Our cars

With the award-winning Volvo S80 joining our long termers, Noel Ebdon has been going around changing perceptions.

When Volvo's S80 took our Executive Saloon of 2007 award, it left the assembled panel of judges a bit surprised at their own decision.

It was one of our most unlikely winners, but earned its accolade purely on merit, beating a couple of well-established players from Mercedes and BMW in the process. One of its most appealing features is its complete lack of cultural prejudice - and perhaps also its problem.

The new S80 may not have set the world alight on its arrival, but having evolved into an extremely desirable executive saloon that maintains the Swedish car maker's reputation for safe, durable, practical and comfortable motoring, it's no longer a car to dimiss, especially in a market where Volvos have traditionally been ignored in favour of German marques.

But now it's also an astonishingly satisfying and, dare we say it, enjoyable car to own.

Of course, we don't actually own one. However, Volvo is putting that right by being brave enough to be the second major manufacturer to offer it's product for long-term test scrutiny by a credible Middle East motoring magazine.

This S80 comes directly off Volvo Middle East's press fleet, and already this month I've had all the expected jibes.

From shouts of ‘where's your pipe and slippers mate' to ‘how old are you now then?'. But you know what? Every single person has been silenced by the Volvo S80 V8 Prestige.

After beating cars such as the BMW 5-Series, E-Class and the Chevy Caprice at the awards, the Volvo has spent January going after some smaller scalps in the form of most of my friends.

After laughter from those with low levels of car knowledge and raised eyebrows from those in the know, I decided the best form of retort was a drive. After twenty minutes, everyone was converted.