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Here is where people laugh at the notion of a president sandbagged by sexual indiscretion, where TV commercials and billboards have an X-rated flavor, and where the public display of personal flesh is no big deal.

All of which was confusing to an American whose idea of Sweden was Volvo — stiff, the car most often driven by affluent Americans who hate cars, or who at least hate the idea of anyone thinking that they hold some affection for driving.

Volvo built its U.S. reputation among those people, selling safety and practicality the way the morally righteous sell virtue.

But, alas, the saints were few and the sinners weren’t buying that pitch — a market discrepancy that placed Volvo in danger of becoming a commercial martyr. Volvo explored several avenues in an attempt to avoid that fate, including a failed effort to merge with French automaker Renault in 1993. Finally, the company embraced the obvious: Sex sells.

That approach led to the development of the highly successful Volvo 850 series, the even more stunning Volvo 70 series and, coming soon to a dealer near you, the undeniably hot, gorgeous 1999 Volvo S80 sedans.

If you’re in the market for a full-size luxury sedan — something along the lines of a Lexus LS 400, a Cadillac Seville, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Chrysler LHS or 5-Series BMW — you might want to wait until the Volvo S80 hits the U.S. streets in the fall.

This car has everything past Volvos lacked, and it has much that is missing from many of its current rivals. It is sexy enough to please Madonna and safe enough to satisfy the most passionate advocate of passive crash protection.

The new car has Volvo’s signature waterfall grille, but the side panels are more sinewy than anything Volvo has ever done and the rear end, with its scalloped backlights and sassy tail, is very definitely kick-butt.

The interior retains some traditional Volvo design cues, such as the function-oriented, center-mounted control panel. But the overall dashboard is a sculpted affair, giving the driver and front passenger the feeling of being in their own private compartments.

The rear cabin is comfortable, providing ample space for three adult bodies. Overall seating comfort is superior.

Volvo over the past five years has been working to add zing to its engines, and the two in-line six-cylinder versions tested indicate that the company has found its mark. My favorite was the 2.9-liter, normally aspirated six-cylinder model, designed to put out 201 horsepower at 6,000 rpm with maximum torque of 207 pound-feet at 4,300 rpm. The 2.8-liter, twin-turbocharged version of that engine was impressive, with 268 horsepower, but there are very few places in the United States where I could use all of that power.

Which brings up the safety thing. You’d have to be one of the world’s unluckiest people, or one of its biggest dunces, to die in a Volvo S80. The car is remarkably stable, even on the scariest turns. It is equipped with anti-lo ck brakes and traction-control and anti-yaw devices as standard equipment. And its phalanx of inflatable crash-protection devices includes two inflatable curtains, fitted under the roof linings along each side of the car, offering additional protection to the head and neck in side-impact crashes.

Volvo hopes that the S80 and future iterations will help the company achieve annual global sales of 500,000 cars a year, more than double its current yearly sales performance.

1999 Volvo S80

Complaints: Here’s hoping that Volvo deletes the interior aluminum decor strips from the S80s it sells in the United States. They look tacky. Americans prefer wood grain. If Volvo won’t provide real wood trim because of the company’s environmental concerns, high-grade fake wood grain would suffice.

Praise: An overall, solid hit in the luxury sedan segment. Rivals should worry.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces. Extremely smooth electronically controlled four-spee d autom atic transmission. Credit here goes to the Americans. That transmission comes from General Motors Corp.

Layout: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, transverse-mounted in-line six.

Capacities: Seats five. Carries 14.2 cubic feet of cargo with the rear seats up. Rear seats can be folded down to create more space. Fuel tank holds 21.1 gallons of regular unleaded in the normally aspirated six-cylinder model; premium unleaded is recommended in the twin-turbo model.

Head-turning quotient: Turned many heads in a country filled with competing eye-catching phenomena.

Mileage: In the normally aspirated 2.9-liter in-line six, about 25 miles per gallon in mostly highway travel. Estimated 517-mile range on usable volume of fuel.

Sound system: Electronically controlled AM-FM stereo radio and cassette with compact disc. Ten speakers. Dolby system. Excellent.

Price: Expect to pay between $35,000 and $42,000 for the S80 models, depending on equipment. Prices not firm at this writing.

Purse-strings note: You’d be doing yourself a favor to wait to test-drive this one before putting out money for a rival model. If nothing else, the S80 should help you drive for a better bargain on a competitive car.