That means no more sniggering at the back of class about geography teachers with leather elbow patches on their corduroy jackets; no more poking fun at the weirdy beardy fellow down the road who takes his eight children to the local druid meet in the back of a rusting Scandinavian estate.
But then there were always clues to the Volvo's thinly-veiled virility.
Take a look at the bonnet badge and tell me that you're not thinking about the biological symbol for a bloke (albeit one with a particularly small, ahem, arrow).
Better still, there was a sexy Volvo way back in the 1980s which went by the name 480ES and stood out more than a dark-haired kid in a family of gingers.
If the 480ES was indeed the result of an illicit affair between a mummy Volvo and something far more exotic, then the new C30 hatchback is the evidence that the resultant DNA has once again bubbled to the top of the family gene pool.
The C30 looks to me like the result of an accident involving a Volvo S40 saloon - which has already been around for a couple of years - and a very big Stanley knife.
That's no bad thing as I like the S40 but prefer the idea of driving a diminutive three-door.
Like the S40, the Volvo DNA coursing through its veins means it's a little bit too pug-nosed and angular to be described as pretty.
Stand out
But it will certainly stand out from the crowd in the way that most of its rivals no longer do.
BMWs are ubiquitous, Audis are everywhere, but sporty little Volvo hatches?
If the C30 looks good from the front, then it looks even better from the back.
But it's not all good.
While that glass hatch lid looks cool it conceals an opening which is just a little bit too tight for my liking.
The boot itself is small, too, and puts the C30 at a disadvantage against the aforementioned rivals.
But then the C30 is aimed squarely at stylish young things with no kids who probably couldn't care less about squeezing pushchairs under the flimsy parcel shelf (another slight niggle).
Delighted
People like that will be delighted that the C30 has two passenger doors and four individual seats. Perhaps they won't care they could have squeezed an extra mate and miles more luggage into an A3 or BMW 1 Series.
You'd expect it to feel well-built and it certainly ticks that box, too. On the inside is a similar story of Swedish understatement.
Depending on how you look at it, the dash is either a fine example of minimalist chic or a little bit bland.
Having spent the week with the C30 (and being a strong advocate of the tidy car, tidy mind fraternity), I was won over by a smooth, well-finished dash and the cool floating centre console.
The car I drove was a Volvo C30 SE Sport powered by a 2litre petrol engine (mated to a six-speed manual gearbox).
It felt as though it were built more than comfort than driving dynamics.
It did everything smoothly and confidently .
So there you have it: the Volvo C30 is a well-built car which is smooth, sophisticated and unsuitable for children.
And if that isn't sexy, then I don't know what it is.
Have you driven the C30? Tell us what you thought
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