1979 Volvo Tundra by Bertone in Bertone collection

The Volvo Tundra was a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

that was built and designed by

Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include: * Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon * Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon ...

in 1979 and was based on the Volvo 343. The angular design was by

Marcello Gandini Marcello Gandini (born 26 August 1938) is an Italian car designer, known for his work with the automotive design house Gruppo Bertone, including his designs of the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo. In a 2009 interview wit ...

. It was rejected by Volvo, who thought it was too modern and difficult to sell. Bertone instead sold a very similar design to Citroën, where it was produced as the

Citroën BX The Citroën BX is a large family car which was produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1982 to 1994. In total, 2,315,739 BXs were built during its 12-year history. The hatchback was discontinued in 1993 with the arrival of the Xantia, ...

from 1982 to 1994. The Tundra's rear-side window had a pulled-down top edge, an idea that was continued on the BX

C Pillar The pillars on a car with permanent roof body style (such as four-door sedans) are the vertical or nearly vertical supports of its window area or greenhouse—designated respectively as the ''A, B, C'' and (in larger cars such as 4-door stat ...

. The effect was of a floating roof, a design idea that would become popular in the 2010s. The car featured a digital speedometer and was powered by a 1.4-litre, four-cylinder engine, giving .

References

Tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

Cars introduced in 1979 {{modern-auto-stub