My Swedish Love Affairs
Go somewhere else if you are expecting to find a sizzling read about my steamy encounters with tall, blue-eyed blonds with angular faces and high cheekbones. For one thing, although I have had a couple of male friends from Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, I never even flirted with them. What’s more, the blue-eyed blond I married is from Down Under, and I’m not going to spill the beans about that. This is supposed to be an automotive blog, so for anything steamy and Swedish, you’ll have to wait until I put out a Mills & Boon romance with a hero named Eric. Instead, this is about two of the nicest cars I have driven, both of them Swedish.
First of all, there was the Saab 9000, a.k.a. The Valkyrie. This was a deep pewter grey sedan that some of my friend dubbed “The Euro Beast”. This was my first encounter with Swedish cars – I had already encountered my share of French (Simca), German (VW), British (Morris, Austin) and Italian (Alfa Romeo) vehicles and was prepared for this new European model to be similar. It wasn’t. It was better. It had such an excellent blend of practicality and luxury that I forgave it all of its quirks, like the way that the interior cloth lining fell off the roof because it had been designed for the colder Swedish climate rather than the warmer one down here. I forgave it the way that it had to sit in the garage for yonks every time it needed a spare part that had to be imported and took three weeks to arrive on the boat from Europe. I loved that massive boot, the heated leather seats and its super-responsive acceleration. It was roomy, it was beautiful, it was fun to drive, and I was really sorry when the day came to trade it in for an Isuzu Bighorn so my husband, the blue-eyed blond mentioned above, could do a bit more with his contracting business and take the family on 4×4 outings.
Now, I have my new love. This is a Volvo S70 sedan, dark blue and nicknamed Hilda (from the letters on the rego plate). I have only recently picked up this little beauty for much less than it was worth and I am in love with Swedish design all over again. So far, its only fault has been that it has a tendency to creep over the speed limit when I’m not paying attention (it doesn’t have cruise control). The alarm is also a bit on the quirky side – yesterday, it decided to set the alarm off when I opened the door to get out of the car after driving for 45 minutes – but I’m figuring this out. It has the smoothest gear changes I’ve ever felt in an automatic, it corners like a dream and it is nicely frugal on the gas. I’m not sure exactly why the Frenchman I bought it off said that “Zis is a woman’s car”. There’s nothing particularly girly about the mag wheels or those comfy leather seats. Is it because the boot is big enough to take heaps of groceries? Is it because the back seat is wide enough for plenty of kids needing to be taken to school? Is it because of the lighted mirror on the passenger side sunshade? Is it because of the multitude of storage compartments around the place? Is it because it has the Volvo reputation for safety? I’m still trying to figure this one out. Anyone else got any ideas?
I am also hoping that this latest Swedish love affair will be a long-lasting one.
Happy driving whether you’re in a Swedish car or not,
Megan
Level 2, 9 Help Street
Bill says:
Ditto here with my Volvo C70 T5 coupe cabriolet. Lovely car with no quirks. Bought new four years ago and it has clocked 60000 Km without a single hiccup.
November 28th, 2014 at 7:50 am