Only UK-registered Polestar 1 for sale

Taking the electric plunge can’t be easy. Jaguar’s EV reboot appears in jeopardy before it’s even begun; Lotus is hoping that its recent(ish) reunification will clear up the confusion about is jumbled-up product range and, ideally, turn a profit; and Porsche has just announced a far-reaching dilution of its electric ambitions. It will continue to make combustion versions of the Panamera and an upcoming flagship SUV – cars that were destined for battery power – long into the 2030s. Making cars is hard; getting people to buy them is even harder.

Obviously, that’s just an outsider’s view, but if someone were stupid enough to put me in charge of their electric rebrand, I’d probably follow the Polestar philosophy. As you know, the brand served as Volvo’s performance division for the best part of a decade, resulting in some seriously special sleepers. Then, in 2017, the Swedish carmaker’s parent company Geely decided to relaunch Polestar as a standalone division, one that could go big on electricity, allowing Volvo to continue making cars with combustion engines. Nevertheless, Polestar’s debut model wouldn’t be an EV, but rather a bonkers hybrid in the body of a gorgeous coupe.

The Polestar 1, like the one you see for sale here, was a mighty statement of intent. And it all started back in 2013, when Volvo announced its stunning Concept Coupe at that year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Its design may seem simple now, given that Volvo would carry the concept’s design language through to the rest of its range (and continues to do so today), but it was vastly more attractive than anything the manufacturer was making at the time. Which made it all the more painful when the company decided against putting it into production, and so it sat on the shelf somewhere in Gothenburg, where it remained for nearly half a decade. 

Fast forward to the Polestar 1’s reveal at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show, and the return of that concept’s design. In fact, very little changed between Volvo show car and Polestar production reality, save for proper wheels and a real-world interior. More surprising was the choice of powertrain, which wasn’t a full battery electric setup but instead a 2.0-litre twin-charged (that’s turbo and supercharged) four-cylinder engine mated to a plug-in hybrid system. Alone, the combustion engine could put out a respectable 333hp, but factor in a trio of electric motors, two at the back and an integrated starter generator, and you got a big, juicy 608hp. That’s much more like it.

With a fully charged battery, the Polestar 1 was absolutely rapid. No, it doesn’t have the most tuneful of exhaust notes, nor does it feel especially luxurious inside, but you can feel the electrical system pushing the rear axle along while the four-banger sorts out the front. Manufacturers work tirelessly to make electrical assistance as seamless as possible, but the near 50-50 split was novel at the time – and is seldom seen today. I had one for a few days several years ago and loved the thing, as did many other journalists. Chris Harris among them, who bought the press car from Polestar the moment it became available.

Thing is, it was – and still is – the only Polestar 1 officially in the country and unSORN’d. So the car I and many other journalists enjoyed at the turn of the decade, the one Chris Harris would later go on to own, is the one you see in front of you here. Polestar said it made 1,500 of them, all of which are left-hand drive, but we never really ‘got’ them here in Britain. So it’s extremely rare, extremely cool and has been in the custody of a staffer you all know well. Better still, it’s a tad cheaper than it was when new, the asking price of £119,992 being £30k down on list. At the risk of saying ‘find another’, you’ll want to be quick on this. Miss out, and you might have one heck of a wait before seeing it back on the market again.