THE boxiest of the boxy Volvos has turned 30 years old this month.

Volvo Car Corp. said the car that saved the company three decades ago—the 760 GLE—paved the way for what would define Volvos decades later by speaking a unique design language at a time when the term “design language” wasn’t in carmakers’ vocabularies just yet. And to think that the 760 was actually a triumph of sorts for Volvo’s bean counters and tech guys. But interestingly, it was the company’s head of design that pulled off the seemingly impossible by satisfying the requirements not only of the finance department but also those of the engineering department, all while creating a timeless classic.

Volvo said that during the 760’s conception, it was decided that reliability, fuel efficiency, longevity, serviceability, low noise levels, design and performance—in that order—should guide the development work on the new car. Volvo’s engineering team decreed the car had to be rear-wheel driven, should have a wheel base that was 10 centimeters longer than that on the Volvo 240 model it was replacing, but should be shorter and 100 kilograms lighter, too.

For its part, the finance department ruled that to save costs, most of the 240’s mechanical bits had to be carried over in the 760, and it also wanted a design that has straight and flat surfaces, and with angular lines that are preferably 90 degrees in order to reduce production costs and wastage as much as possible. Not surprisingly, the project’s development stalled numerous times as a result of the strict parameters set, and the 760’s planned completion in 1980 was pushed back to 1981 (It went on sale a year later).

Volvo said that many design proposals for the 760 were considered, most of which came from outside designers, and were sedans—which the company’s finance and marketing team favored. However, Volvo’s head of design, Jan Wilsgaard, leaned more toward a hatchback.

To fuse the various requirements, Volvo said Wilsgaard submitted his own proposal that blended the properties in a different way; a car with straight body sides and with an abruptly cut-off trunk like that on a wagon or hatchback. The design remained in the project’s final discussions, Volvo said, until it was eventually modified into a sedan, but one with an almost vertical rear window and a boxy trunk.

According to the carmaker, the 760’s final design proved to be the right choice as in the midst of the round and slippery soap dishes offered by other manufacturers at the time, the Volvo’s utterly boxy look was a hit and eventually turned into the brand’s hallmark.

Volvo said the 760 became a turning point for the company, product-wise and financially, and had formed the basis for the continuation of the brand. Without the 760, Volvo said there wouldn’t have been an 850, without the 850 there wouldn’t have been an S80, and so on. The rest is history.