The Little Metal Man In The Volvo XC60

Volvo XC60 Dash

The thing that first caught my eye when I took a seat in the Volvo XC60 was the little metal man on the dashboard. He was right there, front and center, surrounded by all the buttons and dials. He looked important and a bit odd.

Turned out the little metal man controlled the airflow inside the car. Pressing his shiny silver head send air wafting gently toward my own face. Likewise, pressing his middle or his legs sent air flowing in those directions. He was cute and functional and my kids named him Bob.

I liked Bob, but he took up a lot of space on the dashboard of the Volvo XC60. There were a huge number of buttons arranged around him like a giant infotainment picture frame. It felt a little like all those buttons could have been spread out a bit if not for Bob taking up so much real estate.

My anthropomorphic driving companion also made me think of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. I half expected him to giggle when I pushed his middle and was a bit disappointed when he remained silent. My kids made up for it though, by adding in their own sound effects every time I changed the airflow. Although, their accusations that I was trying to “mash his brains like a zombie” every time I pushed his head were completely unwarranted.

After a week driving around in the Volvo XC60 with Bob and my kids, I got used to him hanging out and hogging the dashboard. He was, after all, very shiny and very cute. Also, for considerably less than the cost of a fancy entertainment system, he kept the kids happy.

I’ve turned in the Volvo XC60 and moved on to another car this week. It does not have it’s own version of Bob and we were all kind of sad that he was gone. So long, Bob, we’ll miss you and your shiny metal head.

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.