Forgotten but not gone, that’s the best way to describe this spotlight. After digging through my archives to pull thoughts and images from my 2013 experience, I stumbled upon this breathtaking Volvo that I’d literally forgotten I’d even photographed. Upon discovering it buried somewhere in the file structure of one of many external hard drives, there were plenty of expletives let out as an expression of the joy I felt.
Having recently moved house, I’ve been uncovering all sorts of buried treasure lately, but nothing I pulled out of a box was anywhere near as impressive as this Volvo. Back last January, I was in Sweden for a bit and had attended a local trade show to shoot a special Audi. After wrapping up the shoot, I went back inside the unassuming convention center to warm my bones and that’s when I was stopped in my tracks by this monster.
Upon first sight, all my brain could muster up was a resounding “WTF!?” I had never seen anything like it. What the hell was it? Were the Swedes about to do battle in DTM? Did I miss the press announcement that Volvo would be joining the German ranks? Upon closer inspection I could tell it wasn’t quite as technologically advanced as the current crop of Tourenwagens, but it certainly appeared to look quite similar to DTM cars of yore.
So dumbfounded, I did what I do best and asked for help. Over the years I’ve learned that virtually every Swede speaks perfect English and nine times out of ten they’re extremely helpful. When I asked the people at the Polestar booth about the car, they were all smiles and were happy to oblige my curiosity. One of my first requests was to see inside the car, something they made rather easy for me by completely removing the doors.
Peeking inside, it became pretty clear that this was a serious race car. I made several further inquiries and learned that this particular S60 was built to compete in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, a series I was previously unaware of. It was fairly obvious right from the start that the car was clearly a silhouette build and I learned that the chassis is made by a French manufacturer called Solution-F, perhaps best known for their former involvement in the Race Of Champions.
The chassis is a mid-engine format with a 3.5L V6 built and tuned by Polestar to a rulebook mandated 420hp. I can only presume that this program laid the foundation for what has become Polestar/Volvo’s involvement in Australia’s V8 Supercars. If their current track record is a reasonable yardstick to go by, I think we can expect big things from this camp down under. For what it’s worth, so far as I can tell the Polestar team has essentially steam-rolled the opposition in STCC for a while now.
In fact, at the time I shot this very car it was being debuted for the upcoming 2013 season, but it ended with the Polestar team sweeping the championship. Volvo were so pleased with the result that they happened to launch a series of limited edition vehicles dubbed the Black R to commemorate the result. I’m definitely eager to see where these guys go from here.
Love the low slung look, and by the looks of the suspension set up it looks like a serious bit of kit. Scandinavian TCC? We need more info!!!
Www.touringcartimes.com for all your stcc news
Www.touringcartimes.com for all your stcc news
wow. that body is gorgeous.
Looks like something that belongs in the DTM series but in the earlier days, like the 1990
I love it how you have to open a door instead of popping the hood to get to the engine
Sweet mother of.....
I saw the unveiling clip and ads for the road going version with incentives to race. I've always wondered when were they going to do this.. This just resparked my interests.
I love this silhouette style racing car with the high sills and cropped doors.
Ever since the ALMS season ended I was suffering serious racecar withdrawal (its real yo!)
It took Chris Harris describing how the aero works on DTM cars for me to give it a chance.
And guess what?
Just like ALMS the production is great, commenators explain a lot (I finally understand and witnessed DRS), all races are on DTM's youtube channel, and even qualifying kicks ass!(look for sparks at Brands Hatch).
The best part: these guys rub when they race! These cars aren't as fragile as F1 so the drivers have a bit more gusto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxTosxlyfAI&feature=share&list=PLrjmhNF7Jz1zLtBDLxnrw7DTnE8Cheg3_
That's amazing! And mid-engine too?! Hell yeah!
TomKimmell STCC was up to 2010 the Swedish TCC, but merged with the Danish equivalent in '10. Up to 2012 it was a true TCC, with cars based on road going versions with 2000cc engines. In 2012 though, a lot of the big money teams left the series and started their own called TTA. The cars were silhouettes, based on the same tube frame chassis and sharing almost all mechanical components.
This was around when the economy crashed, I think it was an effort to cut down the costs. So STCC and TTA competed for viewers and crowds for a while, but then merged for the 2013 season and made the TTA cars the main class. So the touring cars are gone. It's a bit sad, but I guess it's moving with the times. I grew up with the STCC of the late 90's, when several manufacturers were involved (Volvo, Audi, Nissan and BMW all had manufacturers support I think, but I don't remember) and the series was at it's peak IMO. The competition was great with a lot of close racing as a TTC should be. I've watched some races in 2013 and was very disappointed. Many of the tracks run in STCC are much too small for these cars and it's all about Polestar (Volvo) who runs a lot of cars.
Suuuper SIICK!!
(Great news! Blue Dacia Sandero in the background!:D)
I don't like this kind of racecars so much. They have almost nothing in common with the street version.
Wow I love this!
The engines are supplied by Nissan/Nismo. The manufacturers do not build their own engines.
appears in Fifth Gear S23 E8.
vroomtothetombNice video!
AmirIzham ... Valhalla!
vroomtothetomb "The uploader has not made this video available in your country". sucks...
So when are you coming over for some STCC action bruv?
The colour (color) again, guys ?
ArslanGolic No idea man, soon I hope!
@Mike Interesting, I guess I must have misunderstood. I know Polestar developed their own engine for V8 Supercars though.
DieterManero Yep, my thoughts exactly.
DJJAW11 Rebel blue ( 619 )
crisscrawse http://t.co/EHHpBQ1ae6
_BlackGumby I wonder how it'll be since they don't build their production v8s. They use Yamaha motors.
crisscrawse Yamaha will build blocks. polestar will outfit motor? maybez
_BlackGumby http://t.co/6b30SWIVmZ
crisscrawse australians >>>
The Engine in this car are from Nissan/Renault V6. The Engine tuner are F-soulution in France. Even the chassi are from http://www.solutionf.fr/
Spelling varies depending on nationality.