Most concepts presented at motor shows remain just that: a stylistic exercise by the automaker’s designers, a “what if” proposal, a flight of fancy. At best, a few of them make it into production, mostly in a much more conventional form. But as with every rule, there are always an exception.
Volvo’s SCC Concept is one such example. Presented at the 2001 Detroit Motor Show, the Swedish carmaker’s Safety Concept Car was more than just a glimpse into the future or the main inspiration behind the C30’s design: it was the car that, above any other, influenced Volvo’s technological advances.
That is because the SCC was the starting point in Volvo’s active safety evolution: almost 15 of the advanced technical solutions that are found today in Volvo’s production cars were first previewed in the SCC.
"When we began work on the concept car at the end of the 1990s, Volvo was still primarily known for making family cars designed to protect their occupants in a collision. The SCC signaled the start of a new approach which enhanced safety for the occupants, where the car's most important safety task is to help avoid dangerous situations and accidents in the first place," explains Östen Strandberg, who was responsible for the development of the SCC.
One year later Volvo’s engineers started working on translating the SCC’s safety features into production realities. Moreover, in 2003, Volvo gave the green light for the development of the C30 which made its premiere at the Paris motor show in 2006.
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