Terry just figured out what Good Morning America's Car Mom figured out two years ago, and she wonders if it's a conscious attempt to get men interested, maybe break the association with "suburban women, specifically mothers":
I've driven plenty of Volvos in the recent past — sedans, station wagons and SUVs. Why I never noticed this curious fact until now is beyond me: The Volvo logo is the male gender symbol.Why no one never noticed this curious fact until now is beyond me: The Volvo name is the female genit--oh, wait, they did notice it. 72,000 times.
Car as Phallic Symbol? [dailytroll via jalopnik]
I thought the same until a visit to Sweden this summer to pick up a new Volvo from the factory and went to the Volvo museum where it was efficiently explained that the logo is the sign of highest quality stamped on only the best steel. They even had hundred fifty year old steel bars with the logo on it to prove it. Whether the Mars symbol is related to the quality symbol in some way is not mentioned though ;) BTW if you haven't looked into the Volvo overseas purchase program definitely do. If you can afford to wait the 8 weeks it takes to ship your car back to the U.S. You can save some a nice amount on a new car and get a free trip to Sweden!
Wikipedia confirms (to the extent that that phrase makes any sense) the iron link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo
Actually, being a Latin nerd (mom refused to let me take French or Spanish in highschool) "Volvo" is latin for 'to roll'.
volvo volvere volvi volutum [to wind , turn, roll, twist round]; in pass., [to roll]. Esp. [to unroll a book, to read]. Transf., of time, [to make roll by]; of persons, [to turn over in the mind, consider; to experience, go through].
Volv is the stem for alot of words (revolve, devolve, etc.) And to pound the point of my Latin class dorkdom, I hail "Semper Ubi, Sub Ubi!"