RE: Volvo 850 R: Spotted
Wednesday 8th November 2017
For PHers of a certain generation, the boxy sight of a 90's Volvo estate will always conjure up images of blue and white 850s springing over the curbs of the BTCC. In the case of today's Spotted though, the performance lives up to the visual - and offers its new owner plenty of opportunity to unleash their inner Jan Lammers.
The 850 R was of course born out of the success of the T-5R, and there are certainly worse places to originate from. Its five-cylinder, 2.3-litre engine sent 240hp and 240lb ft of torque to the front wheels through a four-speed automatic 'box, whisking the occupants to 60 in 7.4 seconds. This car, however, is a rarer manual example and as such it boasts 250hp and 260lb ft of torque, reducing that figure by almost a full second - remember when a human was better at handling gears than a computer...?
Outside, the Olive Green paint with metallic gold flake and 17-inch Volan wheels make it look like the ultimate sleeper that it was. While inside the Alcantara and leather interior apparently "belies its age and mileage". As for consumables, well the 850 R was notorious for eating its tyres, but here the Yokohamas are described as showing plenty of tread - and there's apparently "plenty of disc and pad material remaining" when it comes to the brakes, too.
Volvo 850 R: Spotted
Take BTCC heritage, add a rare manual-plus-LSD combo, and multiply by today's classic car market for this £20k nineties estate...
It also comes with a limited slip differential and sport suspension with self-leveling rear shock absorbers. Being a Volvo, it had to be safe and comfortable too though, so you'll get anti-lock brakes; traction, cruise, and climate control; four airbags - the T-5R being the first car to introduce such a thing as standard - and heated electric memory seats.
With the car having undergone a major service upon arrival from Japan - including new timing and auxiliary belts - it looks to be in as good a condition as you could ever hope for. Which it ought to be, given the price.
Howmanyleft.com reckons there are just 75 850 Rs still registered in the UK, and this must surely have a strong claim to be among the finest left. Whether it's worth £20,000 is another matter - but as far as fast estates go, it's certainly one of the most iconic.
VOLVO 850R
Engine: 2,319cc, turbocharged 5cyl
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 253@5,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@2,400-5,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1996
Recorded mileage: 40,000 miles
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £19,995
See the original advert here
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Discussion
I've never personally bought into the notion that any car, and by proxy its owner, is somehow cooler just because the estate version has been chosen over the saloon.
If you need more space to carry things that's cool, many folks do, but otherwise the notion that choosing something that's bigger, heavier and inevitably goes and handles worse than the alternative saloon when you don't actually need the extra carrying capacity just for the sake of wanting to appear to have made the oddball, left field, cool choice is anything but as far as I am concerned.
This however is one of the very few estates that I do think has a genuine right to be deemed cool as, in racing form at least, it completely bucked the trend and flew in the face of the competition. I have many memories of watching these do battle at Snetterton as a youngster and loved every minute of them. Not nearly enough to pay anything like 20K for one mind.
If you need more space to carry things that's cool, many folks do, but otherwise the notion that choosing something that's bigger, heavier and inevitably goes and handles worse than the alternative saloon when you don't actually need the extra carrying capacity just for the sake of wanting to appear to have made the oddball, left field, cool choice is anything but as far as I am concerned.
This however is one of the very few estates that I do think has a genuine right to be deemed cool as, in racing form at least, it completely bucked the trend and flew in the face of the competition. I have many memories of watching these do battle at Snetterton as a youngster and loved every minute of them. Not nearly enough to pay anything like 20K for one mind.
Loyly said:
The asking price is wild.
And they weren't that good were they, just a bit wild for normally sensible shoes Volvo.3 lane torque steer when boosty Mcboost kicked in isn't considered an asset.
I was nearly side swiped by one when it got baulked by slow merging traffic, the driver got annoyed, dropped into what must have been 2nd gear, floored it and wriggled his way up the road like a snake with Parkinson's disease.
A £5k car for my money
cheddar said:
Loyly said:
The asking price is wild.
And they weren't that good were they, just a bit wild for normally sensible shoes Volvo.3 lane torque steer when boosty Mcboost kicked in isn't considered an asset.
I was nearly side swiped by one when it got baulked by slow merging traffic, the driver got annoyed, dropped into what must have been 2nd gear, floored it and wriggled his way up the road like a snake with Parkinson's disease.
A £5k car for my money
I guess the boost can be upped though. Standard performance always seemed a bit lacklustre compared to other fast estates
cheddar said:
And they weren't that good were they, just a bit wild for normally sensible shoes Volvo.
3 lane torque steer when boosty Mcboost kicked in isn't considered an asset.
I was nearly side swiped by one when it got baulked by slow merging traffic, the driver got annoyed, dropped into what must have been 2nd gear, floored it and wriggled his way up the road like a snake with Parkinson's disease.
A £5k car for my money
A mate has one in top condition, with some modifications. I like the looks and the sound, but FWD turbo on such a big car on UK greasy roads make it impossibly frustrating. OK when past 50mph. 3 lane torque steer when boosty Mcboost kicked in isn't considered an asset.
I was nearly side swiped by one when it got baulked by slow merging traffic, the driver got annoyed, dropped into what must have been 2nd gear, floored it and wriggled his way up the road like a snake with Parkinson's disease.
A £5k car for my money
Are the AWD better? I could have one as shed.
s m said:
Often people remark on their rocketshuip performance ......but the equally fast GT86 is criticised for being slow.
Not an entirely fair comparison tough, is it? One is an estate car from the early 90's the other one is a currently produced sports car. s m said:
Standard performance always seemed a bit lacklustre compared to other fast estates
The segment of fast estates has just been invented around that time. Sure the Audi RS2 was faster, but that one was developed and built by Porsche. And ridiculously expensive back then (and still today). What other fast estates where there back in the 90's?
In 1996 I was looking for a new Volvo Estate and wanted the 850 T5 AWD for children and dog. The main dealer had an ex-demo for sale at an excellent price with every conceivable option. They also had a bright red 850R ex-demo too which they were trying to off-load and offered it to me at the same price even though the list price was much higher. Great deal thinks I until I took it for a test drive on the local B roads. My teeth were still chattering 30 minutes later - I have never experienced such a hard ride. Every ripple in the road surface was like going over corrugated pavement. No thanks. Bought the T5 and drove it for 10 years.
20K? Really?
It's so sad to think that even 'relatively' mundane stuff like this could now becoming unattainable for enthusiasts with real world bank accounts.
Certainly makes my stage 3+ 9-5 Aero manual saloon 2006 with 72k on the clock seem good value for what I'm asking............
Maybe I should mothball it
It's so sad to think that even 'relatively' mundane stuff like this could now becoming unattainable for enthusiasts with real world bank accounts.
Certainly makes my stage 3+ 9-5 Aero manual saloon 2006 with 72k on the clock seem good value for what I'm asking............
Maybe I should mothball it
It is a bit of an icon admittedly, but for a third of the price you could have a remapped Focus ST, which has exactly the same engine. £20k is a bit silly.
Another thing, back in the day these were a massive car. I bet nowadays it would look really compact. I haven't seen one in years to judge!
Another thing, back in the day these were a massive car. I bet nowadays it would look really compact. I haven't seen one in years to judge!
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