Volvo 850 R | High Mile Club
A Volvo didn't make it to best saloons shortlist - if only it could have included pre-1998...
We wanted a Volvo in the best saloons (and estates and some coupes) vote, we really did. Because who doesn’t love a fast Volvo? But when you look back over the past quarter of a century, it’s hard to really say that any of them are worthy of inclusion in a 'best of the best' list. Perhaps if that wild Polestar S60 concept had made production, we’d be having a different discussion. But various T4s, T5s and T6s have been good rather than great over the years, and while the proper Polestar cars were likeable – especially the straight-six one – they weren’t legendary fast cars. So the decision was made to keep them out.
But in the early and mid 1990s, Volvo revolutionised expectations of both its cars and the saloon genre more broadly. The T5 wagons are the famous Volvos, understandably, but the same lusty, characterful five-cylinder turbos made it to the four-door cars as well. Once upon a time the performance Volvo didn’t exist, and seemed far-fetched as a concept; then the T5-engined 850s arrived, rampantly fast and yet still completely under the radar, and a fast-car icon was born.
Volvo didn’t ignore the popularity of the T5; it was followed by the T-5R limited edition, which became the series production 850 R in 1996. That meant 250hp from the five-cylinder turbo thanks to a larger Garrett blower and intercooler. It was lower than any other T5 on unique wheels, with a limited slip diff on manual cars doing its best to get that monstrous power to the road. With everything at its best, Volvo claimed 0-60mph in 6.2 seconds and 150mph. That’s fast for a front-wheel drive car today; imagine it in a Volvo estate almost 30-years ago. No wonder people were taken aback.
The age of 850s makes finding good ones difficult today; they lapped up use, which owners were only too happy to indulge. And like so many now-revered cars, they were once very cheap and left neglected. But the nature of these old Volvos, even with the performance on tap, meant they would keep on chomping through front tyres dutifully if looked after properly. When right-hand drive Volvo T5s are being imported from Japan, there’s clearly a fondness.
This one shows just how good an 850 can still be after plenty of use. The next mileage milestone is going to be 200,000, not that the exterior or interior would give that away. It’s undoubtedly a car of the mid 1990s, a big, blocky saloon with an even blockier interior – and a manual gearbox! – but the fact it’s covered 192,000 miles certainly isn’t so clear. The current custodian is just the fourth, and an owners club member who appears to have another old Volvo lurking in the garage, all of which are good signs to us. This R is mechanically standard, too, which will keep the likely pool of buyers broad, plus it’s being sold freshly serviced and with a fresh MOT.
That’s in addition to a whole host of recently replaced parts, including a refresh of the suspension and a new cambelt, water pump, ignition leads and so on. The claims about lots of paperwork and a car ‘serviced regularly without fail’ are easy to believe; cars don’t make it this far (in every sense) while looking this good without some diligent care.
With the fast Volvo 850s as rare and revered as they now are, finding even vaguely affordable ones is getting harder by the week. The last T5-R we featured was more than £25k, and while the mileage was lower the odo was still in six figures. This one is £5,999, which really doesn’t look a lot in the current climate. It would be quite an achievement to get it through 200k – and everything suggests there’ll be plenty more driving left in it, even then.
A Volvo or SAAB with "nearly 200,000 miles" is not news. 300,000 maybe, but even then not unusual.
A Maserati with 150,000, conversely, would be news.
That said, perhaps the news here is how good the thing looks with the mileage it has. I had a 7 year old SAAB 900 turbo with 210,000 miles at purchase and it was the best car I had owned up to that point. It covered the next 36,000 miles needing nothing more than servicing and a set of tyres. This Volvo will probably do the same.
Would dig my DA polisher out and have it looking really quite nice for less than a tenner in materials a few hours work.
I'd love either a 850 R, V70 R or V60 Polestar.
I'd love either a 850 R, V70 R or V60 Polestar.
A Volvo or SAAB with "nearly 200,000 miles" is not news. 300,000 maybe, but even then not unusual.
A Maserati with 150,000, conversely, would be news.
That said, perhaps the news here is how good the thing looks with the mileage it has. I had a 7 year old SAAB 900 turbo with 210,000 miles at purchase and it was the best car I had owned up to that point. It covered the next 36,000 miles needing nothing more than servicing and a set of tyres. This Volvo will probably do the same.
So those of us that know better can continue to pick up bargains.
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff