Volvo builds a hot rod??

Most serious car folks know that the beginning of November means one thing, SEMA. The Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas is the worlds largest collection of automotive aftermarket parts manufacturers and customizers. The show is about pimping rides on a galactic scale, and is only open to those in the trade. Manufacturers who want to be in the spotlight at SEMA need to do something big as there are always brand new cars from the nations best customizers on display. This year it seems an unlikely name has stolen the show….Volvo. My guess is that your reaction is the same as mine…are they crazy?

(from Volvo Press Release) Has Volvo gone mad? Perhaps. But that’s about the only word to describe the hand-built hotrod based on Volvo components and a twin turbocharged inline 6-cylinder engine from a car manufacturer more widely known for safety and functionality. But that’s what the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer Association’s annual trade show is all about. Drop in the glittering lights and over-the-top excess of Las Vegas and suddenly the Volvo T6 Roadster fits right in.

“The car came to our attention from its owner, Leif Tufvesson,” said Anne Belec, President and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, LLC (VCNA). “And when we saw the pictures, and the level of detail and quality that Leif put into this vehicle, we knew it had a place on the stand at SEMA.” Sitting next to VCNA’s other SEMA entry, the XC70 AT, the two cars are a study in contrast. But Leif is a former Volvo employee, having spent time at the prototype department in Gothenburg, Sweden, and knows that quality is a hallmark of the brand.

It’s the quality and care for the details that makes Leif’s T6 roadster stand out from the crowd of lowered small cars with mega-wattage stereos at the 2005 SEMA show. Built entirely by hand in his garage, with his own tools, painstaking effort went into every part. You won’t find a mail-ordered headlight or a grille from a Prowler on the T6 Roadster. What you will find are OEM Volvo parts including a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter inline 6-cylinder engine borrowed from an S80. “This engine has a few other tweaks,” says Leif, “that probably bumps the horsepower from 268 to around 300.”

(via seriouswheels.com) More photos are at this link as well.