With this morbid, Nordic sighting we’re back for another Wagon Wednesday posting. I’m fairly certain a large amount of Finns making their last journey make it in a lengthened, dark-coloured Volvo; Mercedes W210 E-Classes are another favourites for memorial service vehicles, but I do find the Volvo slightly more suitable. A large number of my friends would probably disagree, some of them have declared they wouldn’t be caught dead in a Volvo if it was up to them…

Click for a couple more photos of the Volvo.

The Volvo is most likely a Nilsson-built conversion of the V90. At first, I marked it down in my mind as a 960, but some Googling suggests it’s the final iteration of the series instead, called the S90/V90 in some markets. There were so few changes it would take a serious Volvo nerd to know them by heart. To be honest, it could be either.

There are flag holders up front, as is expected.

I believe the Volvo is a recent import, as noted by the temporary test-drive plates. Those are also the reason it gets a free pass of my recent self-inflicted, commenter-recommended plate-blur-from-now-on policy; it’s likely the Volvo doesn’t wear those plates any more. There is a hearse specialist in town, which explains the car’s presence. As photographed, it probably waited for a service after being brought into the country.

Most likely there’s the 204-horse 3.0-litre six under the hood, which should make for graceful walking speed progress.

The Volvo is an impressive sight. The wheelspan has been lengthened by at least a third, and the vehicle is also significantly taller.

Here’s also the point where I reveal a significant hole in my knowledge; I do not know if these tall-longroof conversions utilize glass reinforced plastic or actually have all-steel roofs – or aluminium. Can somebody back me up?

It also looks like the Volvo can be run on natural gas, as notified by the cap under the gasoline tank flap.

The rear gate is fairly interesting. The conversion does away with the slim, vertical taillight clusters of the wagon, and has sedan lights instead that lift away with the tailgate.

There is a partition behind the front seats and the customer section. While one expects the rear cargo section to be closed off for various reasons, I suspect the conversion company has paid extra attention for the vehicle’s crash safety. I believe whatever is transported back there is secured down very tightly, but a sturdy partition makes for a convincing case as well.

Would you find a Volvo hearse to be fitting for a Hooniverse-style sendoff? I imagine large enough Hooniverse stickers for the rear glass could be arranged…

 

[Images: Copyright 2012 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]