Who was the first person in the U.S. to buy an XC60?

Jane Irish from New Hampshire. Jane, a long time Volvo owner, test-drove our XC60 at Merrimack Street Volvo during a From Sweden with Löv tour stop and decided it fit her needs perfectly. “My lease [XC70] expired in April this year and I wanted something that was smaller than your XC90 and higher [seating position] than my XC70.”  Seems she was following us from day one on the XC60 Concept and just needed to see it in real life.

Guess we met her expectations.  Jane’s first Volvo was a used 240, which ended its life on a snow covered road accident, not Jane’s fault, with 240,000 miles on it. Next up was our 740 Turbo wagon. At our New Jersey office we often called those sleepers—especially when it sported a manual transmission. Sweet intercooled four-cylinder engines. Anyway, her last ride was our 2005 XC70.

I asked why she buys Volvo’s. Safety (dumb question on my part), but up next was styling. So we can have safety plus styling rolled into something that’s ‘just right’ in size and performance. Jane chose the Cosmic White XC60 with the Sandstone Beige interior. Nice combination. I like Terra Bronze because it sort of matches my wife’s old XC70.

She said about City Safety, “The test drive and not hitting the brakes [letting CS take control] took some getting used to.” In real world situations, she’ll either know to stop or be distracted which is when CS takes over. As an insurance agency owner, I think she sees the benefits of this kind of automatic safety system in helping to reduce vehicle damages and personal injuries.

She wanted to know if I could get her XC60 to her any quicker…good try Jane. They should start to roll in around March ’09.

And now for something completely different: December in Sweden is Glögg and Ginger Bread making time. These recipes came from our PR Media Site Manager – Lena Pettersson over in Sweden:

Glögg (Mulled Wine)
6-8 tumblers, 15 minutes prep time
1 bottle red wine
1 dl cane sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 cm fresh ginger
4 aniseeds
5 cloves
1 orange in thin slices

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat carefully on low and do not let boil. Let sit for 5 minutes. Serve.

Ginger Bread Cookies (hard)
Makes approx 200 pc
300 gr butter
3 dl sugar
3/4 dl syrup
2 eggs
2 teaspoons bicarbonate (baking soda for us less chemically inclined -dj)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger (dry)
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 litre wheatflour (approx. 600 g wheat bread flour – dj)

Stir fat and sugar little at the same time. Stir syrup, eggs, bicarbonate and spices down as well. Add the wheatflour and stir. Let the dough rest in the fridge for 1-2 days. Bring the dough out and work it smooth. Roll it out thin. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Take out the biscuits with pastry cutters and put them on cold, buttered baking sheets or baking paper. Bake them in the middle of the oven about 5 min. Cool the biscuits on the baking sheet. Serve.
(Ginger bread is delicious to eat with some blue cheese spread, but don’t do it in advance – the biscuits will soften)

(As another friend pointed out, you can always hit up that Swedish furniture store and buy Glögg mix and Ginger snaps…dj)