The Volvo V70 (or 'police car' for people in the UK) is a mid-size five-door station wagon / estate manufactured by Volvo Cars since 1996 — and closely related to the S70, S60 and S80 saloons as well as the more stylized four-wheel drive Cross Country (XC) and XC70.

Since it's inception, the V70 has evolved through three generations — notably, the second generation designed by Peter Horbury.

Over 80% of V70s are sold in Europe, one third in Sweden. The Volvo V70 has been the best selling car in Sweden for many years.

The original V70 was a development of the Volvo 850 station wagon and sedan series. The new name reflected Volvo's new strategy of naming vehicles depending on size and body style. Thus, the 850 was deemed to be a relative size 70. The name is then appended with the type of vehicle. So the station wagon adopted V (for Versatility), S (for Saloon) and C (for the new Coupé); these cars are respectively known as V70, S70 and C70. There were 1,800 improved and new parts in the design from the original 850, including upgraded passive and active safety, better handling and new engines. Gone were the 850's square edges and replaced by rounded corners to suit the late 90s style trend. Other changes included a new 'family face' for the V/S/C70 models, colour coded bumpers, clear indicator lenses, and a new dashboard fascia and materials. However on the whole, one could say the car was similar to its predecessor, but nevertheless, a successful facelift.

In the end of 1999 (2001 for North America), Volvo released the all-new V70 based on the new P2 platform which itself was first used for the entirely Swedish-designed Volvo S80 sedan in 1997. This new car dispensed with the boxy shape of Volvos before it to take on a curvy profile much like the S40/S60 series, and added a new aggressive front end. Where the first generation V70 had a saloon variant (S70), the second generation lost the S70 as the new S80 was now seen to be the 'S70 for the new millennium'. The second generation of the V70 will finish production for model year 2007.

The V70 shares the same sheet metal ahead of the B-pillar with the Volvo S60, although the grilles are different and the front bumpers are mildly different. The dashboard and the majority of the interior of both cars are the same.

As was the case with all P2 platform Volvos, a minor refresh of the V70 occurred across all markets for the 2005 model year, which brought minor styling changes to the front facia, tail lamps, along with several improvements and changes to the interior fittings.

Volvo continues to market the V70 second generation in Europe and Scandanavia, under the name V70 Classic.

The third V70 was officially unveiled by Volvo on 2 February 2007. The car was developed to be a slightly more up-market car than the previous model, but remains the same size. Despite this, rear-seat legroom is increased two centimetres and a revised tailgate design increases the load area volume by 55 L. The tailgate now has motorized lift and closing action. The interior is one of the most luxurious in its class.

As with the second-generation V70, the new car is a unique design sharing little externally with other Volvo models. The Volvo P24 platform is used and much of the interior (other than the rear seats and loadbay) are shared with the second generation S80. The new V70 will have a 3.2 L I6, a 3.0 L turbo straight-six, a light-pressure turbo 2.5 L I5, and two 2.4 L I5 diesel engines. Only the last two are offered with manual gearboxes. In Europe, all models execpt for the 3.2 L version are available with manual gearboxes.

View also:
Volvo S60 - Volvo V50 - Volvo S40 - Volvo C30

Volvo XC60 - Volvo 3CC - Volvo C70 - Volvo Caresto

Volvo Classic - Volvo S70 - Volvo S80 - Volvo T6 Roadster

Volvo XC70 - Volvo XC90

Check out the Volvo V70 wallpapers and Volvo V70 Pictures (pics) collection below: