Volvo to build BMW M3 beater?

Volvo to build a BMW M3 beater? Pull the other one, we hear you say. Well it might just happen, if the Volvo S60 Polestar sees the light of day.

Volvo S60 (2010 onwards)

BMW celebrates M with 60 Performance Edition cars

BMW M3 (2007 onwards)

The Swedish Motorsport outfit has built a concept version based on the range-topping all-wheel drive S60 T6 model, which will be shown at the next round of Sweden’s TTA Racing Elite League in downtown Gothenburg later this month.

According to Polestar Marketing Director Hans Baath, “The performance concept road car is a spin-off of the work done evaluating and developing the S60 for racing.” So with race-bred cred, it should be fairly capable – and more so than the rapid but inert S60R produced in previous generation form, with any luck.

Volvo does say the S60 Polestar is “to a great extent based on standard S60 components”. Which would mean a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six under the S60’s shapely nose, but with substantially north of the T6’s standard 300bhp, we would hope. Those Swedes are being a bit shy with the details though, and not giving away much more than that – exact specs are being saved for the official launch in Gothenburg on 16 June.

Polestar first hopped into bed with Volvo in the mid-‘90s, campaigning the boxy but evocative Volvo 850s in various race series, including the Swedish Touring Car Championship – and managing all of Volvo’s motorsport outings since then. It’s since become something of an in-house tuning brand, offering dealer-fit performance and styling upgrades to the cooking Volvo range.

Of course, we’ve been here before. Volvo most recently created a stir with the crackpot C30 Polestar – a baby blue four-wheel drive 405bhp version of the C30 hatchback. Apparently they were ‘flooded’ with requests from people wanting to buy that car, but it was never designed with production in mind, and Polestar were far too busy racing a C30 in the FIA World Touring Car Championship to listen to the polite begging of prospective punters.

It appears one particularly persistent Volvo nut managed to get their attention though – this first S60 Polestar is going to “one of the most eager bidders for the original C30 Polestar,” according to Volvo.