Volvo has celebrated 20 years of its performance Polestar brand by reuniting its current Volvo V60 Polestar model with its Granddad – the Volvo 855 T5-R. Both cars are on display side-by-side at Huntington Beach in California.

“Fast Volvo estates as the 855 T5-R is something special for many performance car enthusiasts around the world and we are proud to continue that heritage to a new level with the V60 Polestar,” said Christian Dahl, CEO of Polestar.

Volvo performance heritage

The original Volvo 855 T5-R was built back in 1994 and featured a 2.3-litre, five-cylinder turbocharged engine that was capable of 179 kW and 330 Nm of torque. That meant the boxy estate would shunt to 100kph in just seven-seconds and hit a crazy top speed (at the time) of 245kph. “I still remember the overwhelming reception we got when we showed the T5-R for the first time, especially combined with the current BTCC program we had with the 850 estate. I am very glad to see Polestar together with Volvo continuing this unique heritage today in the form of the V60 Polestar,” said Thomas Lindskog, Vice President 800 series at Volvo Cars in 1994.

Technology though has moved on and in comparison the current Polestar V60 uses a 3-Litre V6 turbo that pumps out 257 kW and 500 Nm. 0-100kph takes just 4.9 seconds and tops out at a limited 250kph. The current car loses out in one department as it weighs 234kg more than the original – 1834kg vs 1600kg.