Volvo hot rod (UPDATED)

Newswheel staff :: 03 November 2005 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Roadster, Volvo, Volvo T6 Roadster, Europe & UK, Trade shows, US

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Sensible Swedes in moment of madness

After news that the next Volvo S80 will pack V8 power comes this one-off hot rod concept, on display at SEMA show, Stateside.

In development since 1998, the T6 Roadster was built by Leif Tufvesson, a former Volvo employee in the prototype department, who started the project in his garage. Many parts including the seats, instruments, gear selector and pedal assembly are straight out of the Volvo S80 parts bin. As is the 2.9-litre straight-six lump, though in tweaked twin-turbo 325bhp trim. In an interesting technical twist, Tufvesson has plumped for a rear-transverse engine installation complete with an active rear deck that lifts when a preset temperature is reached inside the engine bay. Wheels are massive 20-inch front and 22-inch rear plates.

The T6 Roadster is currently being shown off at the SEMA mods-and-sods tuning and tweaking car show in the US. Obviously it won’t be built for general consumption, and we somehow doubt the car could deliver Volvo’s signature crash safety standards. But the world is probably a slightly better place with the T6 Roadster around.

Car pr0n to follow:

That’s a nice set of Dunlop SP Sport 9000s.

Update:
Turns out one of the collosal and ever burgeoning Newswheel team had a first hand experience with the T6 Roadster back in June of  '03. By that stage Tufvesson had left Volvo for supercar outfit  Koenigsegg and was using the T6 as a daily driver to make his way to the factory and back. Even then, the car’s finish was impeccable, with absolutely no evidence that Tufvesson had knocked it up in his shed. Here’s how the car looked in 2003, complete with mudguards: