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Look, The Saint's car is back!

The work of Thomas Ingenlath, Volvo's senior design vice president, has been a best-kept secret in the auto industry - until now.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Volvo Concept Coupe is no futuristic dream car - just one that shows how all cars could be shaped in the future.

So says Thomas Ingenlath, senior vice-president for design at Volvo. "It's designed to demonstrate the capability of our new architecture: the confident stance, the proportions and the most prominent design signatures," he says.

Concept Coupe image gallery

And if it looks mildly familiar, it was based on the P1800 coupe make famous by Roger Moore in the 1960's TV series 'The Saint'

'VANILLA DAYS ARE OVER'
 
"The car reveals how we could shape our cars from now on, free of the superficial surface excitement of other car brands. We add emotional value to the Volvo brand with the calm, confident beauty that is the hallmark of Scandinavian design."

He started out at Volvo in 2012 "with a reality check" to compare his own view of the brand with the frank opinion of a global selection of brand and design experts.

Video: 2014 Volvo Concept Coupe

Most of them mentioned safety. Some described the brand's understated image as ‘vanilla'... "nice but not overwhelmingly exciting".

"I can assure you that the vanilla days are over," Ingenlath said. "Just take a good look at our Volvo Concept Coup. That's how Volvos will taste from now on."

They sure won't be 'vanilla'...
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