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The instructions for the delivery service that was to drop off the 1994 Volvo 850 turbo sedan for a test drive were brief and to the point: Leave the car in the driveway, doors unlocked, key in the ignition and the engine running.

Even a thief wouldn’t stoop so low as to snag a Volvo. They have principles, too, don’t you know.

So the car sat running in the driveway for a few days while the family avoided it. “You lose the lottery?” Twin No. 1 asked when she spotted the machine along about midweek.

After a while we started feeling guilty. After all, here was a machine wasting a precious natural resource while idling unattended in the driveway. And Volvo is attempting to modernize by way of featuring front-wheel drive on the 850. So we opened the door and slipped behind the wheel to turn off the key and let it rest in peace.

Hmmm. Lexus leather isn’t as soft as the hides gracing these seats.

We put the gear selector in “R” and opted to take the symbol of conservatism-the car, not Rush Limbaugh-for a spin around the block. Couldn’t hurt. Besides, the kids weren’t looking.

Hmmmm. Volvos often have a little lag time between pressing the pedal and moving from a light. The 850 turbo sedan is powered by a 222-horsepower, 5-cylinder. No lag time. The turbo seems to kick in while your foot still is moving forward on the pedal. Quick response. No hesitation. Quiet, too, which isn’t always the case when an odd numbered 5-cylinder is called upon to work.

Hmmmmmmm. Soft, supple, textured leather seats, not the typical slippery smooth variety that you slide over when taking a corner. The seats feel like easy chairs. Combine the comfort with the performance of a lively 5-cylinder that propels you to the front of the line at the light and you have a respectable package, albeit one marred by a traditional Volvo grille that looks like a chrome version of liver spots.

Anti-lock brakes help control the power. Dual air bags are in place in the event of a miscue by you or a fellow traveler. Traction control is a $385 option absent on the test car, but a necessity for those traveling the Snow Belt. With ABS and airbags in place and traction control available for the asking-and paying-Volvo has upheld its safety image despite coming up with a four-door sedan that acts like a Pontiac Grand Prix but looks in need of a nose job.

After about the third trip around the block, we decided to take to the open highway. The tollway lay ahead so we pulled up, deposited the correct number of coins in the basket and accelerated down the merge lane. OK, so most people in a $30,000 car feign a coin toss or drive through the toll booth without bothering with the fakery. But being on expense account, we felt obliged to stop. After all, somebody has to fund those tollway pensions.

But we digress.

From the tollway we ventured onto the interstate. The turbo 5-cylinder engine whispers at 65 miles per hour. Ditto at 75 m.p.h., the speed you must obtain to stay within a reasonable distance of the semi-trailer caravan ahead.

The suspension glides over ripples in the roadway. The only time silence is broken is when we decide to crack the driver’s side window an inch to let in some fresh air, which brings you back to reality. The engine and transmission and suspension are all very quiet, but the 850 turbo sedan’s old-fashioned wedge shape-with a large slab grille in a world of rounded aerodynamic sheet metal and minute grille openings-means you get lots of wind noise in the passenger compartment when the window is open, even fractionally. We resort to opening the power sunroof instead and closing the window. Quiet is restored.

Finally we venture onto the exit ramp, over the bridge and back down the merge lane headed home. The odometer says 156 miles have passed, yet there is no driver fatigue, no need to adj st the seat to account for soreness or stiffness, no adjusting the rearview mirror because the driver has tired from the trip and slumped into the seat to rest.

For years Volvo has prided and promoted itself as a company that builds safe cars. In the meantime, however, the competition got off its collective duff and now everybody is building safe cars. Volvo doesn’t hold the patent on ABS or air bags. But for 1995, Volvo will go the competition one better by offering side-impact air bags as standard in the 850 turbo and as an option in the non-turbo 850 models. Eventually the others will have side-impact bags, too.

So, Volvo either can continue to promote safety and keep it a secret that it has a competent performance model in the 850 turbo, or it can promote its good performance model that also happens to be safe. We would hope it would focus more attention on the latter, and one way to do that would be to take the chains off the stylists and let them perform some magic on the wedge-shape sheet metal and out-of-date grille.

The 850 turbo sedan is base-priced at $30,435. Standard equipment is impressive, including power brakes and steering, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, alloy wheels, child-proof rear door locks, power glass sunroof with tilt/slide and sunshade, power driver’s seat, electronic climate control, power windows with driver’s auto down, power outside rearview mirrors, keyless remote entry, cruise control, AM/FM stereo with cassette/eight speakers/anti-theft circuitry/CD changer wiring, floor mats, power locks, trip computer and leather-trimmed steering wheel.

The test car added leather seats at $995, a Nordic package including heated seats, heated outside mirrors and outside temperature gauge for $450, trunk-lid spoiler at $325 and wood trim instrument panel at $600.With a $460 freight charge the car stickered at $33,265.

For 1994 Volvo increased warranty coverage to four years/50,000 miles from three years/50,000 miles.

1994 Volvo Sportswagon

Zzzzzzzzzz . . . Oops. Started to nod off. Sorry. For 1994 Volvo . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . Sorry, again. For 1994 Volvo has added a Sportswagon version of the 850 sedan. It . . .zzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . has everything the sedan has, including a 2.3-liter, 5-cylinder turbo, dual air bags and anti-lock brakes, but it . . . zzzzzzzzzz . . . also has the traditional extended cargobin.

The . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . wagon is quick and quiet and loaded with safety hardware and . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . power equipment, but to be blunt, unless your hair is gray, your teeth purchased and your income complements of Social Security, this . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . car could put you . . . zzzzzzzzzz.

If you need room to cart luggage on the trip to see the grandkids or fishing tackle to haul to the retirement retreat, the Volvo 850 turbo wagon . . . zzzzzzzzzz z . . . is just that-a wagon in a world in love with mini-vans and sport-utilities.

Base price: $30,985.

>> 1994 Volvo 850 turbo sedan – Wheelbase: 104.9 inches – Length: 183.5 inches – Engine 2.3-liter, 222-h.p., 5-cylinder – Transmission: 4-speed automatic – Fuel Economy: 19 m.p.g. city/26 m.p.g. highway – Base Price: $30,435 – Price as Tested: $33,265, including$460 freight. Pluses: Lively 5 cylinder with turbo kick, anti-lock brakes and dual air bags standard. Most comfortable leather seats in the industry; long trips seem like short jaunts. Minuses: Damn Volvo conservative grille. Looks like you should be smoking a pipe to drive the car. Appearance doesn’t do performance justice. >>