1990 Volvo 240, No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Sweden's Prince Carl Philip to race for Volvo in STCC

Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte has it good. He is a member of the Swedish Royal Family, he dates a model and he has been voted by Forbes as one of the "20 Hottest Young Royals." If that were not enough, he is a fairly successful racecar driver. The latter has earned him a spot on the Volvo Polestar racing team for the Swedish Touring Car Championship. The prince will be piloting a race-spec S60 in the 2013 STCC campaign.
Starting in 2008, Prince Carl Philip began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup, where he placed as high as 11th. In 2010, he finished first in the Porsche GT3 Endurance competition, and most recently, he placed fourth in the 2012 Swedish GT GTB.
As his motorsport career up to this point suggests, the prince is quite serious about racing and the STCC is the next step up. According to Prince Carl Philip, "There is no tougher championship in Sweden and at the same time as I have respect for it, it motivates me greatly." You can read more on Prince Carl Philip's upcoming campaign with Polestar in the press release below.

Can we keep the gauge cluster around, please?

Let’s not follow TeslaÂ’s lead in the elimination of the gauge cluster. I might be too late, but IÂ’m going to say it anyway. The cute 2025 Volvo EX30 is to blame for this needing to be said. I genuinely like most things about the EX30 and its cost-oriented approach to a luxury EV. However, Volvo went and deleted the gauge cluster, and thatÂ’s just one cost-saving step too many. Of course, center-mounted instruments is nothing new, but Tesla popularized the idea of removing the cluster entirely years ago with its Model 3 and Model Y. I didnÂ’t like the idea when I first saw it, and my displeasure with driving around a car with no cluster was confirmed when I drove a Model 3 for the first time. There are numerous reasons, but it all boils down to the importance of having vital information in your direct line of sight. The transition to EVs allows for the elimination of certain monitoring gauges within a cluster, but basics like speed, gear position, headlight status, cruise control and range are all things I want directly in front of me. I donÂ’t want to glance down and to the right to see these things. You could make a valid safety argument for such an arrangement, but including all of that info just for the sake of convenience is enough. The only excuse I see for eliminating the cluster is if a comprehensive head-up display impervious to polarized sunglasses comes as standard equipment. ItÂ’d still be bothersome in a gasoline-powered car to lose all those gauges, but I could live with just a HUD in an electric car if it meant a lower cost to the buyer. That said, my favorite integrations are the smaller clusters installed in some EVs like the Ford Mustang Mach-E or Volkswagen ID.4. These little clusters are smaller and simpler than many of the massive instrument screens going into cars these days, but they include all the information you might want at a glance. Beyond the safety and convenience aspect, thereÂ’s a nostalgic angle to the gauge cluster. Just a short while ago, I trumpeted the return of retro designs in digital gauge clusters. You can quite literally do whatever youÂ’d like when youÂ’re working with a screen, which leaves the field of opportunities wide open. We wonÂ’t have the privilege of enjoying old-school (or revolutionary new-school) designs if OEMs start eliminating them entirely.

2015 Volvo XC90 is the Swedish future

It's been months since the Concept XC Coupe debuted at the Detroit Auto Show, Volvo's last show car previewing its all-new 2015 XC90. But the production model is finally here after years of development, and it signals the future of the Swedish automaker with its Scalable Product Architecture modular platform and cutting-edge new engine family.
The 2015 XC90 carries all-new styling, but is still familiar up front, with the company's logo slashing diagonally through its prominent, upright grille. Like the concept, it carries T-Shaped LED running lights through the headlights. The company calls them the "Thor's Hammer" design, an evocative designation that we think is fantastic. Under that new front end is a choice of two quite powerful, but very efficient powertrains. The standard XC90 gets a 2.0-liter turbocharged and supercharged engine with all-wheel drive making an impressive 316 horsepower. Or if buyers want to be a little greener and more powerful, there is the XC90 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid with the same engine, albeit augmented with an electric motor to produce a staggering 400 hp.
The exterior styling is crisp, if not quite as sensual as Volvo's latest concepts, but we think the interior is the real star here, with a dashboard that looks like it came out of a Herman Miller catalog and a unique vertically oriented infotainment screen integrated into its center stack, perhaps taking a cue from Tesla. If the cabin feels as good as it looks, we think a lot of sales are going to be won inside.