The Iron Maven is a Volvo PV544 restomod with a villainous silhouette

There’s nothing like a good restomod to lift the spirits on a gloomy afternoon, and our pick for today is a classic Volvo-turned-slammed-hotrod called the ‘Iron Maven’. 

The result of 18 months of late nights and early mornings, it's a collaboration between between Volvo and Sarah ‘Bogi’ Lateiner, a well-known automotive fanatic from across the pond. She’s also the founder of 'Girl Gang Garage' - an initiative which wants to grow the female workforce in the automotive industry. 

Together with her all-female cast of 160-strong mechanics, technicians, welders and more, Bogi headed up the reimagination and subsequent revival of what has surely got to be one of the coolest modified cars we’ve seen in a long time. Time for some details.

It’s a 1961 Volvo PV544 that was wheeled out of a barn in Phoenix, Arizona in 2021. The original inline-four block was then shunted in favour of a plug-in hybrid unit from a 2019 Volvo S60 Recharge, which combines a 328bhp four-cylinder petrol unit with an 87bhp electric motor. 

In Top Gear maths, that means a total output of 415bhp and (likely) close to the 295lb ft of torque produced by the S60. And though we don’t yet know the 0-62mph time and top speed, we reckon this pint-sized Swede can probably give the new school of German hot hatches a run for their kronas. 

But as exciting as the powertrain is, the biggest wow factor has surely got to be… well, just look at it. From the deep purple tones mixed together to form the main exterior paint (named ‘Rebelberry’), to the massive 10-spoke alloys and the equally chunky wheel arches, this is a superb demonstration of creative nous.

You’re probably wondering why we’re telling you about a car that’s now several years old, and that’s because the Iron Maven is expected to ‘officially’ hit the road over the next few months as Bogi and her team sift through the final few teething issues. 

This the sort of restomod you can get behind?

Photography: Girl Gang Garage