IN STEPHEN BAYLEY’S feature on the Volvo 245 in Octane 246 (shame it wasn’t issue 245!), he talked about a lack of French curves when designing the side elevation of the 245. I’m sorry, but did he miss the gentle downward curve of the rear passenger doors? Because the Volvo estate started life as a four-door saloon, to save money they didn’t redesign the rear doors for the estate version.
When I got a job in Norway in the early ’80s, I became friends with a young Scot who was Volvo mad through and through. He didn’t like me pointing out this design ‘flaw’.
My old school buddy, Brian, and I were both in our early 20s then and car-mad. During a six-month break before I went back to Norway, Brian decided he wanted to build a Marcos, but not with the Volvo straight-six that was one of the options. So
