A halo car is an automaker's most desirable model. It's meant to bring new customers into dealerships with the hope that they'll buy another car in the lineup. It's often a test bed for performance technology, and it's usually inserted at the top of the company's lineup. A halo car shows what a company is capable of, and it can change an automaker's overall reputation.

With the release of the 2008 Volvo C30, Volvo is offering what one company executive calls a reverse halo car. Although this two-door hatchback comes in at the bottom of Volvo's lineup, Volvo hopes it can bring new people into its dealerships and give the company a sportier reputation.

The C30 is a new model for Volvo, but it shares most of its mechanicals with Volvo's compact S40 sedan and V50 wagon. While similar to these cars, the C30 has considerably less standard equipment, allowing Volvo to make it its lowest priced car.

That value pricing doesn't make the C30 a typical economy car, though. Instead it's more similar to the Audi A3 and Volkswagen GTI class of sporty hatchbacks, a fun-to-drive car aimed at younger buyers.

If you lust after a 30' express cruiser, you probably value living space and amenities above all. So make a beeline for the Cruisers Yachts 300 CXi. It’s more cruiseable than many 30-footers I’ve tested. And chances are you’ll save a lot of cash.

The 300 CXi is frugal without being cheap. Look at such features as the head. The commode is electric instead of a costlier vacuum-flush model. The entire easy-to-clean head compartment, except for a bit of wood cabinetry, is fiberglass, not fake granite. You get everything you need, tastefully shaped, ergonomically sized, and robustly built, but without the trappings that drive up prices. The galley offers a single-burner stove, not a double or triple, plus a microwave. The cockpit wetbar comes with a cooler, not an icemaker, which guarantees better tasting drinks, I think. The forward berth is a slab. It’s not as impressive as an island berth, but you get a bigger bed that doesn’t protrude as much into the salon, and there’s less carpentry required to build it.