1973 Volvo 1800es on 2040-cars

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Cyan Racing Volvo P1800 First Drive: The Swedish answer to Singer Porsche

There’s a good chance youÂ’ve never heard of Cyan Racing unless youÂ’re a fan of World Touring Car Championship racing. Its previous name might ring a bell, however: Polestar Racing. Before the performance road car side of its business was sold to Volvo, and therefore long before that business was in turn spun off into an electric car brand, Polestar developed and campaigned racecars. Now known as Cyan Racing, it has had quite the run of success, too, as theyÂ’re the reigning champions in the WTCC series with five titles so far. Somehow, they found the time to create something entirely different: the Volvo P1800 Cyan. As the name implies, itÂ’s based on the P1800 coupe that was produced from 1961 through 1973. Readers of a certain age will associate that car with Roger Moore as The Saint, before he became James Bond. The P1800 has always been an anomaly in the Volvo lineage. Its classic shape came from the Frua/Ghia studio in Italy and even though it never had sports car credentials, the P1800 had a small but loyal following. So loyal that a P1800S holds a Guinness World Record for the 3.25 million miles driven by its original owner. Despite the P1800 CyanÂ’s undeniable similarity to the original Volvo coupe, itÂ’s an entirely different beast.  The only items that remain from the original 1964 donor vehicle are its steel chassis, hood release, handbrake, and windshield wipers. High-strength steel has replaced much of the substructure and the body has been reimagined in carbon fiber. Under the hood is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder sourced from the Volvo S60 TC1 race car. It produces a surprising 420 horsepower and 336 pound-feet of torque at 6,000 rpm. Bolted to the block is a five-speed Holinger manual transmission that sends power to the rear wheels. The original P1800Â’s live axle is replaced by an independent rear with front and rear double-wishbone suspensions being fully adjustable. The 18-inch custom wheels are shod with Pirelli P Zero rubber: 235 widths up front and 265s in the rear. This all results in a featherlight 2,180-pound curb weight. LetÂ’s just say that again for effect: 2,180 lbs. ThatÂ’s lighter than a Miata, folks. At this point, the P1800 Cyan is already unreasonably cool, but wait, thereÂ’s so much more. Hans Baath, general manager for Cyan Racing proudly admits that Singer Vehicle Designs is a huge inspiration for this project, and if youÂ’ve ever seen a Singer Porsche in person, you probably have an idea of whatÂ’s next.

2014 Volvo V60 to start at $35,300*

When Volvo announced US pricing for its updated 2014 model line, it left one vital model out of the equation: that would be the V60, the long-roofed version of the S60 sedan and the long-awaited replacement for the V70 wagon that left our shores nearly four years ago. But if you look at the V60's product page now, you'll see a starting MSRP listed at $35,300. That represents a $2,900 premium over the S60 and an $800 premium over the larger (but older) XC70 softroader.
Delve further into the online configuration tool and you'll see that the price is applied, naturally, to the base turbocharged five-cylinder, front-drive model. Go for the Premier or Platinum trims and the price begins to climb, as it does with the addition of all-wheel drive, the turbo six engine and the R-Design spec. You'll also need to account for the *$915 destination charge. Tick all the boxes and you'll soon be looking at a price tag of over $50,000. Order books open with the start of the new year.

Geely targeting US market in 2016 with help from Volvo

Following reports that it'd team up with corporate sibling Volvo on a Chinese-market car comes a report from Bloomberg that Geely would reattempt its entry into the US market. The Chinese brand had a display at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, but has been absent from the US scene ever since.
The Geely branded cars will be jointly developed with Volvo, and bank on the Swedish manufacturers reputation for safety and reliability. Geely's CEO, Gui Shengyue, explained, "Our acquisition of Volvo enhanced our image and overseas consumers are seeing us as an international company." This represents a change in rhetoric for the brand, after Geely Chairman Li Shufu hamstrung the idea of a closer pairing, citing fears that an association would harm Volvo's reputation. The news of projects between Geely and Volvo first broke last week, although it's unclear if the cars that end up coming to the US will be the same as those being sold in China.
As we reported last week, Geely is already aiming to be the biggest brand in the Chinese domestic market. With this move to the US market, it's also attempting to overtake Chery as China's largest automotive exporter. According to the Bloomberg report, Geely has already moved 180,000 units overseas, which is extremely close to the 184,800 vehicles sold by Chery in 2012. By 2018, Geely anticipates that 60 percent of its sales will be occur outside of the PRC.