Volvo Names Local Herndon Man Finalist in World's First Treasure Hunt for Buried Vehicle

Dave Hutz of Herndon, Va. Joins Two U.S. Finalists and Four International Finalists on August 6 at Secret Location for On-the-Ground Race to Uncover Buried Volvo SUV

HERNDON, Va., July 27 -- Look what the tide's washed in! Volvo Car Corporation today announced that Herndon's Dave Hutz is one of seven international finalists in its global, multi-media treasure hunt for a pirate-themed Volvo XC90 V8. The would-be pirate was among the first individuals worldwide to complete a fun, yet challenging online treasure hunt Volvo launched on June 12 and concluded four weeks later.

Hutz will be flown to an undisclosed location on August 6, where he will be joined in the final leg of the competition by two more Americans and one finalist each from Japan, UK, Spain and Austria.

The wildly popular hunt, a multi-media campaign developed as a part of Volvo's sponsorship of the Disney summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, has elicited participation from more than 52,000 online contestants in the U.S. alone.

Hutz, a 30 year-old software architect, will be accompanied by wife Sheila Satya Somani on his journey to the final leg of the hunt -- Volvo providing travel and accommodations for one guest per finalist. "I stayed up all hours of the night solving the puzzles Volvo gave us," said Hutz. "It was an exciting challenge and I'm thrilled to move on to the next stage of the hunt."

In an interesting twist of family fortune, Hutz's father Jim, a 57 year-old from Carefree, Ariz., also advanced to the final leg of the race where he will be competing head to head with his son as one of the three U.S. finalists. "My father introduced me to the treasure hunt and I was immediately hooked," Hutz said. "Thankfully I inherited his clever treasure hunting skills and I'm looking forward to competing against him for the car."

Once at the final hunt location, Hutz and each of the six other finalists will set off on a manic on-the-ground search for the buried vehicle. The format for the final leg of the competition will be reminiscent of reality TV shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race, with contestants participating in a two-day series of mental and physical challenges that will either eliminate them from the competition or advance them closer to the buried vehicle. The first treasure hunter to unearth the SUV keeps it. The victor and results of final hunt will be released to the public on August 11, followed by a series of webisodes chronicling the hunt premiering online at www.volvocars.us/thehunt on August 24.

The buried one-of-a-kind, Volvo XC90 is valued at approximately $82,000 and features a variety of elements inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, including menacing graphics from the film, black leather seats, custom painted 20 inch wheels and more.

Volvo's promotion of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest grew out of the partnership with Disney for the worldwide Volvo Ocean Race. The Volvo ship bears the name of the same boat in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, "The Black Pearl." The Ocean Race began in Vigo, Spain on Nov. 12, 2005 and ended in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 17, 2006.

About Volvo Cars of North America

Volvo has been building cars with Safety in mind for over 75 years. The current 2006 model line-up of Volvo Cars includes: the award-winning new S40 and its wagon counterpart the all-new V50; the award-winning XC90; the sporty S60 sedan -- including the award-winning performance sedan -- S60 R and the performance wagon version -- V70 R; the S80 luxury sedan; the versatile V70 wagon and rugged XC70 (Cross Country); and the soon-to-be released new Volvo C70, the convertible with the innovative retractable hardtop.