Leif Tufvesson, who in 2004 won the prestigious “Hot Rod of the Year” award from Hot Rod Magazine and in 2005 presented his T6 Roadster, now returns with a completely new car.

Leif previously worked for the Volvo Concept Center, and for 6 years was responsible for the development department of the Swedish sports car manufacturer, Koenigsegg.

He has now started to construct and manufacture his own cars. His cars have won innumerable prizes over the years and, among others, have received a great deal of acclaim at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas – the largest exhibition platform for specialist car constructors in the world.

The latest project is a mid-engine hot rod powered by a Volvo V8. The car is completely constructed in aluminum and carbon fiber with an advanced sports car chassis fitted with Öhlin shock absorbers.

"Actually, it’s a sports car with a design idiom that is a further development of the classic Hotrod. Perhaps it could establish a new school of thought and coin the term Sport Rod. My idea was to build a car that was as much fun to drive as it was to look at. Road-holding characteristics have never been the hallmark of traditional hot rods," says Tufvessson.

The cars are designed with just this in mind – excellent road holding with an ideal 60/40 (back/front) weight distribution.

The car is extraordinarily well built, with millimeter precision in every part of the bodywork. The leather interior is exquisitely crafted with a nostalgic retrospective feel. The steering wheel, instruments and gear selector come from Volvo, as does the V8 engine, the 6-speed automatic transmission and the car’s electrical system. The engine is tuned with the environment in mind, and has been converted to ethanol by Scandinavia's leading car tuning company BSR.

Leif Tufvesson has built and designed the entire car himself, though he has taken advantage of his wide contact network of sub-contractors in terms of paint finish, interior fittings and CAD-milling.

Everything else is manufactured and assembled in his workshop in the old brickworks outside Ängelholm in the south of Sweden.

It has taken Leif less than two years to build his SEMA display car and one similar to it, which is residing back home. The two cars are identical, though in different colors. Leif and his company, Caresto, a name also sported on the grill of the car, had two objectives when building the cars: "On one hand the aim is to sell the cars and it is my hope to build at least six examples of this particular model. On the other hand it is, in fact, for my own enjoyment’s sake, because I love building cars. It’s my hobby and at the same time, it’s my job."

The estimated price is around 2.5 million Swedish kronor (approximately $338,000).

Many experts within the motoring world have praised Tufvesson for the high level of quality and attention to detail on his cars.

The whole exterior and interior design was developed in partnership with car designer Per Gyllenspetz, who, with his 20 years of design experience, has guided the design team.

A number of the car’s different components deserve special mention.  Among them are the removable composite hardtop, the three integrated rear-view cameras, the advanced techniques of the rear lights as well as the CAD-milled aluminum details such as wheel spindles, exhaust panel, interior details and the lamp housing for the Hella Xenon headlights.

A detail such as the temperature controlled hood that opens automatically for additional cooling just shows how everything has been completely well thought through.

For more information visit www.caresto.se.

Caresto V8S Speedster - Technical specifications

(Source: Caresto, Volvo)