For a country of just nine million to produce one automaker would enough be amazing. To lay claim to two automakers is simply phenomenal. Both Volvo and Saab are with this particular country which is Sweden. Now a part of Ford Motor Company, Volvo has greatly influenced the automobile industry over the years. Safety standards that had been universally low elsewhere are much more appreciated with Volvo. Front end crumple zones, reinforced roofs and specially designed interiors have all had their origin with Volvo. Out of these high safety standards have come a line of cars that are, indeed, a number of the built that is best and safest cars on the road. Fortunately, through Volvo’s leadership, many automakers around the world have incorporated Volvo’s high safety standard. This is what makes Volvo exceptional in my eyes.
The company that brought to the world the people’s that are first, the Beetle, is also exceptional. First designed in Germany during the 1930s, the Beetle survived World War II and was one of the most mass produced and cars that are loved the world. From the 1950s forward the Beetle managed to make motorized transportation available to people who otherwise could not afford a car. The Beetle made owning a car affordable the majority of the masses from college students in the US to migrant workers in Mexico and from the gritty cities of Holland to the Irish farmlands. Even after importation to the US ceased during the 1970s, the Beetle was produced for another generation and sold in Mexico.
Without drawing out the point too far, the term that best describes Audi’s quattro technology is “superior handling.” Perhaps that is an understatement but when Audi introduced quattro all wheel drive the company threw the gauntlet down and told the rest of the auto world that is making quattro was the standard by which all luxury sedans would be judged. Audi's quattro technology has given the company such a huge advantage over competitors that over the years it has been banned from certain types of racing. Indeed, Audi’s quattro technology provides traction that is continuous past when other road handling schematics have reached their threshold.
So, there it is had by you. Three truly exceptional automobiles from the European continent, exceptional in ways, perhaps, that should really be labeled as extraordinary.