The XC90 semi-sunken in front of Volvo Island with the S80. Credit: Google Maps
In recent days we have told you the curious story of Volvo Island, a tiny one island in a artificial lake of theIllinois (United States) on which one is parked S80 silver in color from 13 years. THE’car of the Swedish house was placed there by the entrepreneur Scott Mann in 2012, with the idea of creating a competition in which the participants would have to find out how it got there (spoiler: there was a peninsula, all the earth was removed with an excavator leaving only the islet with the elegant sedan above). The contest was not held for safety reasons, but the S80 remained there, giving life to the “legendary” Volvo Island. It is a truly existing place that you can find on Google Maps at the following coordinates 41.35474, -88.79789; is located exactly at Rutland Township in LaSalle County and on the Google App it is listed as a “tourist attraction” with 4.9 out of 5 stars rating. They have been published hundreds of reviews (many are funny) and you can see several photographs of visitors.
Give her Images shared and using the “Street View” of Google Maps cannot ignore a curious detail, namely the presence of a second Volvoone XC90 (first generation) semi-sunken white in colour, which with its “gaze” points directly towards the islet with the S80. On the rear window of SUVs it says in red “Volvo Island or Bust”, which we can roughly translate into “either I reach Volvo Island or I fail”.
Many of our readers (and not only) have wondered how the XC90 ended up there and above all why; a curiosity within a curiosity that we managed to reveal by investigating this singular tourist attraction of the USA. Some think that some joker decided to abandon his scrap car there to fuel the legend of Volvo Island, others still believe it was the same one Swedish car manufacturer to be involved in the second installation (for promotional reasons), but the reality is quite different and, if we want, even more fun.
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The story of the XC90 was told on the Matthews Volvo Site, a portal where advice, information and curiosities are provided for car owners in Gotheborg. In short, it is the classic site for enthusiasts of a certain brand. The manager apparently contacted Mr Mann after one of his collaborators named Lauren noticed the presence of the XC90 in the lake. The SUV, as indicated, is semi-submerged and facing the silver sedan; Mann himself put it there – after all, he is the owner of the area – with the aim of telling a surreal story. In practice the XC90 was placed there as if it were engaged in one rescue missionto try to take away his father (the S80) from prison on the island, on which he has been “trapped” for 13 years. In fact we are faced with a real one artistic installationhowever surreal. The project also includes the beetles hanging from the trees that attracted the attention of Google Maps users.
As told by Matthews Volvo Site, all the installations in the artificial lake and surrounding areas were carried out with the authorizations of Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The two Volvos, for example, were stripped of all their equipment before being put into position liquids (fuel, oil, transmission, brakes etc etc) and their tanks have been carefully washed to avoid any type of water contamination. We remember that here once stood a abandoned mine which was subsequently flooded. Mr. Mann purchased the entire area and his installations are absolutely legal and approved by local authorities.
Among the various experiments conducted in the lake, for example, there was a test with two American cars to see how long it would take them to sink after being placed on the frozen lake. Even in that case the cars were treated preventively. Once sunk they were even used by rescuers to practice saving people involved in “underwater” accidents. In short, Volvo Island is much more than just a small island with an S80 parked on it.
