I think that like many other cars of a similar nature, they anticipate the average owner won't be doing their own maintenance Ellie and there aren't many drafts in a workshop capable of blowing the bonnet down.
A nice touch on my Rover is when the bonnet is up, the gas struts that support it have a safety lock so you have to start closing the bonnet until it stops, release so it goes up again and only then can you go past the "locking point" and close the bonnet completely.
If it raises again to the full height, the lower to lock/release a little then close routine has to be redone.
This means even in windy conditions if the wind partly closes the bonnet to the lock position and drops momentarily, it goes back to the full open position so can't be blown shut.
Sadly they dropped this facility on the later versions, more cost cutting!
The point is, if Rover could do it in 1986, Volvo could have done it with the 7xx and carried it over to the 9xx. Daresay it could be modified using 760 style bonnet struts with the latching insert from a Rover..............
