I love how BTCC slam their cars with 18s and 19s and come out still functional. lol

There are times that I miss having my 2000 323i wagon. Specially when my neighbor drives by driving her boxy volvo wagon. She wasn’t driving an ordinary Volvo wagon, she had a 850R. It took me a long time to really love how this car looks. One fact that made me more interested in the 850R Estate was it’s racing history. Back in the early 90’s, The 850 estate was entered into the BTCC. Everyone thought it was a joke and a marketing gimmick and it worked. Volvo wanted to prove that the Swedish company don’t just build super safe cars, but also build cars that has performance. Rumored that an 850 sedan was supposed to be used to compete in BTCC but there was only a wagon shell available.

They thought that the estate’s long roofline would provide an advantage in aerodynamics than the sedan. Then later found out that the saloon, equipped with a rear wing, it had a much better downforce than the Estate without rear spoiler;LOL Ricers. 

So what’s so special about the 850 Estate Touring car? The 850 was stripped of course; the backseats were replaced with bars and a cage. The 5 cylinder, DOHC 20 valve engine was modified to race specs producing an output more or less of 290+ hp.The specifications of the engine schematics were confidential; they were so serious in keeping their built engine specs that they ordered the estate race cars were to be returned to Sweden and destroyed.

It shifted gears with the use of a highly modified XTrac Transmission. The car had a total weight of 2150lbs (975 kg), with a power-to-weight ratio comparable to that of a Porsche 911 GT3. Estimated that the race car would do 0-60 mph in about 3.7 seconds, the car had so much potential and competed in a couple of races but not enough to win.

the famous viral picture

In 1995, Volvo had to pull out the estate and replaced it with the 850T-5R saloon which brought home the bacon. The BTCC Volvo 850R Estate race car was definitely one of the most interesting looking cars ever built. Though it had a boxy, dull and funny looking shell, the car had a meaningful history worth knowing by non-Volvo enthusiasts.

When you see one creepin’ by as you drive around, pay a little respect to the soccer / granny-shifting, grocery getter because it might just kick your ass. As a fan of old boxy cars, the 850 has potential. And just like before, all they need is the attention and inspiration.

pretty clean for a grocery machine (not bad face)

-Mark