EDITOR AT LARGE
MATTHEW NEUNDORF
“All my means are sane, my motive and my object mad. ” – Herman Melville
WE ALL – EACH AND EVERY ONE of us – have our own “White Whale”. That car, watch, or motorcycle we obsess over. We scour the internet, brick-and-mortar shops and back-alleys, searching, hoping it’s available and maybe, hopefully, gasp… affordable? Nowadays, with so many incredible things – both new and those from yesteryear – I’m pretty sure most of us have pod. I know I do. The search for one of my elusive beasts began some eight years ago. Shiny, polished, new. It plucked at the strings of my petrol pumping heart at the North American International Auto Show in Toronto, and it played them hard. Fast, sleek and practical, it was a 345 horsepower sport-tuned wagon. That generation of Volvo V60 with the Polestar treatment signalled the beginning of the end for Volvo’s high performance, non-hybrid/electric wagons. In Rebel Blue, I was in love. A couple of years would pass and those Polestar-tuned wagons would swap their turbocharged, inline-sixes for Volvo’s engine du jour, the Twincharged four- pot. Some purists will argue that the O.G. versions were better. That six could sing a song, sure but for 2017 and 2018, the Twincharged units were more powerful (362 horsepower), lighter and packed a much better 8-speed transmission, too. My Whale! The search for a used one started before the pandemic. Prices for new Polestars weren’t something I could tackle (and they still aren’t), but just like any other car, picking one up off-lease could easily save a bucket or two of cash right?
Built in limited
numbers, those Polestars didn’t exactly depreciate. And, since buyers tended to hold their vehicles in high
praise, they weren’t getting rid of them either. The real work began a few months ago when I spotted one on a lot in Ottawa. A 2017, with relatively low kilometres, it still commanded a premium but since I wasn’t in a rush (I’d waited this long, right?) I just kept an eye on it. And then another one surfaced. This time around it was a year younger and had nearly half the kilometres. The CARFAX wasn’t clean but there was nothing overly alarming about it. The only catch was that it was swimming with the Orcas out in British Columbia. Once the snow melted, I thought someone might snatch up the Ottawa whip, but still it sat. A trip to the Nation’s capital for my other gig meant I’d be in town to take a closer look but the dealership wasn’t interested in negotiations and it was still priced too high. I had all but given up. I shifted my focus onto something else entirely. Less a White Whale and more a “car that would suffice”, when a third miraculously surfaced. And this time it was within reach of my financial hunting net and close enough to land. It may not be Rebel Blue (nor white), but unlike Captain Ahab I caught my Whale! So, onto the next one then? There is still plenty of thrill in the chase, after all.
That generation of Volvo V60 with the Polestar treatment
signalled the beginning of the end for Volvo’s high performance, non-hybrid/
electric wagons. In Rebel Blue, I was in love.
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