Volvo surprised the touring car fraternity in 1994 when it revealed its contender for the British Touring Car Championship – the 850 Estate.
Back in the 1990s, Volvo was attempting to kick its daggy tag and enter the realm of desirability.
Electing to team up with former touring car rival Tom Walkinshaw was a masterstroke and proved successful as the BTCC entered its peak of competitiveness.
The BTCC was going through a regulation change through the early 1990s after the Ford Sierra domination of the 1980s and by 1994 manufacturer entries had grown to 10.
Although a publicity stunt, Volvo entering its estate came with the extra advantage of producing superior downforce compared to the saloon.
It was such a coveted secret that drivers Rickard Rydell and Jan Lammers had no knowledge of the estate project.
There were challenges for TWR when developing the stock 2.3-litre engine to the category requirement 2.0.
A solution proved expensive, but effective.
TWR fitted larger cams, valves and ports by machining the head to suit. Then the head was mounted on an angle to steepen the intake resulting in shallowing the exhaust. This was all legal under the regulations and produced 300bhp.
Although power wasn’t a problem, handling held the 850 Estate back as Rydell scored the 850 Estate’s best finish of fifth at Oulton Park. The Swede finished 14th in the championship and Lammers 15th.
With the aerodynamic aids being increased for 1995 in response to Alfa Romeo, Volvo reverted to the 850 saloon to elevate Rydell into a contender.
In fact, Australia got a taste of the 850 Estate when Volvo entered a factory supported program for Tony Scott in the local Super Touring title.
Competition was strong between the factory Audi and BMW squads, with Scott finishing eighth highlighted by a third in the final race at Eastern Creek.
Volvo continued to have success in Britain where Rydell won the title in 1998 driving the S40, while Peter Brock led the Australian charge before Jim Richards took on the task of challenging BMW and Audi to just miss the title in 1998.