This is a Volvo S80L, a China-only long-wheelbase variant of the Volvo S80 sedan. I met this beautiful black example in the Chinese capital Beijing. It was well-maintained and looked great for its age.
The Volvo S80L was manufactured in China by Changan-Volvo. This joint venture was born when Ford still owned Volvo. It started as Changan-Ford-Mazda Automobile (CFMA) in 2001, and Volvo joined in 2006.
The Volvo S80L was launched in the Chinese auto market in 2009 with a facelift in 2014. The car that I saw is an original pre-facelift example, painted in black with 6classy -triple spoke alloy wheels and darkened windows. The extra length can best be seen by following the roof line from the B-pillar to the rear, it goes on much longer than on the regular S80. The wheelbase of the Volvo S80L was extended by 14 centimeters (5.5 inches). Compare:
S80: 4854/1861/1490, 2835.
S80L: 4991/1861/1490, 2975.
The S80L was positioned as a luxury car in China, so it was loaded with leather and wood trim. The car in the photos has beige leather and dark brown trim. The floating center stack is still a beautiful design detail, even today. It was equipped with an audio CD system with nine speakers.
Fourteen centimeters = a lot of extra space in the back. Look at that legroom! The doors were longer too, so Volvo added a curved wood decoration on the door panel. The armrest area between the front seats was extended to the rear compartment. It had an extra storage bin and a control panel for the air conditioning and the audio. There was a refrigerator too, located in the rear seat backrest of the middle back seat.
The S80L was available with two power trains:
- 2.5 T5: a 2.5 turbo L5 with 147 kW (200 hp) and 300 Nm. FWD.
- 3.0 T6: a 3.0 V6 turbo with 210 kW (285 hp) and 400 Nm. AWD.
Both motors were mated to a 6-speed AMT.
The T6 (from 613.800 yuan) was way more expensive and thus very rare compared to the T5 (from 398.000 yuan). Happily, the car in the photos is indeed a T6 model.
The top speed was limited to 210 km/h and it did 0-100 in only 7.2 seconds, which made the Volvo S80L 3.0 T6 AWD one of the fastest accelerating cars in China at the time.
Production of the Volvo S80L ended when the Changan-Volvo joint venture expired in 2015, five years after Geely bought Volvo Cars from Ford. So for five years, Changan’s partner was Geely, a Chinese-Chinese joint venture making Swedish sedans! The eventual replacement for the S80L arrived in 2017 with the Volvo S90 LWB.
The Volvo S80L was a stylish Swedish luxury limousine in China. I am glad this black example is still in such great shape. For more China-only LWB cars, please see this long article which has almost all of them.