Video Sunday - The Fastest Brick... In The World

Uploaded: 5/9/11

Running Time: 1:42

Views When Posted: 15,726

When a car rocks up alongside you with enormous rear tyres that say "Hoosier" on them and a turbo the size of a dog, you know you're in trouble... even if said car is a Volvo 850. Think Volvo and you probably think "brick", or "soccer mom" or "bad driver" or "safe" or something like that. What you don't think of, if you're normal that is, is "sub-seven-second quarter mile". Prepare to have your mind bent.

Pictured: Doomsday Device

This heavily turbocharged dragster may not even have started out in life as a real Volvo, and if it did, there isn't much of its original skeleton left. What there is, however, is a full set of drag tyres, a tubular space frame to stop the immense power and torque from folding the car in half when you stamp on the throttle, and a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder engine instead of some gigantic 7-litre V8, proving that there is a replacement for displacement, or rather an alternative. Thanks in no small part to the tornado that's surely generated by that turbocharger sitting outside the car, this Inline-4 produces over 1300 horsepower. Sure, that's not as much as the last unusual dragster I showed you on here, but considering the source, that's pretty gosh-darned impressive. What's more impressive is that while that Rolls-Royce needed a 9.6-litre V8 to do a standing quarter-mile in around 8 seconds, this Volvo does the same thing in just 6.85 seconds, maybe even faster with a smoother run. Not so weighed down with walnut and cashmere, perhaps?

So that's mightily impressive, but if this 850 with 1300 is not quite roadworthy enough for your tastes, may I suggest instead this brown Volvo 240 Estate fitted with the 2JZ-GTE 3-litre twin-turbo straight-six from a Toyota Supra RZ? Sleepers, as cars like this are known, are great because they look completely normal - dull, even - and yet one squeeze of the throttle will easily embarrass those who underestimate your machine. This one, complete with faded brown paint and a roof rack, even shows a blinged BMW M5 a clean pair of moose hooves! Video below:

Uploaded: 15/5/11

Running Time: 1:38

Views When Posted: 378,007

So that's just two of many unassuming Volvos with hidden talents. Pick your favourite!