George Perkins, Executive Producer – “Desperate Housewives”
A while back, we asked George if he would like to review our C70. Unfortunately, he was traveling in Hawaii at the time, leaving us no way to get one there within a reasonable time frame. However, upon his return, he took one for a state-side test drive.
Dan
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I’ve just received the Volvo C70 to drive and play with for a few days. What fun!
I’ve owned several Volvos over the years – a S60 and a V70 – and have a soft spot for them. The cars are so solidly built, handle very well, and give me both great confidence in driving and a wonderful sense of safety; all very important things to me, as I’m raising a family, yet not wanting to give up the pleasure of driving. I’ve always loved to drive. At probably 10 years old, I started driving. I would sit on my grandfather’s lap at first on his farm tractor, and then the farm truck – an old Ford that you would see in pictures of the Old West, rusting away in some field. As soon as I could work – mowing lawns at about 12 years old – I started to buy toys: mini-bikes, go-karts, two old Simcas which I assembled into one running car, motorcycles and then my first street car at 16 – a 1965 Ford Mustang. Since, I’ve owned at least 15 cars.
My Volvos continued the pleasures of being on the road for me. They were cars that I could afford at the time, and I still believe were the best cars for the money. Getting my hands on the very stylish and well designed C70 was a treat. The first day, I put the top down and drove to dinner through the canyons, because to me, convertibles are best for off-the-highway driving. It was chilly, so the heat was on and the windows up, but the sky was right there. On Sunday, I took my family to Geoffrey’s for brunch, again top down – even with June Gloom and warm clothing. My entire family enjoyed the ride along the coast.
The car is simple and well laid out. Nicely designed for the driver. The seats, as always, are Volvo comfortable and easily adjusted to find the right fit. It’s quiet in spite of being a convertible and pretty stiff, which I prefer. It handles very nicely and offers a great sense of being totally in control, while providing the driver the comfort of knowing that it will do what is asked of it. Putting the top up and down is great fun, and it’s also fun to watch people watching it. Even though hardtop convertibles are common today, the wonder of the engineering never passes.
It’s a terrific car – I was sorry to return it!
George
Posted in S60, V70, c70, news | No Comments »Iron Man Irv Turns 70, Sets 3 Million Mile Goal
Irv Gordon with his 1966 Volvo P1800.
Happy birthday to our most famous and enduring brand ambassador, Irv Gordon of East Patchogue, Long Island.
Irv turns 70 today, an honorable achievement for anyone. But, with Irv, it’s always about big numbers. He’s driven more than 2.8 million miles in his 1966 Volvo P1800. And, today, on the big 7-0, he’s affirming his goal of reaching three million miles by the time he’s 73 – forever enshrining him as an iron man in automotive longevity.
Irv purchased his Volvo in June 1966, and immediately fell in love, driving 1,500 miles in the first 48 hours. With a 125-mile round-trip daily commute, a fanatical dedication to vehicle maintenance and a passion for driving, Irv logged 500,000 miles in 10 years.
In 1998 with 1.69 million miles, he made the Guinness Book of World Records for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle. In 2002, he drove the car’s two-millionth mile down Times Square to national and international media attention.
Irv – like any mighty record-holder at the top of his game – is mindful of his legacy, as well as setting a record no one can beat.
“Three million miles by my 73rd birthday sounds right,” Irv recently said. “But, whether I reach that mark is more up to me than it is the car. The car’s parts have long proven they can take it, but I’m not so sure about my own. Either way, it will be a fantastic testament to the engineering genius of Volvo as well as to the resiliency of folks my age.
“Three million miles also is an iron clad number that I’d like to think sits right up there with DiMaggio’s consecutive game hitting streak. Who’s going to beat that? No one.”
However, Irv says he’s unsure what to do with his Volvo after three million miles, though he has considered selling it for no less than one dollar per each mile he’s driven.
“I used to think I’d park it in a museum where people will get to enjoy seeing the car that beat the odds – all with the same engine, same radio, same axles, same transmission and of course the same driver,” Irv said. “Now I think, ‘no way.’ I’ll either keep driving it or sell it for $3 million.”
And what would he do if he made $3 million off the car?
“I’d spend it on traveling,” he said. “Road trips, of course.”
To follow Irv’s adventures, follow him on Facebook or keep following our blog.
Posted in Uncategorized, Volvo History, irv gordon, news | No Comments »The ‘Naughty Volvo Tour’ Coming to a City Near You
An S60 hello to you all.
Last year we took XC60 on tour. Our goal was to show something completely different in two ways: design and safety. No other Volvo ever looked as good, (okay, I think the first C70 Coupe was stunning, especially in Saffron color), but the XC60 was really the first showing of our new design evolution. We also needed to demonstrate how City Safety – a world first in safety – worked.
Think about it: We go through life driving a couple of million miles and never test safety … hopefully not. Then along comes a car that begs to be tested, but doing it with your own XC60, well, that’s not going to work. So we went on the road to let folks try City Safety. In the end, about 3,941 out of 6,311 (knowing Bill Buchka, Mgr. Brand and Launch Communications, asking for an approximate number will get me exact numbers – Swedes don’t do ‘approximate’) tested City Safety.
The car is stunning; it has performance and handling akin to our last generation S60 R car, and features Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Braking. So rather than hunting real pedestrians, we’re doing real, live, come on down and try it, demonstrations – again with Bill Buchka at the helm.
Here are some details:
We just announced the start of our upcoming Naughty Volvo Tour to launch the All-New 2011 Volvo S60. The Naughty Volvo Tour, which will stop at around 150 Volvo retailers across the U.S. and in Canada, kicked off on July 6 in Cranston, R.I., Tulsa, Okla. and Tucson, Ariz., and will conclude in the fall.
“The 2011 Volvo S60 is really going to make an impression in the midsize sedan segment,” said Doug Speck, VCNA president and CEO. “Not only is it the most dynamic Volvo we’ve ever produced, but it also introduces the world-first Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake technology, which will automatically stop the car if it senses an impending collision with a pedestrian. We’re excited to show the S60 to consumers so they can judge for themselves.”
Touted “the sportiest Volvo ever,” the All-New Volvo S60 is equipped with a turbocharged T6 engine, which puts out 300 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. of torque, and comes standard with all-wheel-drive. Its breathtaking new design captures the imagination and sets the heart racing like no other Volvo sedan, with the C-pillar stretching sensually all the way to the taillights – giving the impression of a 4-door coupe.
The All-New Volvo S60 is also available with Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake, a groundbreaking technological solution that actively helps the driver avoid accidents. Volvo’s radar- and camera-based system can detect pedestrians in front of the car, warn the driver if someone walks out into its path, and then automatically activate the S60’s full braking power if the driver fails to respond in time.
The Naughty Volvo Tour is a series of retailer-hosted experiential events, which allow attendees to preview the All-New Volvo S60 before it goes on sale. Utilizing multimedia interactive displays to emphasize the car’s design, performance and safety attributes will heighten the sensory experience. Demonstrations of the Pedestrian Detection system in action will also be available.
For a full tour schedule and to register to attend a retailer tour event, please visit http://naughty.volvocars.us/. Here, saved you some mouse work http://www.volvocars.com/us/all-cars/volvo-s60/Pages/default.aspx?s60tourhub
Come on down, try and hit a dummy, you just might save a real life someday.
dan
Posted in City Safety, S60, XC60, c70, distracted driving, pedestrian safety, safety | 2 Comments »Cryptic Message
Last week, after posting a short history of our seat belt, I received an e-mail from Sören, a man of very few words, always cryptic. His message was something like: “What, Clive and Mary.” And that was it. No clue what he was getting at.
I sent an equally sparse reply: ‘?’. And of course, nothing back from Sören. So around 4 a.m. this morning, as my brain was fertilizing itself with sleep, a couple of synaptic nerves connected. Clive Bengtsson and Whiplash Mary. Sören and Christer did this video about Volvo safety – one of the best we’ve every done. There’s lots of Sören tweaks in it, so pay attention. Sören is like me working an easy Sudoku puzzle: I’m out of eraser long before I get it.
Good week to you all.
dan
Posted in General, Volvo History, distracted driving, news, pedestrian safety, safety, seat belt | 2 Comments »The 41-Year-Old Twilight Virgin
It will come as no surprise to most that author Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series isn’t written for or marketed toward those with a Y chromosome. As I posses this bit of human DNA, I haven’t made a tremendous effort to read these enormously successful novels. Aside from skimming the jacket covers, my knowledge of these stories mostly revolved around the fact that one of the main characters, a pale and brooding teen named Edward, drove himself around town in a Volvo.
I have to admit I love the irony Ms. Meyer wrote into Edward. Here’s a kid that’s immortal yet chooses to tool around in the safest car made. In the books, Ed drives an S60 R. So the kid is safe but also has a wild side. That’s interesting. He’s also not into pre-marital sex. As the father of a young girl who will some day be a doe-eyed Ed lover, I can respect this kid.
So I’m sure you’re wondering how I know Edward isn’t into pre-marital wrestling if I haven’t read the books. That’s because last week I attended the world premiere of Eclipse, the third movie installment in the series. I was on-hand with my colleague, Kate Rehill, to host the winner of a Volvo sweepstakes contest. Sandy Deuel-Weiks, 57, of Howard City, Mich., and her sister, Sharon Ary of Rockford, Mich., were the lucky winners of a trip to Los Angeles, a couple of nights at a swanky Beverly Hills hotel, two tickets to the premiere and a parking spot along the black carpet (it was a vampire thing, I suppose).
Sandy was interviewed by her hometown TV station – WZZM-TV out of Grand Rapids, Michigan – who was there to cover the phenomenon. Check out the link below.
http://www.wzzm13.com/life/programming/local/take_five/take_five_story.aspx?storyid=123193&catid=205
To be honest, I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope for a great night. What do I care about smoldering teen passions, computer generated werewolves and 2,000 screaming “Twi-hards?” I was curious, however, to see Ed racing around in an XC60 – the S60 R was out of production by the time filming began of the first movie so the brooder was relegated to a C30, then the XC60 for the second and third movies.
I’d like to say I remained cool and aloof, even brooding. But I fell victim to the hysteria of the evening. You just can’t help but get swept up in it all when the stars begin pouring out of their Escalades and limousines. The fans, erupting into high-pitched wails a Valkyrie would be envious to emulate, nearly broke down the barriers when the brooder effortlessly slithered from the dark confines of his hearse-like ride. Ed was generous with his time, stopping every few feet to sign something or kiss a hand or cause some poor girl to all but faint.
It was about this time I heard a man screaming. He sounded a lot like a teenaged girl, but with an unsettling baritone voice.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! It’s….it’s….it’s Ron Artest!”
It was then that I realized I was the unsettling sounding man. But can you blame me? Not more than five feet away stood an NBA champion.
I stood there pointing at Ron, my mouth agape. I stumbled over the velvet rope and nearly accosted the poor man. “Can I get a picture? Can I get a picture? Please, Mr. Artest. Just one!” The pleading in my voice sounded pathetic. But I couldn’t stop myself. Fortunately, Ron was cool. He shook my hand and put his arm on my shoulder and I stood there acting like a fool. He thanked me for being a fan and moved on down the line of reporters.
At that moment I became a huge Twilight fan.
An hour later I was sitting in row ZZZ of the cavernous Nokia Theater with 9,000 other folks who were somehow involved in Eclipse. Ed brooded and sulked and was always a gentleman to Bella as he zipped around Forks in his XC60. I have to say, the Volvo looked pretty damn hot.
James
Posted in C30, Twilight, XC60, contest | No Comments »A journey that started with a ‘Click’
On July 14, 2010, our simple life saving device, the three-point seat belt, will forever be a part of American history. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History will officially accept Volvo’s three-point seat belt into their collection. On that day, with a press event for media, business, government and Smithsonian officials, a little bit of Volvo will forever be a part of Washington, DC.
About 18 months ago we called the Smithsonian to ask if they were interested in acquiring our three-point seat belt for their collection. After all, 2009 would mark the 50th anniversary of this invention. Calling them was kind of like rolling dice and hoping you connect all the dots in one easy phone call. I should know that by now, nothing is ever easy. As luck would have it, the Museum was working on a collection of automotive safety “firsts” and our seatbelt would be a key acquisition for the collection. However, first we had to document and they had to verify that we were first. Then we had to prove it was fitted as described, and that it was standard in our cars. What we finally agreed upon was that after 1961 all our cars were fitted with that seat belt.
Originally we were just going to give them a seat belt but since the process took so long, we finally had a belt mounted to a mock-up PV 544 driver side seat with floor pan, seat attachments and ‘B’ pillar for auto shows. We couldn’t authenticate the seat or belt came from a 1961, which is what the Smithsonian needed, so we bought a ‘61, took out the original equipment and mounted it on a display stand. The Smithsonian then back-tracked the original car to its previous owner, authenticated that it rolled out of the factory with standard-fitted three-point belts, and I thought we were good to go. I felt like I was watching CSI, they were so thorough in their background searching. Thanks to a long time friend and Volvo restorer, Alan Prosser (www.alanauto.com) who tracked down what we needed, got it packed and sent it down to our Rockleigh headquarters. It turned out that finding a good, original seat that’s 50-years old was a tougher task than I could have ever imagined.
For over a year, our display sat, packed, ready to ship, on our loading dock, right next to our trash compactor. Yeah, can you feel the fear I had, almost daily, that someone would consider it trash and we’d be back to first base. I thank the Swedish Viking gods for protecting it from our compactor.
Finally late last month we got the call to ship. The display was repacked, shrink wrapped and sent on its way with kisses from all of us.
I doubt that Nils Bolin would have ever thought his invention would save more than 1 million people’s lives and that it would become standard in all cars, mandated by law in 1972. Through the years, Nils has received many awards and accolades, but I think this one simple donation would stand out as his crowning achievement, aside from personal thanks from people whose lives were saved by his invention.
Today we like to say there is a little bit of Volvo in all cars.
This July, we will be heading to Washington to present our three-point seat belt to the Smithsonian, a very good day for Volvo.
Dan
Below is our two-point seat belt. I think we sold it just for couple of years. When I had my first Volvo, ‘58 444, there were mounting holes for seat belts, sold as an accessory. I bought a set, installed them and my father refused to use it, and I refused to drive him anywhere.
Good video of our seat belt’s history: http://www.youtube.com/volvocarsnews#p/u/53/xQFrBX84RVY
Posted in Awards, Quality of Life, Volvo History, customer care, distracted driving, news, pedestrian safety, safety, seat belt | 2 Comments »Word Smithing 101
When Toyota announced their Star Safety System, we started to scratch our heads like, “Gosh, what makes that so special?” I put together lists of what Volvo had, when we had it, when it was fitted, to what models, if there were any markets we didn’t have something fitted … and it became overwhelming.
So I called Toyota’s customer service line to have them explain exactly what systems were installed and when. Seems that starting model year 2011 they will have things fitted across their model line, but not all cars right now. Interesting.
Trying to get that list going again, I asked Bruno in Regulations and Compliance if he could help. So he started his own list. About one week later, I learned that Mike in Product Planning was putting a list together, too. As easy as it seemed, it was impossible to pin it all down. We know in the last four to five years we already have everything that Toyota’s Star Safety System has, and in one form or another those systems have been in our cars for many years.
Much like we do today, our most advanced systems – like City Safety and the upcoming Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake – need progressively higher levels of electronics than prior generations. In fact, the XC60 has City Safety, yet it can not initially be fitted with Pedestrian Detection since its electronics are like version 9.00.01.01 and the S60 is 9.00.01.02 (made up numbers, but you get the idea).
So here’s what NY Times Blogger Dexter Ford said about Star Safety System:
“Toyota is the first full-line manufacturer to make the Star Safety System standard on all vehicles.”
Not certain what a “full-line” means. I guess if that means pick-up trucks, okay, you got us.
“Toyota Motor Sales is not aware of any Toyota patents on the five safety technologies, but we were innovative in combining these systems economically in non-luxury vehicles … ” states their advertising manager.
I wonder what luxury means? Guess that’s us. They never considered Volvo luxury in prior years. It’s good to know we’re now considered an upscale competitor to them, but we’re excluded from their definition of a car company that offers safety.
You know, safety isn’t a surface condition, it’s not something that is touted one year and dismissed the next. It is a constant target for improving quality of life for people in and around cars. Safety is not a marketing slogan, it’s not even a DNA issue. It’s more like an unseen bit of our Swedish soul. We’re very pleased that Toyota is finally adding safety to their cars that we have had in ours for years. Welcome to the party!
Dan
Posted in City Safety, Quality of Life, S60, XC60, XC60 General, customer care, distracted driving, news, pedestrian safety, safety | No Comments »Pike’s Peak takes real Swedish Ball Bearings
Good finish for Richard Bailey’s 122. Not bad for 4 cylinders.
I used to navigate a 140 in SCCA Pro Rally. Always, sort of, wanted to do Pike’s Peak with Wayne Baldwin but just never happened. He ran a 240 turbo up it one time. Melted the cylinder head to a point where you could see the valve stems tubes through the head w/o taking off the exhaust manifold.
http://applefarmerracing.com/pp2010.html
Good weekend to you all.
dan
Posted in General, Volvo History, news | No Comments »Vampire Time Again
Nice photography for this TV commercial with Edward’s XC60 from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Don’t forget to enter and play the game to win an XC60 just like Edward drives at http://www.lostinforks.com/.
dan
Posted in Twilight, XC60, contest | No Comments »Teacher of the Year – Volvo of Charleston
Working here, there is an underlying feeling that what we do helps people. We support Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (https://www.alexslemonade.org/), and have since almost day one. Many of our dealerships support local organizations helping to spread the Volvo feeling into other parts of people’s lives.
Teachers are special people. I think they chose their career because it is their way of helping people, they certainly didn’t chose teaching to get rich. We all have one special teacher that changed something in us, turned on a switch into something wonderful, and hopefully helped us in our life journey.
Congratulations to Volvo of Charleston for recognizing just such a person. Here is her story:
Volvo of Charleston is maximizing a way to acknowledge outstanding citizens in its community – and is doing so in a manner consistent with Volvo’s commitment to caring, conscience and character.
For nine years, Volvo of Charleston has donated a one-year lease to the Charleston County School District Teacher of the Year. For 2010, a C30 will be driven to school each day by Maisha Rounds, a teacher who also happened to grow up in the school district.
Rounds was inspired to teach after her high school Teacher Cadet class visited students with profound mental disabilities. She earned a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in community counseling from Winthrop College. Her classroom lessons are arts-infused and multi-sensory. She is often found engaging her students by playing her keyboard to teach new skills and concepts while her students dance and create art. She has coauthored several books, addressing issues that come with special needs, abuse and illiteracy, and she strives to improve the teaching profession by serving as a mentor and professional development trainer for teachers and administrators in the district.
“We got involved several years ago as a way to serve our community and reward our teachers for all that they do,” said Sheila Sines Thomasson, who oversees marketing and business development at Volvo of Charleston. “We also host a get-together for the finalists each year at Volvo of Charleston and we attend the awards banquet.”
It’s evident that Volvo of Charleston understands how civic involvement can have long-term rewards for its community and its business.
Teacher of the Year
