.

2007 Volvo V70

The third and final V70, produced from 2007 to 2016, was once again the estate version of the contemporary S80 saloon.

Both were based on a new platform which was once again shared with several Ford models, including the Mondeo, and this time the Land Rover Freelander 2.

Unlike the S80, the V70 was never fitted with the 4.4-litre V8 engine co-developed by Volvo and Yamaha.

Instead, the most powerful engine in the range was a 3-litre turbocharged straight-six which, like the V8, had a maximum output of around 300bhp.

2007 Volvo XC70

The last XC70 was sold alongside the regular V70 from 2007 to 2016.

It featured the same off-road-specific features as before (four-wheel drive, increased ride height and body protection), but this time Volvo added hill-descent control to the specification.

Load-sensing and fully active suspension were also available, though not on the base model.

On the negative side, this XC70 was criticised for feeling clumsy on Tarmac – something which was not usually said of its predecessors.

2011 Volvo V60

Launched in 2011, the V60 was shorter and lower than (but about the same width as) the V70 or XC70, though it was based on the same platform.

Volvo described it as a sports estate rather than a true load-carrier, and suggested that if you wanted more luggage space you might buy one of the 70 models instead.

At first, only petrol and diesel engines were available, but Volvo soon introduced a plug-in hybrid version.

Very unusually for the time, though the set-up later became significantly more common, this one had a diesel engine driving the front wheels and a less-powerful electric motor driving the rears.

2014 Volvo V60 Cross Country

In 2014, Volvo introduced a derivative of the V60 which might have been called XC60 if an SUV of that description hadn’t been on sale for the past six years.

Giving two different models the same name would have been out of the question, so the new model was known as the V60 Cross Country instead.

In the same way that the regular V60 wasn’t as effective an estate car as other Volvos had been, the Cross Country was one of its less extreme semi-off-roaders.

The small number of changes included raising the ride height by 65mm, fitting only high-profile tyres and adding less body protection than had been used on the V70 Cross Country and XC70.

2014 Volvo V60 Polestar

Polestar – then a Volvo-affiliated race team rather than, as now, a Volvo-owned brand – was commissioned to produce high-performance versions of both the V60 and its saloon-shaped relative, the S60.

The V60 was the only version sold in the UK, and while it was 70kg heavier than the S60 it was still quite a performer, with a 3-litre twin-turbo straight-six engine.

Other improvements included remapping the standard Aisin six-speed automatic transmission to make faster shifts possible (and prevent any shifting happening mid-corner), fitting vastly upgraded brakes, creating more downforce and biasing the torque distribution of the four-wheel-drive system towards the rear axle.

As supplied to customers, the Polestar was unpleasantly bouncy on poorly surfaced UK roads, but it was possible to do something about this by making use of the 20-step adjustment on the Öhlins shock absorbers, which were said to have been developed from the ones used on the Lamborghini Aventador.

2016 Volvo V90

After its brief appearance in the 1990s, when it was used on what had previously been known as the 960 estate, the V90 name returned on a more permanent basis in 2016.

The new model was based on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture platform, which first appeared in the second-generation XC90 SUV and has also been used for the S90 saloon, the Polestar 1 and the Lynk & Co 09.

Several petrol engines have been fitted to the V90, but they are all turbocharged 2-litre units with four cylinders, though in some cases an extra turbocharger or even a supercharger has been added to increase the power output.

Latterly, all V90s have also been hybrids of one kind or another.

2017 Volvo V90 Cross Country

As it had done with so many previous models, Volvo added an off-road derivative to the V90 range.

Like the earlier V60 Cross Country, the conversion was less comprehensive than it had been in the past, involving only increased ride height, some extra body protection and standard four-wheel drive.

As you’ve probably noticed, this V90 also shared a naming peculiarity with the equivalent V60.

The obvious name for it was XC90, but Volvo had launched one of those in 2002, so the estate was called Cross Country instead.

2018 Volvo V60

The second-generation V60, introduced in 2018, looks like being the last estate car in Volvo’s history, in the UK at least.

It’s based on the same Scalable Product Architecture as the V90, but is smaller in every dimension.

All engines are 2-litre four-cylinder turbos.

Versions called Twin Engine still actually have one engine (supercharged as well as turbocharged in these cases), but this is backed up by an electric motor.

2018 Volvo V60 Cross Country

Our story ends with the off-road version of the final V60 estate.

As you’ll by now have been able to guess, the Cross Country rides 60mm higher than the regular V60, comes with four-wheel drive as standard and has some extra body protection, most obviously on the wheelarches, and at the bottom end of the front and rear bumpers.

Since it makes little sense to create an SUV of this type (SUVs being like that already), this is likely to be the last Cross Country model Volvo will ever produce.