Safety has been at the heart of everything Volvo does for more than 90 years.
The Swedish premium car manufacturer demonstrated this particularly impressively in January 2001 with the Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC) presented at the Detroit Auto Show. This pioneering concept car in the shape of an extravagant shooting brake was far more than just a beautiful dream car: 16 of the safety systems presented for the first time in the Volvo SCC later went into series production, even in the compact class, as Volvo develops its safety systems for all new models. But the Volvo SCC concept study also inspired the design of the sporty compact model Volvo C30 presented in 2006 with its unusually designed glass tailgate.
Twenty years ago, the Volvo SCC featured a number of important safety innovations in the then new field of computer and sensor technology, but did not package them in the functional form of a pure technology carrier, as had been common practice up to that point. Rather, the Volvo SCC was the result of successful collaboration between designers and engineers. One of the most important development goals was to combine the highest level of safety equipment with an attractive design in a comparatively small compact car. That is why the Volvo SCC was also developed for the eye in the truest sense of the word. In addition to the style-defining lines in Scandinavian design, the extensively glazed Volvo SCC optimized the driver's field of vision, who could even see through the A-pillars, which consisted of a metal frame with transparent Plexiglas.
Complex safety innovations in a compact premium car
This safety concept was not a stand-alone study like so many concept cars. Rather, the Volvo SCC, as a prototype fully suitable for everyday use, demonstrated to important media and political decision-makers, such as the then Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson, during worldwide test drives from autumn 2001 that revolutionary safety features can also be realized in compact vehicle classes.
At the same time, the Volvo SCC gave a first glimpse of design features of the compact Volvo C30 presented in 2006, which not only adapted the sporty, powerful lines of the concept car, but also particularly striking details such as the large glass tailgate. An extravagant yet functional feature with which the legendary Volvo 1800 ES "Snow White's Coffin" had already made automotive history in 1971.
Transfer from concept car to future-oriented, safe series vehicles
Just one year after the presentation of this concept car, Volvo began to adapt the safety innovations for series production. This even included the brilliantly luminous Orange Flame paint color of the Volvo SCC, which could also be ordered for the Volvo C30. Above all, however, life-saving technical features such as the collision warning system including external airbag of the Volvo SCC, which later went into series production as an emergency brake assistant with pedestrian detection and pedestrian airbag. The head-up display and the assistance systems BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) as a blind spot assistant and the active speed and distance control system were also presented for the first time in the Volvo SCC.
The Volvo Safety Concept Car also set further milestones in accident prevention: These include Driver Alert, which alerts the driver if they are driving without concentration and before they leave their lane, the brake lights flashing in warning when the brakes are fully applied, dynamic cornering lights and adaptive headlights, which shine into the distance when driving on country roads or highways, for example, while the light beam shortens and shines wider in the city. In contrast, cameras at the front and rear offered a sensational 180-degree panoramic view "around the corner" 20 years ago, which ensured safe maneuvering at blind entrances and exits, for example. The 360-degree all-round view then followed in the next stage of development at Volvo.
The Keyless Go system with a programmable driving key was also already present in the Volvo SCC, and the Personal Car Communicator (PCC), which uses a highly sensitive heartbeat sensor to show whether an unauthorized person or animal is in the car, was also pioneered in the Volvo SCC, as was Volvo on Call, which provides rapid assistance in the event of a traffic accident or breakdown. Volvo has traditionally been a trendsetter in child safety, as the Volvo SCC proved in 2001 with the first integrated and two-stage height-adjustable child seats.
Setting standards in passive safety systems too
The area of passive safety has been a priority at Volvo since the very beginning of car construction, and the Volvo SCC set new standards here too: The front seats, together with the car's seemingly delicate B-pillars, which are almost invisible from the outside, form a massive safety frame that provides at least as effective protection as conventional B-pillars in the event of rollover accidents or side impacts. And another small but important safety gain: the height and depth-adjustable steering wheel introduced in the Volvo SCC is now standard in all Volvo models.
Today, the Volvo Safety Concept Car is a highlight in the collection of the Volvo Museum at the premium manufacturer's headquarters in Gothenburg. After all, with this fascinating study, Volvo underlined its pioneering role in the invention and introduction of new safety systems in a particularly impressive way.
