The and will soon be dead and gone, victims to the over at Volvo. Soon all of Volvo’s seats will be different; perforated and multi-contouring, but in the end, not as good. Let it not be forgotten that for one brief, beautiful moment, Volvo made the best seats the world has ever seen.

( I drove a Volvo S60 for a weekend a few months back and a Volvo XC60 for a couple days back in September. Each came with a full tank of fuel. They’re getting on in years, but I’ll miss the seats.)

Here they sit. And here, you sit. They look unassuming. They are unassuming. But within their cushiony, leathery bosom resides the secret to all that is a beautifully coddled and swaddled behind. Is it the orthopedic support? Nay. The elegant design? Feh.

But what could it be?

Is it the rather staid cars that contain them?

Is it the people that buy them?

Is it the bottoms?

Is it the backs?

Is it the ever-so-weary rest of the head?

Is it the feeling you get on a warm summer’s day?

Or is it the rustle you feel on a cool autumn evening?

Is it the pristine beauty of two-tone difference?

Or the supreme elegance of monotone happenstance?

Neither of those last two, as apparently you can get it any color you fancy, as long as Volvo offers it, and it all feels the same.

But the secret, what is the secret of these Volvo seats????

A secret that shall go to the grave when these two cars are replaced, probably in the next year!!!

What is it? What is it that drives these seats, these beautiful seats, these cushions of softitude?

Actually, I think that’s it. Really soft cushions. Volvo put really soft foam into the seats. Everyone else is going the BMW route of making your seat very hard and very uncomfortable and very taciturn and very mean.

Volvo seats?

Soft. Comfy. Good.

No longer.

Good seats.