Volvo 850 T-5R | PH Auction Block
Heaps of BTCC appeal and major dog carrying potential - the 850 T-5R has it all
Only in the BTCC will you find an estate competing for outright victory. It wasn’t that long ago when the Subaru Levorg Sports Tourer was dominating the series; apparently, its blocky estate shape gave it an aerodynamic edge over the rest of the field. Then there was the Honda Civic Tourer, which admittedly wasn’t as competitive as the Type Rs fielded before and since yet the estate’s single season in 2014 did at least yield a handful of victories and third place in the final standings. They may only be there because the marketing team says so, but racing is a better place when wagons are in the mix.
And they don’t get much cooler than the Volvo 850. Though it wasn’t especially successful, the 850 estate’s sole season in the series was enough to cement it as one of the most iconic BTCC cars of all time. Boxy proportions, a striking livery, and, above all, the devilish sound emitted by the naturally aspirated inline-five engine. Now, Volvo estates have always been cool, but watching the 850 rub door handles with Alfa 155s, BMW 3 Series and Renault Lagunas during the 1994 championship added some serious kudos points. A year later, Volvo launched the 850 T-5R like the one we have here, bringing five-cylinder BTCC wagon goodness to the public.
In all honesty, the T-5R didn’t share much in common with the touring car. The racer had a trick TWR-developed atmospheric engine while the T-5R used the same 2.3-litre motor front the 850 Turbo, albeit with Porsche helping tune the ECU to deliver more boost pressure. However, the T-5R packed quite a punch with 243hp on tap and 250lb ft of torque, all of which was sent to the front wheels through either a five-speed manual or, as is the case with this particular car, a four-speed automatic. Impressively, that translated to a 0-62mph time in the six-second region and limited top speed of just over 150mph. Bonkers numbers for a Volvo at the time.
On the chassis side, Porsche also assisted with tuning the suspension but it’s otherwise identical to that of the T5. The interior did however receive numerous tweaks, such as sportier seats that, again, were developed in collaboration with Porsche. Some welcome flair was added courtesy of a sportier bodykit, too, which included a deeper front bumper and rear wing. Pair that with the smokey five-spoke alloy wheels and you get one moody-looking wagon indeed.
That’s certainly the case with the one we have here, as it’s finished in the highly desirable shade of Olive Green. It’s believed that 400 cars were allocated to the UK, of which 113 were in this combo of the estate body, green and with the auto ‘box, but as you can imagine there are far fewer three decades later. HowManyLeft puts the number of autos on the road in the mid 30s, making this particulate spec a seriously rare one.
And that’s worth bearing in mind when considering the £22,000 - £24,000 guide price. Yes, it may not have the more desirable manual ‘box and has covered a fair few miles at 121,611, but these have been on the radar of collectors for several years now, particularly one that hasn’t been mucked about with and looks to be in good condition. The sale includes a stacked history file and ‘a fully stamped’ service book, while recent work was carried out on overhauling the brakes. So it’s ready to hit the road and for you to unleash your inner BTCC driver, as long as you end the auction on top when bidding closes on Saturday 18th.
Did the R bring much to the party ?I know there was a little more power, but you only got 15, not 25 bhp in the auto, and nicer wheels, some suspension tweaks as well ?
Ours was a 94, can’t get my head round that being 30 years ago.
Let's clear this one up; a very clever piece of Volvo marketing.
I remember the advert at the time it read "It's limited to 155mph. We don't know how fast it goes."
First statement is true. Second statement I very much doubt is true, I'm 100% sure a manufacturer would test the maximum speed.
So the first statement is true, but very misleading. I remember being at the motor show and listening to Jeremy Clarkson singing the car's praises and say it could do "nearly 160!". Things were getting silly, that sort of figure getting banded about but Volvo must've loved it!
So if you do a little research and maths you'll see that at the red-line in 5th gear the car is at 155mph, therefore "limited to 155". But would it get there?
Clearly not, 143mph was Autocars result.
But great marketing spin from Volvo; even to this day articles such as this are perpetuating it!
Let's clear this one up; a very clever piece of Volvo marketing.
I remember the advert at the time it read "It's limited to 155mph. We don't know how fast it goes."
First statement is true. Second statement I very much doubt is true, I'm 100% sure a manufacturer would test the maximum speed.
So the first statement is true, but very misleading. I remember being at the motor show and listening to Jeremy Clarkson singing the car's praises and say it could do "nearly 160!". Things were getting silly, that sort of figure getting banded about but Volvo must've loved it!
So if you do a little research and maths you'll see that at the red-line in 5th gear the car is at 155mph, therefore "limited to 155". But would it get there?
Clearly not, 143mph was Autocars result.
But great marketing spin from Volvo; even to this day articles such as this are perpetuating it!
When did the world get so boring? I blame EVs though, because a lot of those have really low top speeds as well.
I personally would never pay that much for this with the mileage it is on. I have a 22 year old Caterham and that has less than 5k miles on it for example. I'd be rocking in a corner with a car with over a 100k miles on it I reckon!
I do like these ones as road cars, would love to daily one. A normal T5 would be fine too. But would have to be manual. Anyone know how good parts availability is these days ?
Hilarious exiting a roundabout in the rain, steering was redundant, it just went where it was pointing.
Wish I still had it.
Wasn't it the change in rules to allow the aero that the Alfa 155 had in the same seaon, that enabled it to wipe the floor with the competition, that effectively cancelled the estate, I thought with the advent of aero the estate lost any advantage it's body style may have had and since the aero could not extend beyond the rear or above the roof line meant the estate would become a hindrance?
This does seem pricey for the mileage, I may expect something similar for a low use collectors item, but then the Japanese imports of these are usually quite pricey as well.
An olive green auto is far less desirable and I would guess maybe £10-12k more reaslistic
Edit - my old car when it sold in the US - I see from the comments that it's since been touted for much more!
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1995-volvo-t5-r-...
Volvo prices are notoriously high in the Netherlands, still this one looks a much better proposition:
https://www.classic-trader.com/nl/oldtimer/adverte...
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