Most consumers think of safety when they think of Volvo, the Swedish car company that invented the seatbelt and then didn't patent the technology, forgoing billions of dollars in the hopes of saving countless lives. (Don't ask about Volvo's current safety recalls, though.) But once upon a time, Volvo also marketed its cars as brilliant, reliable performance machines — and don't forget that the Polestar models currently impressing the automotive media have been a Volvo project, as well.
None of Volvo's factory vehicles, however, can compare to this custom-made P1800 racecar built by Cyan Racing that uses a ton of carbon-fiber components to shave weight and a torquey four-banger to boost power up to impressive levels.
Feeling Blue
Cyan Racing is the current name of a company that actually used to be called Polestar. Founded in 1996, Cyan sold the Polestar name to Volvo and remains a privately owned and operated team that's won the past three touring car world titles. Cyan also contributed to the development of the Polestar versions of Volvo's S60 and V60, as well as the concept versions of the C30 and Polestar Concept Prototype.
The P1800 Cyan, finished in the iconic shade of blue, is the newest project from the accomplished firm and harks back to Volvo's sports coupe, which debuted way back in 1960.
Serious Upgrades
Cyan Racing's CEO Christian Dahl said the P1800 Cyan came about as the company wanted "to create what could have been if we as a race team had been there during the sixties, racing the P1800, and got to design a road version of our race car.” The result is a heavily modified variant that employs both steel and carbon fiber in the body to keep weight down to a svelte 2,182 pounds, while a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four used in the S60 TC1 racer produces 420 horsepower and 335 lb-ft of torque, with a 7,700-RPM redline. Other performance enhancements include independent rear suspension, a torque-biasing limited-slip differential, and two-way adjustable dampers all around.
Sources: cyanracing.com and caranddriver.com.