in the late 90s the P80 chasis Volvo C70 was also quite elegant compare to its competitors, which was very very few
but it soon lost its charm when the hugely popular Merc CLK came out. the 2.0T seemed alright when it first came out, but soon proved inadequate; same's the FWD chasis. Basically, Volvo just got fucked by Ford. Thankfully Geely gave Volvo the freedom and resources it needs...
yeah, C70 is sleek too. In Hong Kong, there is a manual C70, very rare indeed. W208 CLK is without doubt a very elegant car, but too many on the road now. C70 will stand out
but the problem is C70 is inferior to CLK is every aspect
we work our ass off so we can afford nice things in life, now, do we go for nice but common or rare but not-so-nice? for huge expenditure like an excutive sedan/coupe, common sense should prevail.
This is exactly why I have absolute respect for Geely. They spend tons of money to acquire nearly bankrupt Volvo which almost everyone believes is a goner; and they patiently (and pianfully) made it work.
then you must try get something like Delta Integral Evo, S2000 Mk I, Clio V6 Mk I, W203 C55, E36 M3, 993 even 996 series, F358; all of them becomes quite affordable now