The idea of a high-powered hybrid-electric personal luxury grand touring coupe is strangely appealing to my sensibilities. The Polestar 1 served as both the capstone and the launching point for Volvo’s electric Polestar brand spinoff, and it was the absolute pinnacle of what the brand was capable of at the time. With a complex arrangement of electric motors and a tiny 2-liter four cylinder with both a supercharger and a turbocharger, Polestar pushed 619 horsepower and 738 pound feet of torque to the road from this delightfully appointed and sleek bodied machine.
Since it was first shown as the Volvo Concept Coupe in 2013 I have wanted one of these machines for my own. Sadly, they were $156,500 when they were new, which I could not bring myself to spend. But after a few short years and not very many miles of depreciation, this one is currently on eBay deeply discounted at a significantly more reasonable $69,999. This is a distinctly Scandinavian take on the old-school muscle car, and it’s taking all of my willpower to not click the Buy It Now button.
This is a very rare automobile, with just 1500 built for global consumption over three years, and only 250 of them were sent to the U.S. market. I am compelled to view the Polestar 1 as perhaps one of the most beautiful vehicle shapes of the last thirty years. With a 0-60 time of 4.2 seconds and a limited top speed of 155 miles per hour, it’s not exactly setting the world on fire with its performance, but it’s certainly no slouch.
Even more appealing to me, however, is the nice long electric range afforded by the relatively large 34 kWh battery pack. In daily use, I could drive this big coupe around on a full 232 horsepower of electric shove to the rear wheels for an estimated 93 miles of range. There’s something about a gorgeous Grand Touring interior with the quiet relaxation of electric propulsion that combines to make perhaps the best daily driver in history. But when you want to really put the hammer down, it still has all the gasoline-powered whizbangery you could ask for. It’s truly the best of both worlds, and now they’re both half price!