Tyre-burning Volvo T5-R smouldering along nicely

Oh how we laughed. A Volvo estate in the British Touring Car Championship? But back in 1994 it only took a couple of laps to show that the T5-R had serious heave. I was there and remember the drivers delighting the crowds on the parade lap with a stuffed Collie propped up in the back.

The T5s became standard issue for UK motorway cops, Clarkson and I raved about it on Top Gear and the T5-R magically transformed Volvo’s frumpy image forever. Perhaps that’s why Fast Classics in Bramley has sold a Gul Yellow ’95 with 42,000 miles for an astonishing £16,995. Good T5 and T5-R estates are smouldering nicely and it can’t be long before the best Rs start closing in on £20k territory.

Finding good survivors is the problem though. This wasn’t a car you left in your garage. Making a bonëre out of the front tyres was something you did on every journey on a mission to prove Volvos could be cool. Lots got thrashed, trashed and modiëed so the survival rate is low – the DVLA lists only 20 licensed and 11 on SORN. Quite a few went to Japan and with their onerously strict used car condition regulations, repatriated Far Eastern T5-RS now make canny buys. And remember all that wayward frontwheel scrabble came from a 240bhp Porschedesigned 2.3 ëve-cylinder with high pressure turbo which, ungoverned, could hit 160mph. From 50-70mph it would even out-drag a Ferrari 512TR. A rock-hard ride is the only penalty for all that punch. A private seller in Hampshire is advertising a ’96 R auto estate with 92k for £4995. I don’t think it’ll hang around for long.