850 facelift??

Hi, does anybody know why the 850 got a facelift in late 1993 with narrower headlamps and smoother bumpers so early in it's production life?? I know for a while they sold the base SE model with the thicker headlamps and chunkier bumpers but I'm just curious as to why it was facelifted when it wasn't even into midlife.

Probably because it looked garbage, imo.

Funny, I've always much preferred the handsome original look to the weaselly squinting front end. In the same way, the flatter rear lights look much nicer to me than the "curves for no reason" versions on later models. It annoys me when manufacturers take a smart, coherent design and add random curves and angles just for the sake of change...

Thing that get me about car designers is that they never think of the poor buggers who have to work on 'em :hissyfit:

Very true! Though I must admit I've not found myself hating the Volvo designers very often while working on the 850. Maybe when/if I change out the steering rack I'll be forced to eat my words :-)

I thought the original 850 was a very handsome car and it looked more elegant than the latter model. The changes were new twin headlamps, smoother bumpers and a few new buttons on the interior. The 850 was launched around July '92 and that facelift came in late '93. A facelift usually occurs halfway through the car's lifecycle and as far as I know, the original 850 was never criticised for it's looks or anything really, it was a class leader when it was launched.

I'll second that, looked at my 1996 850 in the car park at work today and it made everything else in there look blobby to my eyes. Apart from the 1992 Proton someone has which just looks ****. Cheers, John