Volvo 262C Bertone car design review: Sweden's Land Yacht luxury coupe! | Niels van Roij Design
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- čas přidán 12. 04. 2021
- #DesignReview #Volvo #262C
The Volvo 200 series, designed by Jan Wilsgaard, was produced by Volvo from 1974 to 1993. With over 2.8 million cars sold worldwide it was a massive success and its boxy, confident shape and strong shoulders make the 200 series one of the most iconic Volvo’s ever produced. The 200 bared much resemblance to the earlier 140 Series. The cars shared the same body shell, however the 200 incorporated features and design elements from the 1972 Volvo VESC (Volvo Experimental Safety Car) and with its crumple zones the 200 was a lot safer.
After a team of American executives and engineers had visited a Volvo factory in the mid-1970s, bringing Lincoln Continental Mark IVs, Volvo staff got interested in the vehicle typology. The then brand new Volvo CEO and chairman of Pehr Gyllenhammar asked Jan Wilsgaard to look at the possibilities of designing a similar vehicle for Volvo. The project stayed between the two men. Wilsgaard convinced Gyllenhammar the only realistic possibility for Volvo, a small independent manufacturer at the time, to be present in the States with an exclusive coupe model to compete against the Cadillac Eldorado and the Mercedes-Benz 280CE was to build the car on an existing platform. Without having facilities nor funding to spare on a low volume vehicle only realistic option was using the 200 floorplan. Wilsgaard asked the Italian Coggiola to help in producing design proposals as within Volvo’s own design department no budget was present to develop the car any further. Wilsgaard and Coggiola worked together on a full scale model of plaster and steel, based on an American spec two door Volvo 260. Initially Coggiola lowered the roof of the base car very radically. This was reversed on Wilsgaard’s request and shortly after the green light for production was given by Gyllenhammar.
Volvo’s low volume producer Bertone was asked to build the radical new coupe. The Bertone Volvo collaboration started in 1975 with the 264TE limousines, of which only 335 were built. About 125 of the limousines went to Erich Honecker - the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Germany’s Democratic Republic.
Bertone made the roof pillars, roof pan, windshield surround, cowl, and the upper parts of the doors to fit the greatly lowered roof - despite being less extreme than the Coggiola proposal, it was still 10 cm lower compared to the regular 260! Drivetrain, suspension, floor pan, and many of the body panels of the 262C were taken directly from the 260 sedan.
Pictured in this Homage Sketch is the 1979 262C in USA spec. The car is featuring the arguably more impressive front, boasting double square headlights and lower chin spoiler. The 262C is a provocative design, with its confident stance, especially sitting on the pictured larger multi-spoke alloy wheels. Its simple, but confident and consistent surfacing throughout and an impressive down the road graphic, not in the least because of the large amount of chrome used, makes that the 262C leaves a lasting impression, despite the fact it was not sold in significant numbers.
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The chopped roof on the 262C have it the ultimate Mafia car look.
Thank you for tuning in to our channel, glad you enjoyed the video and indeed the 262C. We have some more on bold cars - hope you enjoy these too!
Jan Wilsgaard was a very talented design leader. I hope you can do a review of the Volvo 850 soon.
Jan Wilsgaard was a very talented design leader indeed, as it is hard to work on complex projects like cars with little money. A review of the Volvo 850 would be interesting, we'll put it on our list!
Thanks for tuning in to this design analysis on the iconic Volvo 262C Bertone. A car that can truly be regarded Sweden's land yacht luxury coupe. Please do consider to subscribe to the channel if you liked the video!
Really enjoyed this video brought back so many memories of my uncles car. This was silver with the black vinyl roof and I think it had a pop-up sunroof. That may have been aftermarket not sure.
So nice to hear of people who's family had it, who had it themselves (or in some cases who almost had it themselves...) in the comments! As far as I know the pop-up sunroof was not available from factory, but surely a Volvo aficionado can confirm if it is aftermarket or not. Regardless, they sure do leave a lasting memory!
Pop up sunroof was aftermarket.
If it was good enough for David Bowie it's good enough for me.
They are rather lovely - right!?
I always considered the 262C to be very awkward and out of proportion. It's just not easy on the eyes. Bertone really made up for it with the 780 though, what a beauty that is.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for tuning in! The 262C definitely isn’t for everyone. It isn’t so much “out of proportion” but it is very bold. Especially as per the dramatically lowered roofline. The 780 is a lot more elegant but also a very different car and a different project goal.
@@NielsvanRoijDesign Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but it is a beautiful car for those who have eyes for beauty!!!!!!
@@familypondman 👍👍
@@NielsvanRoijDesign Drunken people and children are speaking the truth and young boys who notice my Bertone, always yelling at their fathers, what a beautiful car!!!!
@@familypondman It truly is something special indeed. Bold and outspoken, but very Volvo. Thanks for tuning in to the channel. Plenty of videos on our work and other brands!
Low and streamlined. That's how W140 could look like if the roof height was dropped to proportional level.
Well, although this 240 to 262C chop job is quite a drop (10 cm is huge) indeed, Sacco complained (rightfully so) about how the W140 was proportionally destroyed by engineers forcing his hand. Comparing the W140 to the gorgeous W126 does show how elegant it could have been...
I'm Swedish and most swedes hates this car. The 200 Series was a good looking safe car, specially the 245. The B20 engine is one of the most reliable ever made develop from the B18 witch have the world record for the farthest running ever.3 million miles.
Thank you for tuning in! Glad you like the video. And perhaps not the car - it is indeed a car that is very much polarising. More similar videos on the channel you might like too.
I love that car!
Thanks for tuning in! More Volvo's and other cool coupe's on this channel.
My father used to have a 262C Bertone. Extra (illegally) powered. Great car. Thanks again for this well done video.
Ah, great to hear your dad had one! Which type of mods did he do to the engine? Was it the PRV6?
@@NielsvanRoijDesign To be honest, I don’t remember that anymore, unfortunately. There must be old photographs of the Volvo, somewhere. It was a grey one, with the black top. But thanks for this trip down memory lane. ☺️
@@jochemjurgens7997 Ah, well the memories are what is key! Thanks for getting in touch and sharing them!
Maar hoe zou je hem zelf gemaakt hebben Niels?
Dat zie je in de Hommage schets: grotere wielen, lager op de pootjes, minder kleine oneffenheden op de body en last but not least een subtiele front lip.
@@NielsvanRoijDesign Subtiele aanpassingen dus. Ik vind vooral het ontbreken van een B-stijl in je schets erg prettig.
@@martinphilippo1347 Ontbreken van de B-stijl, of eventueel glas er overheen in plaats van ertussen. De meeste auto's hebben maar een paar punten nodig die door de bean counters erin zijn geprakt.
@@NielsvanRoijDesign Getint glas er overheen zou wel erg fraai zijn. Dan kun je ook een echte - maar onzichtbare- B-stijl handhaven zodat de veiligheidspunten bonentellers bij Volvo ook weer lycklig zijn :)
@@martinphilippo1347 😁 😆
Oooo. How to ruin a car in easy steps. The 144 was a good-looking car. 244 not so nice. 264 with the huge rectangular headlights not so nice again. 264 US spec with huge bumpers and fussy headlights even worse. 262C genuinely ugly. Someone has one near our house. I have to look the other way every time it drives past. I agree with the commenter below who said they later got it right with the 780.
Well, the two cars are very different. The 262C is not for everyone, as it is way more radical than the 780. And the 780 is a lovely car, but the 262C has way more distinct character. It depends on what the goals are for the project and the brand. Both are excellent pieces of Volvo design.
everything you said is the opposite for me ahahaha