Believe It or Not, the Lines--They Are A-Changing

“Longtime watchers will find it amazing, but for the third year in a row, Volvo has actually made changes you can see . . . “

So went a recent announcement of Volvo’s 1991 line.

And so goes Volvo’s sense of humor, which is rooted deep in its reputation for making scholarly cars that are as stolid and invariable as a Harris tweed sport coat.

It must also be noted that Volvos are manufactured in Sweden, where change is neither radical nor rapid.

Up north, beyond the Arctic circle, days and nights last for months and the minute sliding of a glacier is considered major movement. In southern Sweden, there’s Bjorn Borg who thinks he can return to the professional tennis circuit without even changing his old wooden racquets.

Therefore, the visual and mechanical differences that create Volvo’s new 940 series should be seen more as gentle revisions than drastic alterations.

The rear window--once a near vertical glass cliff--has been given a more contemporary rake. It still doesn’t slope much more than 45 degrees, but let’s not rush things. As it is, this simple redesign is good for a 12% reduction in aerodynamic drag.

The rear deck has been raised to increase trunk space. It now is a mini-barn of 16.8 cubic feet, compared to, say, 14.1 cubic feet in the Cadillac Seville. Volvo also has lowered the trunk lid and sill to bumper level for easier luggage liftover.

Edges have been rounded some. There are new and larger tail lights. Both changes soften and improve the silhouette and aerodynamics of the 940 and, to a minimal degree, the car’s performance and fuel efficiency.

But the prime concern, says Joseph Nicolato, president and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, was to burnish the design into “a very sophisticated and contemporary vehicle, with all of the traditional Volvo qualities (customers) have come to expect.�

That might be overstating it a touch.

True, with its multi-link suspension package, anti-lock disc brakes, driver’s side air bag and, this year, an automatic differential to balance power to slipping rear wheels, the 940 is indeed mechanically sophisticated.

Further, Volvo always has offered superb engineering and only tough, time-proven systems aloof from ephemeral technology.

But in styling, despite the external tweaks for 1991, the 940, indeed the entire Volvo line from the 240s up, remains far too many eons behind the times.

The cars are square, geometrically and socially. Most vehicles this chunky carry Skinny Duggan Moving signs on their sides. Can this be the company that in 1961 gave us the P1800 sports car that dared to be revolutionary, is still capable of turning all heads--and was the car chosen by the saintly Simon Templar for pursuing louts and the ladies?

It seems that Volvo’s styling department approaches model changes with about the same expectations of the folk who sandblast Mt. Rushmore. The end result is cleaner, softer and as impressive as before. But it’s still the same old George Washington.

Collateral (to borrow a buzzword from Desert Storm briefers) to this argument, however, is Volvo’s obvious belief that solidity sells.

And who can argue with a strength and safety rating (despite a known inability to resist being stomped by a 6-ton Monster Truck) that is America’s best and offers a blocking ability superior even to the Ford Taurus station wagon and Lincoln Town Car?

Volvo--currently supplying 1% of the U.S. passenger car market, but with sales dropping to their lowest levels since 1983--is offering a $1,500 cash rebate on new cars. See that as a way of countering a sick market, not as a means of unloading a marginal car.

For in terms of good sense, thoughtful engineering and a full dedication to crumple zones and roll cage construction as the safest way of getting from Anaheim to Barstow, the 940 line clearly is as good as Volvo gets.

In addition, these solid sedans and weighty wagons arrive with 100,000-mile promises from reliability and durability factors that sustain Volvo as the finest car of its type available today.

It is up to the individual to decide if owning that type is worth the compromise of driving a car with styling that hasn’t changed by much more than a face lift and a body tuck since the mid-1970s.

The 940 replaces last year’s 760 line and comes in three flavors, all available as four-door sedans or wagons:

* The 940GLE with the 2.3-liter, 16-valve engine offering 153 horsepower.

* The 940 Turbo with the more powerful engine setup providing 162 horsepower.

* The 940SE also with the turbocharged engine, plus the luxuries of leather upholstery, power seats, driver-side air bag, cruise control, sunroof, metallic paint and climate control--yet, oddly, no remote trunk or gas cap release.

At a base price of $32,950 (about $10,000 more than the entry level Volvo 740) the 940SE is not inexpensive. It also will be competing in looks, performance and price range with the Mercedes 190, the BMW 525, the Alfa-Romeo 164S and their equally stylish classmates.

Still, the rear-drive 940SE should survive. For with the possible exception of Mercedes, nobody has really been able to duplicate the heft and security of a Volvo.

It doesn’t ride the road; it sits on it.

Turn the wheel and the entire car moves obediently, not in portions and reluctantly. Feather the brakes, or stomp on those suckers and the required pressures are identical. The car slows with neither dip nor drama. Its cornering behavior is equally well-mannered and if this wasn’t an automobile, it would be somebody’s faithful family retainer.

Turbo lag (that horrifying pause between accelerator pressure and engine response while the turbocharger is spooling up) has been virtually eliminated.

Initial acceleration will now carry the car to freeway speeds in less than a long lunch hour, a definite improvement from Volvos of yore. Thanks to a very flexible turbocharger, the 940SE’s mid-range acceleration is just as handy and the potential for high-speed cruising in absolute comfort is endless.

The four-speed automatic with overdrive is smooth, not overly quiet but not excessively buzzy. And when kicking down, one gets to wondering how this entire package would perform with a V6 engine up front. One also hopes Volvo is wondering.

Internally, the 940SE is an old friend and the lines of dashboard, console and sills are as angular as the car’s outsides. The leather seats are perfect, comfortable without inducing doziness and with inches more hip and shoulder room than anyone needs.

Driver leg room is full stretch and as broad as a subway tunnel. Vinyls, carpeting and headlining fabrics are top quality. Instruments, radio and heater controls are easier to understand than events of 1965 when, it seems, they first appeared.

Despite the driver’s side air bag, there are very few cabin concessions to 1991. In fact, some omissions border on the dictatorial.

Drivers in Sweden apparently do not indulge in coffee during morning commutes because there are no cup holders in the car. All drivers must be male chauvinists because there’s only one vanity mirror and it is on the passenger side--where, presumably, Gloria Steinem would be ordered to sit.

These druidic touches, of course, have always separated Volvo from the progressive. The argument here is that there will always be a market for the classics--polo shirts, claw hammers and Volvo.

But how long before part of the charm becomes quaint and then plain antique? What value discreet styling if it is slowly fading to anonymity?

On the other hand, owning a studious car bordering on the dull is one way to keep it Saturday-night safe from teen-agers in the family.

1991 VOLVO 940SE COST:

* Base: $32,950 * As tested . . .$33,468 (including power seats, driver’s-side air bag, leather seats, sunroof, climate control, anti-lock brakes) TYPE :

* Four-door, mid-side, rear-drive luxury sedan. PERFORMANCE: * 0-60 m.p.h., as tested, 9.8 seconds. * Top speed, estimated, 120 m.p.h. * Fuel consumption, EPA city-highway, 19 and 22 m.p.g. CURB WEIGHT: * 3,305 pounds. THE GOOD: * Built like a brick iceberg. * Top quality equipment, fit and finish. * Solid, proven mechanical systems. * Purposeful performance, impeccable behavior. * Or gentle street car. THE BAD: * High price. * Same old square styling. * Could have had a V6. THE UGLY: * Looks are getting awfully close.