VOLVO’S model range is getting stronger than ever, particularly as the entry-level C30 S has hit the streets. For under $35,000, it offers a strikingly styled four-seater coupe-like hatch with plenty of power, high levels of safety equipment availability and a well-sorted chassis. And if you shift your perceptions and expectations sideways a little, you may also start to see a very real alternative to the almost-extinct Toyota Celica class of ‘sporty’ coupe.
Volvo 440GL
Released: October 93
Ended: October 95
Family Tree: C30Arguably one of the worst cars of the 1990s, the 440 range was based on Volvo’s first front-wheel drive car, the sporty 480 ES coupe that we never saw in Australia. But that was from 1986, and by the time the Dutch-built (by DAF) small hatchback arrived in 1993, it felt cumbersome, slow and too expensive – particularly against the ever-improving Japanese competition. Available with a naturally-aspirated 80kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine in four-speed automatic or five-speed manual guises, the long-forgotten 440GL lasted only two years before it vanished, leaving the sportier 440GLT to carry on another long, tiresome year. Ironically, the 440GL’s $34,490 price in 1994 shows how much greater value today’s infinitely better C30 S – at $500 less – really is.
Super Test
Facebook Twitter Instagram