Gul Yellow T-5R M251 TFC

[AndybTFC]

Hey everyone, just thought I'd say hello, having become a member and also having just purchased my first ever T-5R. Having purchased it on Sunday morning I just couldn't wait to pick the car up, so cleared my diary for the day and went down South to collect the car today. Thoroughly enjoyed the fun trip back up the M1 and the car performed faultlessly all the way, really is a credit to its previous owners the condition it has been kept in.

So here's M251 TFC at the petrol station having had a tank full of Shells finest and then also safely back at its new home...

[AndybTFC]

The previous owner did inform me when I purchased the car that it's first registered owner was Volvo Uk, after a little digging it turns out that M251 TFC was a press car and appeared in article for both 'Cars & Car Conversions' and 'MotorSport' magazine.

I'm still awaiting delivery of the 'Cars & Car Conversions' magazine but here is M251 in 'MotorSport' magazine from 1995....

[Doingitsideways]

Welcome :)

That's an awesome find and truly excellent bit of heritage there!

I WILL have a Gul 854 one day.
It will be mine.
Oh yes, it will be mine...

[Ettienne]

I think this used to be bone lorries old car, pics of it on voc, I have it back a few years ago before him.

From what I understand TFC reg denoted it was used by Volvo I.e press car etc

[AndybTFC]

Welcome :)

That's an awesome find and truly excellent bit of heritage there!

I WILL have a Gul 854 one day.
It will be mine.
Oh yes, it will be mine...

Thanks, this one will be staying with me for a long long time, few little bits I want to get sorted out here and there but it'll staying as it is spec wise.

[AndybTFC]

I think this used to be bone lorries old car, pics of it on voc, I have it back a few years ago before him.

From what I understand TFC reg denoted it was used by Volvo I.e press car etc

Yes it did, There's many pics of it floating around on various forums. Think I'm the tenth or eleventh owner of it.

Think you are right about TFC reg denoting it as used by Volvo, a gul estate with the plate M153 TFC also appears in a few magazine articles from back in 1995

[Doingitsideways]

Hmm... Interesting.

I have a TFC on the fleet - a 460 CD, properly specced up from new too. Maybe explains it.

Also have a PFC - on the S70, also specced up.

Maybe both used to be staff cars or something.

[MoleT-5R]

Welcome along and that is a very nice Gul you have there and as Steve mentioned it's Bonelorry's old car and there is a very nice thread on here by him of his ownership, the car seemed to have wanted for nothing in his ownership http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?51312-Bonelorry-s-854-T5-R-Manual-Creme-quot-Gul-quot-Yellow-project

[Wobbly Dave]

Welcome to the club. That's a good find. Still have a soft spot for the Gul, as do most of us enthusiasts/old timers.

Enjoy the ride.

[martybelfastt5]

Great car that

[kmb]

Lovely car, welcome to the forum :)

[AndybTFC]

Welcome along and that is a very nice Gul you have there and as Steve mentioned it's Bonelorry's old car and there is a very nice thread on here by him of his ownership, the car seemed to have wanted for nothing in his ownership http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?51312-Bonelorry-s-854-T5-R-Manual-Creme-quot-Gul-quot-Yellow-project

Thanks for the link, that makes for very interesting reading. Shame the cars lost its original floor mats somewhere along the line since then. Guessing these are super rare to find?

[Shinsplintz 101]

They do come up on eBay occasionally - there are also some auto trimmers about who will make you up a new set for reasonable (ish) money. But you'd need to ask about. At the end of the day it's a bit of embroidered carpet - your just paying for the originality.

Cheers, Morgan

Ps as above - good car, well found. Enjoy!!

[MoleT-5R]

Thanks for the link, that makes for very interesting reading. Shame the cars lost its original floor mats somewhere along the line since then. Guessing these are super rare to find?

Shame that the mats have gone as they are a nice touch, does yours have the rear blind .?

[AndybTFC]

Shame that the mats have gone as they are a nice touch, does yours have the rear blind .?

Yes it has the rear blind fitted.

I do seem to have a slight issue with the interior cover of the sunroof, it is a little reluctant to slide back and somewhat saggy. Not sure if this is just an age related 850 thing or if something is broken?

[AndybTFC]

They do come up on eBay occasionally - there are also some auto trimmers about who will make you up a new set for reasonable (ish) money. But you'd need to ask about. At the end of the day it's a bit of embroidered carpet - your just paying for the originality.

Cheers, Morgan

Ps as above - good car, well found. Enjoy!!

I shall have to keep an eye out for some on eBay, also need to find a replacement under bonnet sound insulation pad.

[AndybTFC]

Well the second magazine from 1995 featuring M251 has turned up, it's a shockingly bad article and completely pointless but it's still good to see the pictures of the car from all those years ago.

Nearly a week of ownership with the car and the bug has bitten me badly with this one. As it's going to only be used In the summer months mainly the air con is going to have to be fixed, it just gets so warm inside. That's a job for over the winter and I can't say I'm overly impressed with its handling at present either. I know the front dampers were replaced a number of years ago but I'm unsure if the springs and rear dampers are still the 20+ year originals. So a change is on the cards there but that'll probably be next year now as the car will be put away over winter.

Hopefully going for a new cam belt kit this week too.

[p fandango]

a Volvo v's A Cappuccino, i can see why they put them against each other lol

[AndybTFC]

Thought it was time this thread was given a long overdue update.

From where I left off two and a half years ago the first things I did with the car was to get a cam belt kit fitted for piece of mind. That was quickly followed by an alternator and pulleys when it failed.

New number plates were also sourced in the original style the car wore when it belonged to Volvo UK.


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The car was then put away for the winter where it developed a further issue of not wanting to start after a few weeks of storage. After much head scratching this was traced as an electrical fault to the wiring loom to the main fuel injection relay.


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I also took this opportunity to replace all engine sensors, coil, fuel pump and injection relay just to head off any future issues.

Next job was to source a spare set of titans, the car was wearing original spec Pirelli Asimmetrico tyres which I wanted to keep hold of but they were starting to get low on tread.


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Although cosmetically they were rough they were in good shape so promptly sent off for a refurd and new rubber fitted along with new genuine Volvo centre caps. The originals were safely stored away and the new modern rubber made a massive difference to how the car felt on the road.


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That took things up to summer 2017. The only other thing I did in relation to the car that year was to obtain copies of the original photos from when the car appeared in Motorsport magazine.


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[Timo.]

Nice........

What did you pay for it in 2016?

[AndybTFC]

Sorry I’m not going to disclose the figure paid for it in 2016.


Into 2018 and once out of storage the main job for the year was to sort the front brakes out. A sticking front calliper had overheated the disc and warped it giving bad steering wheel wobble when jumping on the brakes. I wasn’t happy with the standard to which the calipers and discs had been painted by a previous owner so took the opportunity to replace all calipers with fully refurbished ones, pads, discs and rubber hoses both front and rear, the fronts were in quite a bad way. I also ended up replacing a few of the solid brake lines as they’d just ceased solid on the end fittings.


Rears all done...


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And fronts....


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Made a massive difference to the car and it’s ability to stop.


That was pretty much it for 2018 although I did manage to get hold of the cars original floor mats again. Time constraints of work didn’t really allow for me to spend much time driving it or working on it and it did just shy of 500 miles for the year.


Next job on the list is to replace the hand brake cables, they’re showing their age and adjusted to the maximum now!

Other jobs to do this year is to replace the front screen as the replacement it had at some point in the past is not quite fitted high enough as the top screen rubber doesn’t meet with the roof properly. New upper and lower screen rubbers will be fitted at the same time and the side screen trims that run up and along the length of the roof. Again these parts are just starting to show their age.

In addition to that it’s about ready for a new radiator as it’s weeping from the usual area in the top corner.


I managed to add another little piece to the cars past history as a Volvo press car in the form of this Volvo 1995 BTCC marketing flyer, which included a picture of the car with one of the Volvo race cars!


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[kmb]

Nice history and a lovely car :)

[bonelorry]

Nice to see it is still going, It was owned by myself for a while but you probably already know that.

Noted the comment regarding the Paint on the Brakes, I did those in 2013 so no wonder they are past their best now. Plus Sadly the chap I sold it to near Huddersfield had it Remapped and abused it, He commented to me about how much smoke came off the Brakes when he was out getting it Live Road Mapped by Tim Williams and notably cooked the Brakes approaching a Roundabout at 110MPH. So that wont have done the Paint finish or indeed the Brakes much good.

Think it went to another lad who also had a Focus RS and again was not too mechanically sympathetic towards the Car. He contacted me saying the Brakes where Warped and the Gearbox was knackered and he was having issues selecting certain Gears. Some Threads on here about the Gearbox.

I told him I had sold the Car some time back and to speak to the Chap he bought it off who had it Remapped etc.

It was faultless in my ownership 7 Years ago and wanted for nothing.


I wasn't going to say anything but I would want to know this if I owned the Car, Don't shoot the messenger....

A few Years back I was at the Classic Car Show at the NEC and was looking around the Saab Enthusiast Stand, I was stood next to a Guy who I had never met before and said he always liked the Saabs but never bought One and had a string of Performance Volvo's throughout the 90's and early 2000's.

I told him I had Owned quite a few Saabs and some Performance Volvo's myself including a Yellow T5R, My Jaw hit the floor when I showed him a picture on my Phone and he said "That is my old Car" Turned out he actually Owned M251 TFC at some point before the chap I got it off so it must have been around the Millenium?

He went on to say that it was a Press Car and originally owned by Volvo UK, Mentioned a Magazine article. I couldn't believe it.

He seemed very surprised to see it was still going and I asked why? I almost wish I had not though as he stated that the Car had been involved in a Collision during his Ownership near London, The chaps Wife lost control of the Volvo and went off the Road at about 50MPH. She hit a Low Kerb and then ended up in a Ditch and was stopped by a Tree, Broke her Collar Bone and he Nose too in the Impact as the Airbag never deployed

It sounds like he had a bit of Money as he had the Volvo Recovered to his home Address and had a Ramp at home. He had a Friend who actually worked for a Motor Vehicle Insurance company as a Claims Assessor to look at the Car chose not to go through the Insurance because he knew the Car would be written off and most likely a CAT C.

He chose to get most of the Panels off a Low Mileage Crash Damaged 850 from a nearby Breakers, New Genuine T5R Bumper from Volvo "He said this was very expensive", 2 x Alloys as they where Cracked, The Car required to be put on a Jig as the front was slightly twisted, The NSF Strut had all bent inwards along with the Suspension Arm due to the impact.

He said they had a nightmare getting the Wheel Alignment set once the Car was back together and this was due to some Subframe damage.

He said the Car would have almost certainly been a CAT C Write off due to the cost of the parts and the Structural Damage to the Suspension and Floor Area.

He said it was his forever Car but sold the Car shortly after it was repaired as his Wife refused to drive it or even go in it anymore.

I told him it was disappointing to hear this as I bought the Car thinking it was original and cherished and I wouldn't have given it a second glace if I had known, He said he really looked after the Car and it was his pride and joy but knew if it was written off that it would have affected the Value and so he chose to repair it himself.

He also said he never disclosed this to the next Owner so the chap who I got it off wouldn't have had a clue either as I think its had about 10 Owners now.

I asked him 2 x times are you sure it was this Car and he said 100%.

Tonight I was been nostalgic looking at some Pictures of my old Cars ad Googled Bonelorry Volvo, Saw this Thread and had no idea the Car was still knocking about on the forums. I have not logged in on here for ages.

I know its not great news but it still a very rare Car and whatever has happened doesn't detract from its current condition, I bet there are many others out there from the 90's that have been involved in similar Accidents and repaired without Claiming and people are non the wiser. I HPI'd it and it was clear and so it should be.

[Jay-Kay-Em]

The power of google has brought me here via this registration mark and that very same BTCC brochure in my collection.

I was performing some research into Volvo press cars of the era.

Fabulous car by the way. Very jealous! Hope all is well.

I am restoring a Volvo 480 Turbo and I am doing some digging into its history.

My registration mark is M***SFC…. August 1994.

FC is the regional identifier for Oxford.

My car has an original history file and the opening PDI at 19 miles is not by a dealer. It is simply stamped “VOLVO CARS WHEATLEY OXON”

To the best of my knowledge there was never a Volvo dealer in Wheatley and I have done some enquiries in the town.

I have subsequently discovered a long since disappeared “Volvo PDI Centre” occupying Lye Hill quarry in Wheatley. This is now occupied by Walters Coaches. This centre would manage the import and delivery of Volvo internal cars; such as press cars, Volvo fleet cars, police cars and such like.

If you look through all magazines of the time, 1994, 5, 6 and 1997 many of the press cars had SFC, TFC or PFC marks.

It would mean a lot to my research if your car also displayed “VOLVO CARS WHEATLEY OXON” in its glovebox manual, service book or history file. Would it be possible to check?

One of my tasks is to make some original number plates in the pre-2001 font. This thread is invaluable to understanding what those plates looked like – plane jane apparently with just VOLVO in blue font at the bottom. I would imagine our original plates came out the same machine months apart.

Like I say if you could check any literature your car may have that would be awesome.

All the best

JKM