Volvo 850 Estate - The Touring Car that never won a race, but won our hearts

The world of motorsports has always had a very popular saying - Win on Sunday, sell on Monday - 24 years ago, Volvo really did take that to the extreme.

The year was 1994 and the BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) was at the height of popularity, with ten factory backed works teams; BMW, Ford, Vauxhall, Toyota, Mazda, Renault, Peugeot, Nissan, Alfa Romeo and of course, Volvo. Back in these days, the cars on the track actually looked like the cars you could buy in the showroom, albeit lower suspension, some lighter alloys and a few subtle flared bumpers, the phrase ‘Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday’ was very much the reality here.

The Plans are drawn up

Volvo had stopped all motorsport related activities several years earlier in 1987, but felt they needed a newer, sportier image with the release of some of their newer cars.

Volvo therefore approached Steffansson Automotive (SAM) to design a car for racing, based off one of their current models - the 850 saloon. Steffansson Automotive took the offer, and Volvo happily assisted with technical information, and said they would supply SAM a bodyshell they could use. However, when Steffansson Automotive went to Volvo, only the 850 estate bodyshells were ready, and due to the project being tight on time, no delays could take place. Therefore SAM had to use the 850 estate shells.

When Volvo’s senior vice president, Martin Rybeck, heard of the news he was delighted, but wary. An estate racing car would provide a huge marketing potential, however if the car failed to impress on the track it would be an unmitigated PR nightmare. An 850 saloon car was sourced, and both the estate and saloon were taken to Volvo’s wind tunnel for testing…

No-one could quite believe the results; the estate cars long, flat roof offered more downforce, and would therefore be better at cornering at higher speeds. This therefore sealed the deal for Martin Rybeck, the estates would be used.

Volvo and TWR

Volvo, being very pleased with their findings, decided to take the car to the next level. They approached Tom Walkinshaw, of Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), whos expert technicians confirmed that not only could the estate car could be taken to the minimum required weight, but it would handle the same as the saloon car around a track. The car would be equipped with a 2.0 litre 20valve inline 5-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, teamed with an X-Trac 6 speed sequential gearbox. This power unit, with its distinct howl, boasted 280bhp at 8,500rpm through the front wheels, and a 0-60 time of 7.4 seconds.

The announcment

Near the end of the 1993 season, Volvo announced that they would be joining the BTCC, with ex-F1 driver Jan Lammers and Rickard Rydell, however it wasn’t until late in 1993 that the other teams, and the public knew about the estate car. Volvo was keeping their secret very well hidden, attending autoshows with both a fake saloon, and the real estate racing cars.
Once the news had broken, the pointing and laughing by fellow drivers and teams began; it was often referred to as the ‘bread van’. Several drivers also complained about visibility behind the Volvo, and how large the car was when trying to overtake it, leading to the rear of the Volvo being hit several times over the course of the season.

Hitting the track

Round 1 of the 1994 season was to take place at Thruxton on 11th April, however just a few weeks before, Volvo still had no cars ready to race. With the last testing session, at Snetterton, before the season started fast approaching, the TWR mechanics were working around the clock to get the cars ready. The Snetterton test day rolled around and Volvo were in attendance with both of their cars. They’d done it!

The season got off to a bumpy start, with Jan Lammers retiring from the first race and Rydell finishing a lowly fifteenth. Once the season was in full swing however, their performances improved, and with a few difficult rounds, the Volvo managed to come home fifth on a few occassions. The team struggled with the setup of the car - it was brilliant on high speed corners, but struggled on lower speed corners, due to the unusual weight distribution of the estate layout.

Sadly Volvo only finished 8th out of 10 in the manufacturers standings, but it didn’t matter, everyone loved the Volvo.

Saying farewell

At the end of the 1994 season, Volvo not only said goodbye to Jan Lammers, who left of his own accord after being unimpressed by the Touring Cars ‘brutish’ driving style, but also the 850 estate. Due to a change in the regulations, which would allow Volvo to add a rear wing to the Saloon 850, making the estate cars downforce advantage redundant. 1995 saw Volvo win 6 race (Rickard Rydell 4, Tim Harvey 2), and contend for the championship, before finally bringing home the silverware in 1998, when Rydell sealed the championship title.

Why is it so well remembered?

When you look back at the Supertouring era of the BTCC, there are a handful of cars that stand out for being, at the time, radical. Audi with it’s Quattro A4, which took the 1996 title, Renault with it’s Williams F1 backed Laguna which won in 1997, but none are quite as quirky, original or unique as the 850 Estate.