The Ferrari F40: common. The Lamborghini Aventador: ubiquitous. The Bentley Continental: might as well buy a Volkswagen Golf.

If exclusivity and rarity are your bag, then this is your baby: the Volvo V60 Polestar. With just 750 produced worldwide (and another 750 on the way) and only a dozen or so bound for Canada’s shores, it’s a rare beast, a sort of mythical unicorn-moose hybrid. Call it the unimoose.

Regrettable, that, because a lot of people are going to want to buy this thing. It’s borking amazing.


Aside from the unique Rebel Blue colour (there’ll also be a Sapphire Black version sold here), the Polestar-engineered version of Volvo’s handsome little V60 wagon has a few signature touches. Polestar is Volvo’s racing team and provides engine tuning; as the company’s first fully engineered road car, the V60’s Polestar badge is slightly larger than that found on cars equipped merely with a power-boosting software upgrade. The front fascia and rear spoiler are unique. You get lovely multi-spoke 20-inch alloys that fill out the wheel wells nicely, the whole car hunkering down aggressively.

Frankly, I’m impressed they were able to get the whole thing together with just an Allen key and a set of pictogram-based instructions. Well done.

If it weren’t the colour of Papa Smurf’s backside, you’d almost call the Polestar subtle. Volvo reworked the exterior of all their cars last year, and they managed to create something beautiful without the need for stab-in-the-eye aggression. The best part about it is still out back, with those lamb’s-leg taillights and upright hatch. Handy that, as this is the only view many cars will get of this particular Swedish meatball.

Take a peek behind those rims and there are six-piston Brembo brakes up front in a massive 371-mm sizing. The suspension features Öhlins dampers and firmed up springs and sway bars. Under the hood, the venerable 3.0L turbocharged straight-six gets a new Borg-Warner turbocharger and now huffs out 345 hp at 5,250 rpm and 369 lb-ft between 3,000–4,750 rpm. That’s more beef than you’ll find in an entire crate of Ikea hot dogs.

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Inside, the V60 benefits from a whole host of Polestar upgrades that echo the features of some of the best hot Volvos of the past. The seats are flat-out excellent. The steering wheel has a blend of leather and Alcantara that’s both pleasant to the touch and looks like it’ll wear better than all-suede offerings found elsewhere. Naturally, it’s heated.

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