Latest / The Car Nerd with Jason Hassett
Volvo 850 BTCC: Why Volvo Raced an Estate in the BTCC
In late 1993, a Swedish race shop arrived at Volvo’s factory in Gothenburg to collect a bare 850 bodyshell.
They wanted a saloon.
The production line was building estates.
So they took one.
A few months later, Volvo announced that it would enter the British Touring Car Championship with an 850 estate — a car shaped more like a family holiday wagon than a touring car.
Rivals laughed. Mechanics called it a baker’s van and a pizza delivery wagon.
But the story of the Volvo 850 BTCC car was far more serious than the joke suggested.
TWR stripped the car to the 975-kilogram minimum, rebuilt Volvo’s…
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