• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • March New Vehicle Sales to Rise 6.2% Over Last Year
  • Hyundai, Kia Recall Warns Owners of 570K Vehicles to Park Outside
  • Ford Facing $3 Billion in Losses on EV Business for 2023
  • Higher Interest Rates, Bank Failures Pose Challenge to Car Business
  • General Motors to Face Class Action Lawsuit
  • Cruise Applies to Test Robotaxis Statewide in California
  • Chevrolet Pulling Plug on Camaro – But an All-Electric Successor Already in the Works
  • Want to Buy an EV? Welcome to the 34 Percent!
  • The End of an Era for Rolls-Royce
  • South Carolina Provides $1.29 Billion Incentive for new Scout Factory
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis GV80 Prestige 3.5 Turbo
    • First Drive: 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T
    • First Drive: 2023 Dodge Hornet GT
    • First Drive: 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70
    • First Drive: 2023 Nissan Ariya e-4orce AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Jeep Compass Limited
    • A Week With: 2023 Cadillac Escalade V-Series
    • A Week With: 2023 Volvo XC40 AWD Ultimate
    • First Drive: 2024 Subaru Crosstrek
    • First Drive: 2023 Lexus RZ 450e
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Chief Designer Says Concept Coupe Captures “Essence” of Volvo’s Past and Future

        Chief Designer Says Concept Coupe Captures “Essence” of Volvo’s Past and Future

        Bringing new, sensual shape to brand best known for boxy designs.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Sept. 11, 2013
        The Volvo Concept Coupe draws its inspiration from the maker's old P1800 model.

        Automotive designers often look into the rearview mirror when searching for new idea.  The latest version of the Volkswagen Beetle is perhaps the best modern example. But don’t use the word “retro,” stylists typically preferring the term, “DNA” to describe the look they were going for.

        Or, in the case of Volvo, “the essence” of what the Swedish automaker stands for, explains new design chief Thomas Ingenlath, as he explains the motivation behind the new Volvo Concept Coupe making its debut this week at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

        Stay Connected!

        For those who might associate Volvo with the bland and boxy designs of decades past, the Concept Coupe could come as a shock. Then again, those more familiar with Volvo over the ages will quickly see the clear influence of the maker’s old P1800 sports car, produced between 1961 and 1973. Ingenlath admits it serves as a strong influence – not only for the Frankfurt show car but for the production designs Volvo plans to bring to market over the next few years.

        “It’s the essence of what we’re doing,” Ingenlath says during an interview with TheDetroitBureau.com. “We’re taking the heritage of Volvo and remaking it as a convincing case for the future.”

        Volvo chief designer Thomas Ingenlath with the Volvo Concept Coupe.

        Under the ownership of Ford Motor Co., Volvo made a concerted effort to move away from its boxy, functional design language, and that strategy has only accelerated since the Swedish maker was sold to the ambitious Chinese company Geely a few years back.

        (For a complete round-up of news and views from the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, Click Here.)

        The image of the Volvo wagon still remains the most common perception of the brand, acknowledged Ingenlath, something “working against us,” he laments during a conversation alongside the new Coupe Concept.

        With a new product strategy falling into place based around two new vehicle architectures, Volvo recognized it was a good time to make some significant moves to change those perceptions. Soon after he joined the company, Ingenlath was set to work finding a way to pull a new design language together.  Searching for that brand essence in past products he turned to the P1800, “and the pieces fell together.”

        (First look: Mercedes-Benz S-Coupe Concept. Click Here.)

        One won’t confuse the two vehicles. It’s not a retro remake like the latest-generation VW Beetle. The Coupe Concept doesn’t have the P1800’s diagonal fins, for example, though the broad and sharply creased rear shoulders clearly do bring them to mind.  The LED lighting is very modern and the overall shape is forward, rather than rearward looking.

        And unlike many of the other concept vehicles on display at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, one gets the sense, if you will, of pre déjà vu. You know you’re going to see this design again.

        The interior of the Volvo Concept Coupe will show up in new models like the XC90 and S90.

        “This was not about coming up with a fancy show car people will forget about a year from now, Ingenlath stressed.

        Indeed, the remake of the big XC90 due out in 2014 “will be the first interpretation of this language,” albeit in the more massive dimensions of a crossover-utility vehicle, the designer reveals.

        Soon after, a more literal translation will follow in the form of the redesigned Volvo S90 sedan, which he promises “will be the closest you can get to this.”

        There’ll be some tweaks and modifications, obviously.  There always are when design exercises have to be converted into sheet metal, rubber and glass.  But he insists that the overall look of the S90 will be “very close” to the Coupe Concept, obviously adjusting for the addition of two more doors.

        And that, Ingenlath and the rest of the Volvo team hope, will finally have people rethinking their image of what Volvo is all about.

        (Audi goes wild with Nanuk Concept. Click Here to check it out.)

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        Dealer lot 2021

        March New Vehicle Sales to Rise 6.2% Over Last Year

        Yesterday
        2022 Hyundai SantaFe 7

        Hyundai, Kia Recall Warns Owners of 570K Vehicles to Park Outside

        Yesterday
        Bronco Raptor rock crawling REL

        Ford Facing $3 Billion in Losses on EV Business for 2023

        Yesterday

        One response to “Chief Designer Says Concept Coupe Captures “Essence” of Volvo’s Past and Future”

        1. Yeah right says:
          September 12, 2013 at 4:54 pm

          Now THAT is a bad lookin’ vee-hickle. Yes!

          Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: