The special collaboration between Volvo and Bertone led in the 1970s to an expensive two-door coupe, the 262C, and an extended sedan, the 264TE. The Italian company employed gifted designers and had production facilities for special automobiles. However, in 1979 the Italian house proposed the Volvo Tundra. And that was a step too far for the Swedes. Still, the work for the Tundra had not been in vain, as it turned out later, only another brand got away with it.
‘No tack’. It’s better to say it like it is to a good business partner. Volvo’s management was satisfied with the collaboration with Bertone, but that did not make the judgment about the angular hatchback that the Italian design studio presented in 1979 any milder. No thanks.
Of course, Bertone did not only work on commission. On its own initiative, it let the most special models roll off the drawing boards, in the hope that they would be adopted by manufacturers. In 1979, the design house considered the time ripe for a smooth, compact hatchback for Volvo, based on the 343. Willingly, we’d say now, given that model’s space-consuming rear-wheel drive. In 1979, a transverse engine and front-wheel drive had long been the norm. And don’t start about sporty aspirations with that rear drive, because the 1.4-litre engine with 70 hp could not live up to it.
The austere styling of the Tundra, penned by Marcello Gandini, was nothing like the somewhat plump, high-on-the-feet design of the 343. The Tundra’s strict, rectilinear shapes also characterized other experimental Bertone designs. from the 1970s, but would not become common until a decade later. Ironically, also at Volvo, which redefined the concept of angularity with the high-profile 760 from 1982. The Tundra would have fit right in next to that model in the range. Other Tundra elements returned later. Just look at the front of the car: it may not have been smart of Bertone to hide the Volvo’s defining grille under the bumper, but it’s (centered) exactly where the Volvo 480 got it in 1986. This also applies to the pop-up headlights and the rear window, which plays a double role as a third door. Had the 480 too. Quite striking for a Volvo was the lack of prominent bumpers. The Tundra did have them, but the integrated, shock-absorbing units were an aesthetic contrast to the crash barriers that Volvo itself mounted on the front and rear of the 240/260.
The good news is that Bertone’s efforts to bring the Tundra back to life have not been in vain. Gandini used many of his styling cues for a new Citroën model, for which the master designer had submitted a winning design even before the Tundra was presented. Ultimately, this resulted in the BX that came on the market in 1982 and of which more than 2.3 million copies were built.
This article originally appeared in AutoWeek Classics issue 9 of 2018.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl