Well here is where it starts, As some of you I have been on the hunt for an 850R or 850 T5-R saloon with Manual gearbox on and off for quite a few years now and sadly I have never been successful. Having owned a four previous Volvo's between 2007 and 2010 in the order of V70 T5, 854 T5, S70R and 855R it would be now 2013 when I finally got to own the car I have always lusted after!

Ofcourse I have seen examples pop up from time to time but I have very high standards and sadly as we all know there are not many cherished examples out there in the Volvo world, After selling my Golf Edition 30 in May I decided to have another hunt and began looking in the usual places. I actually spotted this car on the Autotrader website and although it was very heavily priced it was local to me so thought I would have a chat with the seller and pop over for a look.

I did not expect too much but upon arrival I was blown away with the cars condition, The car looked amazing and even after inspecting it with a fine tooth comb I struggled to find any faults with the car. After a test drive and a look through the massive file full of invoices in which there even was the original press release paperwork and brochure for the T5-R and service history, I made an offer which he accepted and the rest is history.

The seller is a proper Volvo nut and although he does not go on any of the owners forums certainly knows his stuff! He bought the car in 2008 from London and said the car was enthusiast owned by the previous owner also. The car has covered a mere 9k miles in his ownership, He only ever used the car during the summer months for local shows and occasionally went to Germany in the car.

In his ownership he has only run the car on V-Power, The car has had a full suspension overhaul, Dampers, Top mounts, Wishbones, Droplinks etc. The standard 15G turbo has been rebuilt by A.R turbo's, The car has had new front Discs & Pads and new rear pads in the last 200 Miles, He has changed the oil and other service items annually regardless of mileage, The timing belt was replaced in 2010 less than 6K miles ago and equally as importantly to me has kept the exterior and interior of the car in what I can only describe as mint condition also.

So as you can imagine the car drives very well and certainly does not feel like an 18 year old car to drive, A very rare find these days and I just had to buy it as IMO it was a once in a lifetime chance and something I am very proud to own! As you know the car will want for nothing in my ownership.

Heres the current spec of the car...

Spec:

Dec 1994 Volvo 850 T5-R, Standard M56 Manual Gearbox, Standard B5234T5 engine with rebuilt 15G turbo, Currently on 104K miles with FSH.

Exterior:

Standard T5-R bodykit, Creme Yellow in colour, Volvo Mudflaps and headlight protectors.

Interior:

Standard T5-R interior, Half leather half alacantara seats, Walnut dash surround with matching gearknob and alacantara gearbag, T5-R floowmats in unmarked condition with genuine Volvo rubber overmats.

Wheels & Tyres:

Standard T5-R 17" x 7j Titans with matching spare, All 5 Refurbished in Anthracite with Pirelli P-Zero Asymmetric Tyres in 205/45R17 88W Fitment allround.

Suspension:

Stock T5-R suspension, Boge shock absorbers, Kalmar Union front strut brace.

In car entrainment:

Kenwood CD head unit with IPOD connection, Factory Volvo alarm and additional CAT 1 alarm/immobiliser.


Future Plans:

Keep the car as O.E and clean as possible, I want to paint all the brake calipers and dics guards/bells black just to freshen them up. The car will be receiving full Stage 0 very soon including a PCV change and new BCS/Vac lines etc.

A few select but subtle modifications are a must IMO just to finish the car off....I will be carrying out the 302mm front brake upgrade, Fitting braided hoses and changing the brake fluid in favour of some decent DOT 5.1 fluid. I have toyed with the idea of replacing the exhaust, The car is on the original exhaust system with a very 1990's looked DTM style tailpipe. Not sure whether to go Cat-Back or Turbo back yet we shall see. Possibly a stage one map MTE or the likes but I am not wanting to going any further with regards to tuning it is not why I bought the car.

We shall see how it goes!

Pictures:

Here a few a pictures from today's 5 hour cleaning session, It was the 1st time I have washed the car so did the car in usual Bonelorry fashion...

: Rinsed the car and wheel arches thoroughly
: Washed the car using 2 bucket method with a Lambswool mitt and Meguires ultimate shampoo, One panel at a time working from top down
: Washed the wheels, Tyres and wheel arches using a Meguires Microfibre Mitt, Soft wheel brush and bottle container with foaming head containing Megs APC to a high concentrate
: Rinsed the car again
: Dryed the whole car with an Elite XL drying towel, Dryed the wheels, Door shuts and engine bay with a Microfibre cloth
: Removed any tar specs using Autoglym Intensive Tar remover
: Dressed the tyres, Bump strips and other plastics/textured parts with Meguires Endurance Tyre Gel
: Cleaned the glass inside and out using Autoglym Fast Glass
: Polished the glass inside and out using Autoglym Glass polish

Skipped the polishing and waxing stage as the previous owner has done a fine job in the dept and there is plenty of protection on the paint at the moment I was getting lots of beading today and there is plenty of depth to the paint, At some stage I will be stripping the wax off and applying a few layers of Collinites No:845 wax.

Here goes...