Volvo has gone mad at the Las Vegas after market equipment show (SEMA) and revealed three storming concepts. Banishing the company’s staid image has been the main focus in recent times and these three do no harm in that respect. Featuring rippling bodywork stretched over huge rims and lowered close to the deck the concepts are powered by hugely powerful units pushing out up to 650bhp! The concepts were each created by a dedicated team who were tasked with boosting the company’s image at the prestigious Las Vegas show. And you have to say they’ve done well. If they produced production cars that looked like this they’d have no problems!

The XC90 PUV (Power Utility Vehicle) shown above features a supercharged version of the recently launched V8 engine, tuned to produce 650bhp. The PUV looks awesome in blood red with a cheeky Ferrari-style badge behind the front wheel arch. The V50 SV (Special Vehicles) features many parts that are available from Volvo already, although the 340bhp T5 engine isn’t one of them. And finally, the Evolve S40 has been taken to the extreme by California based Evolve Cars. Again the car features a prodigiously powerful T5 unit promising some extreme performance with 400bhp on tap, but the main focus is the 19in alloys that are 11 inches wide at the rear. Very Volvo!

Dave Jenkins - 10 Nov 2004