Volvo’s Jakob cracker

Who said Volvos had to be sensible? Here is the Hot Rod Jakob, a quirky two-seater created for the Swedish firm’s 80th anniversary.

It’s a tribute to the first Volvo to roll off the production line, the 1927 OV4 ‘Jakob’. Each panel is hand-made from aluminium – in keeping with the techniques Volvo used 80 years ago – but under the skin is a modern 261bhp 2.5-litre turbo engine.

The interior is sparse, but has amazing attention to detail. Take the starting procedure, for example. Touch a dial to the right of the steering wheel, and it glows red, push the clutch and it turns purple. Press the dial one more time and the engine fires – while the colour goes blue!