C O V E R     S T O R Y

The family van.  It doesn’t stir your soul, doesn’t it?  Of course not.  Commonly associated as being a lurid box on wheels, it’s a means of transport only reserved for those with over productive wedding vegetables.  Still, you have to value the practicality that it delivers.  It’s an all-in-one: shuttling the kids to school, ferrying the wife to work and dropping off the dog for de-worming—a sad picture actually.  There may be Sport Utility Vehicles or SUVs, but beyond the four-wheel drive, Robocop-like body cladding and a ride height that towers over Yao Ming, its main mission is still to carry everyone around town, period.

These days though, daddy doesn’t want vanilla ice cream anymore.  He wants a low-carb pistachio ice cream with hot fudge syrup with a cherry on top: he wants a family freighter that is as practical, reliable and comfortable, but would still make him stand proud beside it on the company parking lot.  He wants the Volvo XC90.

From the sample company that brought you sedate boxy wagons in the eighties, Volvo has thrown a curve ball to produce this sexy people carrier that’s as unique it is to look at as it is practical.  The exterior is still predominantly boxy with squared front and rear sections.  Still, it isn’t a ‘designed by rulers alone’ case; it still has enough curves to successfully emulate the muscular flank bulge that the new Volvos carry.  It isn’t about design alone, the distinctive feature here is its two-piece tailgate.  This will surely help everyone who has business loading stuff into the cargo bay, from shopping moms to D-I-Y dads to even Ginger, the pet dog on his exciting trip to the vet.

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