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The first 480s were presented to the media in autumn 1985 but only reached buyers in 1987. In the summer of the same year, Volvo announced that it was developing a convertible version of the 480, which was a complete surprise from a company like Volvo, especially when one of their other models – the 360 – was regarded by the British to be the most boring car in the world. The company wanted the convertible to maintain the base and technical part of the 480 coupé to keep production costs down. What kind of Volvo would it be without safety? The new convertible had to be safe in case of an accident, especially a rollover. So unlike other convertibles, where the only part protruding above the body was the windscreen, the 480 Cabrio also had a frame above the rear seats. The Swede, which didn't look bad and could have been competition for the convertibles made by BMW and Volkswagen, never did make it to production – the body part supplier declared bankruptcy, and the company still had concerns about rollover safety protection... Only two 480 Cabrio prototypes have survived today, one of which is preserved at the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg.
The coupé saw better success. By 1995, approximately 76,000 of the 480 coupés were made over nine years of production. This figure is nothing close to that of the Golf or the Civic that were churned out in the millions, but Volvo was not positioning the 480 for the mass consumer who was only concerned with getting from point A to point B. With the 480, Volvo was hoping to get into the pockets of yuppies.
Source: The Volvo 480: One of the Strangest Models in the Swedish .... https://dyler.com/posts/141/the-volvo-480-one-of-the-strangest-models-in-the-swedish-brand-s-history
Images: oldconceptcars
Pictured above: 1986 Volvo 480 Turbo Cabrio Prototype
Pictured above: 1986 Volvo 480 Cabrio Prototype
