Volvo Zeepkist raceauto

[Ben]

Volvo's modern take on the soap-box derby
Imagine yourself in a vehicle no larger then nine-feet long and 36-inches wide. You would be imagining this year's Volvo Extreme Gravity Car. Volvo will be showcasing this vehicle at the Extreme Gravity Race, now in its fifth year. On August 18th, 2005 at Jack's Peak in Monterey, California, the Volvo Gravity Car will head down the mountain at speeds upwards of 70mph.

Participating for the second year, the Volvo Extreme Gravity Car will compete head to head against designs from other major car manufacturers.

The Extreme Gravity Race, founded by Don MacAllister, is a charitable event that raises money for foster children to help them become independent young men and women in their communities. Furthermore, through Gravity Series, Inc., the foster children gain paid work experience engaging in all the aspects of the event. Whether the child is checking racers in, recording race times, or even racing the vehicle, they are constantly keeping busy throughout race day.

Last year, Volvo brought home first place in car design. This year, plans have changed slightly. Volvo plans on taking first place for car design as well as being first to the finish line. Penning this year's look is Volvo designer, Blair Taylor. "We paired a cost-effective fiberglass body with a steel-frame chassis and space-age high performance ceramic components, orchestrated with the latest sophisticated computer modeling and test techniques, yielding a design that reflects and harnesses Volvo's brand and Scandinavian soul."

Itching to know what this years design looks like? Well, you are in luck. Here is a sneak peek at the 2005 Volvo Gravity Car.

[Ben]

Volvo, a Ford Motor subsidiary, won the grand prize for fastest car at Thursday's fifth annual Extreme Gravity Race in Monterey, Calif., with this purpose-built race car. But the vehicle has an unusual characteristic for a successful racer: It has no engine. The Extreme Gravity Car is designed to go downhill — the race took vehicles down Jack's Peak in Monterey — and the speed with which it won the competition was 54 mph.

Nine other major design studios competed in the race — with cars that bear little resemblance to typical automobiles, street-legal or otherwise. Volvo's Extreme Gravity Car is only 9 feet long and 36 inches wide. The company also competed in the race last year, when it took first place in the design category.

In order to make a vehicle that would go faster than the competition — and not just look cool — Volvo "paired a cost-effective fiberglass body with a steel-frame chassis and space-age, high-performance ceramic components," according to Blair Taylor, the car's designer.

But in order to keep in line with Volvo's brand image, the Extreme Gravity Car also had to make safety a top priority. As such, the race car features a five-point seatbelt, specially constructed rollover cage and custom-made brakes.

While Volvo won the top-speed award at this year's race, Nissan Motor snatched away the design honor. Audi and Bentley took first place in the "best innovation" category.


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The race may sound a bit like an old soapbox derby, and inventing a car that only goes downhill may seem pointless to some. But the event attracts serious automakers, including blue-blooded Bentley, which has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in recent years. The Extreme Gravity Race represents a chance for automakers to showcase their engineering and design savvy in cars that don't pollute the environment with emissions. This environmental friendliness looks good — as does the charitable nature of the event — but to build a fast car with no engine is a real test of an automaker's ingenuity. And a most unusual test at that.

The Extreme Gravity Race is a charitable event that raises money for foster children to help them learn independence. The foster children gain paid work experience by engaging in all the aspects of the event. Whether the children are checking racers in, recording race times — or even racing the vehicles — they are constantly keeping busy throughout race day.