Volvo’s S90 at the North American International Auto Show, where it won third place in the car-of-the-year polling. Warren Brown would have voted it the winner, until seeing the price sticker. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Think of it as a superior health insurance policy offered at a superior price.

Or, view it as a fine piece of art, a well-crafted jewel available for a person of means.

In truth, it is a beautiful, excellently engineered automobile — equipped with all of the latest advanced electronic safety and driver-assistance technology. It is an elegant, motorized fort — the 2017 Volvo S90 T6 AWD Inscription sedan.

The name is important.

It can save you anywhere from $3,300 to $9,300. And, like the best health insurance policy, choosing the best one for you can do a better job of protecting your life.

There essentially are four models of the S90 sedan — the front-wheel-drive S90 T5 Momentum and Inscription and the all-wheel-drive S90 T6 versions of those cars.

The lower prices are at the T5 Momentum level, starting at $46,950. The higher prices begin with the S90 T6 Inscription, starting at $56,250.

The all-wheel-drive T6 Inscription was used for this column.

Both the T5 and T6 are beautiful inside and out without flirting with ostentation. Exterior lines are smooth, clean and uncluttered. The interiors use supple, ventilated Nappa leather seat covering and brushed aluminum and linear walnut inlays. The combination bespeaks an attractive, purposeful Swedish simplicity.

Technology abounds. All S90 sedans come with a gasoline 2.0-liter, in-line 4-cylinder engine. But the front-wheel-drive T5 has a single turbocharger. The forced-air technology in the all-wheel-drive T6 Inscription uses twin turbochargers.

The difference is remarkable. The T5 engine delivers 250 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The T6 yields 316 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Premium fuel is “recommended” for the T5, meaning you can get away with using something like 89-octane fuel. Premium is required for the T6. Yet both cars have decent highway fuel economy — 34 miles per gallon for the T5 and 31 miles per gallon for the T6.

Both cars also are surprising in terms of performance, especially the all-wheel-drive S90 T6 Inscription. With a four-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive, I expected to feel some drag, some unpleasant hint of compromise. I didn’t. Instead, the T6 Inscription felt like a car with a larger engine, a V-6 or V-8. The twin-turbo four it came with was amazingly responsive. There was no complaint with acceleration.

The engine’s start-stop technology, engineered to save fuel at red lights and stop signs, worked perfectly, as did technologies such as forward-collision mitigation, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure and blind-side warning.

I emerged from a week and several hundred miles in the T6 Inscription thinking: This is the way all cars should be made. Much of the advanced safety and driver-assistance equipment in the T6 Inscription should be mandated for all new automobiles. The stuff works, actually helps to prevent crashes. It can prevent injuries and save lives.

That certainly is what the global automobile industry is aiming for — crash-free, injury-free driving.

But can it get there without bankrupting its customers? A final transaction price of $66,105, the cost of this column’s T6 Inscription, is a lot of money.