S60

Make
Volvo
Segment
Sedan

Study after study has shown that men tend to place more importance on brands than women do. So while a man might look at the C70 and not be able to see past the fact that it's a Volvo, a woman is just seeing a stylish convertible with a superbly comfortable interior. The C70 has long been Volvo's styling flagship, and the current model is indeed quite pretty. It might not be a sports car, but it is excellent for open top cruising around town. And that, in the end, is the ultimate purpose of a versatile cabriolet like the C70.

The C70 was the first Volvo to break with the company's longstanding tradition of making very boxy cars, and when the car was first introduced in 1996 as a 1997 model, it was scarcely believable that Volvo would have made something so appealing. The design was quite good in the Nineties, but was looking a bit dated by 2006, when it was replaced by the current generation. The newer model also did away with the power soft top of the previous generation and went with a retractable hard top design, which looks as good top up as it does top down. The car looks good in general, and there is a very good reason for this.

The C70 was built through a partnership between Volvo and Pininfarina, and we don't need to tell you that Pininfarina knows how to make some pretty cars. The 2.5-liter turbocharged five-cylinder engine produces 227 horsepower and 236lb-ft of torque. Though the car is heavy, coming in at 3,800lbs, the power is perfectly adequate for cruising, and the turbocharging makes for a more usable application of torque. It does roll a bit if you push it too hard in the turns, but you really shouldn't buy this car if you want to drive like that anyway. The C70 is a convertible which can seat four adults comfortably, and that is a much smaller club than you might realize.

Even the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, massive though it is, has a tiny little joke of a back seat. Sure, you could go with a Chrysler 200 convertible instead, but good luck impressing a date with that. The C70's price of about $42,000 makes it cheaper than all of the competing German models, and more powerful than the Audi A5 Cabriolet, the cheapest of the Germans, as well. It's more spacious and far more comfortable than a Volkswagen Eos, and in the opinion of this writer at least, is also better-looking. The downside is that Volvo will be ending production at the end of next year, so now is the time to get your hands on one.

So what would owning a C70 say about you? Well, it is for a very solid citizen. This is still a Volvo, and all of the Pininfarina styling in the world doesn't change how relentlessly sensible it is. Men might care more that it's a Volvo, but women have still surely heard of them. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated it as a "Top Pick" for safety among convertibles (safety is a core competence for the Swedish automaker, after all), and it's unlikely that you'll be too tempted to really plant your foot in a car like this. But the C70 owner is not without a fun side. This is a convertible after all, and that will still come across to anyone who sees you in it.

The C70 owner is likely to be attractive to women who are looking to settle down and raise a family no later than last week. Try driving by a pilates class as it lets out in a C70 and the "tick-tock" of biological clocks making themselves known to their owners will be deafening. The move from Volvo convertible to Volvo wagon or (more likely) crossover is seen as seamless, and if you're a man looking to settle down with a family, buy this car right now. This brings us to our final point, both about the car and this series in general. We have made quite a few generalizations about both women and about men who buy one car or another.

The cars here really have been chosen by survey results, but the reasons why they are on the list are entirely this writer's own assumptions. You can disagree with the conclusions if you like, but the cars are the cars, and that's how it is. But even more important than any of that, if you think that your car is really the biggest determining factor in whether or not you can attract a woman, then rest assured that you cannot. Now if you will excuse me, I have a motorcycle to buy.