When the Volvo S80 won the Pan-Europe design award it was a decision based on the votes of 500 professional car designers and design students from 33 countries.

The organisation behind the award, Designers (Europe), praised the way the S80 represents a radical change without breaking the continuity of Volvo design.

"The Volvo S80 has been more successful in synthesising the past and the future more than any other new car in 1998," Design (Europe) writes.

"It integrates the typical Volvo design features, such as a classic grille and large headlights and, at the same time, provides a new concept of a prestigious four door sedan."

New design theme spans Volvo range

The new Volvo ‘look’ by Volvo design director, Peter Horbury, first appeared in the spectacular Volvo Environmental Concept Car which visited Australia.

The S40 and V40 marked the first production appearances of the new Horbury theme followed soon after by the much acclaimed C70 Coupe and Convertible.

Blending innovation with tradition is the key to the success of the new Volvo design language.

"The strong shoulder and pronounced V of the bonnet are classical Volvo signatures," say Peter Horbury. "They have been taken even further in the S80. It has an identity connected with the Volvos from the past without being sentimentally retro."

Horbury is one designer who recognises the importance of the rear aspect of car design.

"You spend more time than you think looking at cars from behind so the S80 must look as individual from the back as from the front. Our aim was to retain simplicity and form so there is no shift in surface, just a change of material. There is a continuation of form from the sheet metal of the body to the plastics of the tail lights."

Horbury’s success in judging public taste is now recognised around the world. The S80 has won awards for style as well as for the hallmark Volvo values of safety and engineering excellence.

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