The Red T-5R

[woah4]

Okay so let me start by saying YES, I know there was never a red T-5R.

But I did have one,

You see, I was on kijiji one day and saw an ad for a 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R wagon, but the picture of the car showed a red wagon..

I was rather confused. So I messaged the seller who told me it was in fact a T-5R, but a factory black car. He told me a previous owner had painted it, and that all sorts of things had been done to it. He wasn't lying.. I went to go have a look at it, and the seller wasn't there, but his step mother gave me the keys and told me to check it out, saying it hadn't been running in a month or so but ran last time he started it. So I went out and fired it up, first touch of the key. First thing i noticed, It had an awesome exhaust note. So I went and had a look, it had a full 3inch turbo back exhaust, complete with mandrel bent downpipe. The seller said he believed it had a 16t, and it had a chipped computer, as well as an NA manifold and throttle body, with 960 plate. The car was ROUGH. Whoever had painted it had done a good job but used Terrible quality paint, The clear was pretty well gone, completely flat, the R bumper was cracked and split, it had 15 inch steel rims on it with mismatched tires... brakes were finished, odometer was clearly broken but still registered 310XXXkm's.

I would have been crazy to buy it.

He was asking $3000 initially,

I paid $850

Here are some pictures of it when I first got it:

Now to be honest, at this point I wasn't convinced it was a T-5R. Anyone can put an R interior in a T-5, and toss on an R bumper with some badges. I bought the car to drive while my T-5M was down due to slave cylinder problems, and for the exhaust, turbo, engine, R bumper.. I figured I would get my money back just from that. But it was all the little things that started convincing me it was a T-5R....

Here It was after I scrubbed it a bit, put my columbas with snow tires on off my T-5M and my magnetic Barton lol:

The questionable adapter for the NA manifold lol. The engine bay was a wreck:

Installed stainless braided lines:

38MM silicone jacketed plug wires:

A better look at how bad the paint was, after it stopped raining:

Been busy under it though

IPD poly mounts, MSD blaster coil with IPD mount, full stage 0..

Found some euro rails for it:

ANNNNND then it died. A heater core hose blew, which isn't a big deal, but that really finished it for me. The M was ready to go back on the road, and the R needed too much. Rust everywhere, which I have never seen on an 850 before, needed brakes all around, rear nivomat suspension was fine, but front strut mounts and spring seats were finished. Needed wheel bearing all around, calipers stuck axles were screwed... It was time. Also, I checked the Data port, and it registered over 450XXXkm's haha.

Here it is when I started tearing it down to pull the motor and engine harness:

Found out why I had rich running codes always.. fouled 3 sets of plugs.. had NO lag, but would only hit 13 psi on a 17 psi tune, and it fell on its face at highway speed... still surprised a G37X and a BRZ though haha. The only thing I can figure is someone put it on just to sell it.

The exhaust off the R, compared to the stock one off my T-5M, big difference:

The R looking sorry for itself

The R and the M

The fought, but I got it!! First time I ever pulled an engine so it went better than I thought it would lol.

To be worked on... and to breathe again

The dirty old 13g.. to become a 19t

And shes gone. The bumper is being painted to go on my M, the engine is being built by me, and the interior was swapped into my M also. One more thing, I did a carfax on the vin, and yes, it came back as a genuine Black 855 T-5R. Kind of cool. One more picture of me pulling my buddys MK3 GTI VR6, he took this with his gopro. So even though its a car i no longer have, I thought it was an interesting one and one worth sharing. Anyway thats it for now, Cheers!

-Billy

[RBoy8]

OMG this car... Daren (http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/user/9436-quiksilver/) and I initially saw this car on Kijiji and were wondering about it. I've seen it rolling around Brampton a couple of times. Picked it up from some guy named Ashton right?

I'm glad you only paid $850. I called the place it was at when it was first listed... tt was originally traded in to a used car dealer for a newer S40, and they were trying to sell it for basically what you got it for, then the person you dealt with picked it up and tried selling it for WAY more, without doing ANY work to the car. I was laughing at it.

Glad to see the T-5R accessories living on in your T5M, dude!

[quiksilver]

OMG this car... Daren (http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/user/9436-quiksilver/) and I initially saw this car on Kijiji and were wondering about it. I've seen it rolling around Brampton a couple of times. Picked it up from some guy named Ashton right?

I'm glad you only paid $850. I called the place it was at when it was first listed... tt was originally traded in to a used car dealer for a newer S40, and they were trying to sell it for basically what you got it for, then the person you dealt with picked it up and tried selling it for WAY more, without doing ANY work to the car. I was laughing at it.

Glad to see the T-5R accessories living on in your T5M, dude!

Yep, I thought this car was some sort of T-5R unicorn.

Nice to see that it lives on, somewhat.

[woah4]

OMG this car... Daren (http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/user/9436-quiksilver/) and I initially saw this car on Kijiji and were wondering about it. I've seen it rolling around Brampton a couple of times. Picked it up from some guy named Ashton right?

I'm glad you only paid $850. I called the place it was at when it was first listed... tt was originally traded in to a used car dealer for a newer S40, and they were trying to sell it for basically what you got it for, then the person you dealt with picked it up and tried selling it for WAY more, without doing ANY work to the car. I was laughing at it.

Glad to see the T-5R accessories living on in your T5M, dude!

Thats the guy! And yep he got it from a dealer in TO. that said they knew nothing about it. Aparently it was listed just as "volvo 850" on a kijiji ad, and when he looked at the ad he saw the R bumper and volans.. went and bought it same day. He was straight up with me and told me he paid exactly what I paid him for it, But to add to the mystery the car had a set of volans on it when he bought it, which he kept for his 850 AWD. He told me he was cool with getting what he paid for the car because he got the volans. Somebody must have been trying to make an 850 R clone, which is so strange considering a T-5R is much more uncommon. And yeah, it was on kijiji for QUITE some time. I tried trading a snowmobile for it but he said he didn't have a place to keep it lol. That would have been sweet. But I still think I did okay, the exhaust is awesome and the B5234t is going to be used well, and I already know its a good engine. And it's hard to find a complete T-5R interior these days, especially for a wagon. So to me it was worth the $850, and it was fun ripping on it for a little while. I'll tell you one thing, I was some impressed with the way it pulled with the 13G and auto box! If I was making strictly a drag car, I might consider throwing a 13G on it just to get off the line more smoothly. Be cool to see how it does anyway.

Yep, I thought this car was some sort of T-5R unicorn.

Nice to see that it lives on, somewhat.

Yeah the heart will keep beating... The rest of it was just too far gone. I thought about selling it on here or something, but because of everything i wanted out of it, I figured I would get nothing for it (which I was ok with,) but also that nobody would think it was worth the time and effort to bring it back. And yeah lol, google got alot of seacrh requests when I saw the red T-5R on kijiji.... and when I found nothing on it, I was so confused until it got explained to me. I had SO many people tell me to stop putting T-5R badges on a car that so clearly wasn't a T-5R, it was hilarious.

[RBoy8]

That's cool, man. At least you're making use of all the leftover parts!

That car did not come with Volans though. Those Volans Ashton had were always on his 850 AWD. When I met him during late Fall for a year-end GTA Volvos lunch, he already had them on. The red wagon originally came with steelies and 740 wheel covers, and that's what it was also running on when I spotted it that couple of times in previous years in Brampton.

[woah4]

That's cool, man. At least you're making use of all the leftover parts!

That car did not come with Volans though. Those Volans Ashton had were always on his 850 AWD. When I met him during late Fall for a year-end GTA Volvos lunch, he already had them on. The red wagon originally came with steelies and 740 wheel covers, and that's what it was also running on when I spotted it that couple of times in previous years in Brampton.

Interesting! He told me otherwise. Just means I got and even better deal haha sweet

[gmsgltr]

wait... so is it a unicorn t5r?

what is the tire size on the inside of the gas flap/door?

[RBoy8]

Interesting! He told me otherwise. Just means I got and even better deal haha sweet

That's a good way to look at it! haha

[woah4]

That was one of the little details that told me it was genuine. 17 inch tire size on gas door. Also had the chrome door sills with 850 logo, I am going to put them on the M also

[Kit Vexed]

eh, this is kind of sad man..

i have a black T5-R and they are dwindling..

as Volvo's first R car, and limited in number - it sucks to see sooo many of them either beaten to death or flat out dead.

they are special (soon to be 'were' if this keeps up).

i was hoping for some sort of restoration story, but i understand she was too far gone..

thank you so much for sharing anyways though =(

[Simply Volvo]

eh, this is kind of sad man..

i have a black T5-R and they are dwindling..

as Volvo's first R car, and limited in number - it sucks to see sooo many of them either beaten to death or flat out dead.

they are special (soon to be 'were' if this keeps up).

i was hoping for some sort of restoration story, but i understand she was too far gone..

thank you so much for sharing anyways though =(

I feel ya!

I wish it was a restoration as well, but i understand, its seen its day.

The black T-5R's really are becoming quite rare. Its always the yellows you see people restore. The blacks kinda just get thrown away.

Im glad to see mine slowly being restored, even though its condition was pretty darn good when i got it.

[woah4]

Trust me I know I feel your pain guys. It hurt to see it go, but I'm a college student and the cash isn't there.. It was either the R or the M, I don't have the room or money to do both. And I got to a point where I had about 2g's in the R, and just couldn't see putting AT LEAST 2 more into it, just so I could keep it on the road, nonetheless fix it up. Sorry it wasn't a different story, but it will live on in my T-5M. And If I ever find another T-5R wagon, I won't let it go. It was a very special car, I still miss it

[KllewT5]

The blacks kinda just get thrown away.

LOL

[Cleven]

Yeah one thing i dont miss about the north is rust

[woah4]

That's for sure. If the cars get undercoated and they have factory paint, it usually isn't an issue, but it still sucks.