1997 Volvo 850R Wagon
I’m not sure, maybe the seller is trying to make a subliminal point about his wagon? Pulls like a train, hauls the cargo, handles like it’s on rails, takes miles to stop… Find this 1997 Volvo 850R Wagon for sale in Seattle, WA for $5,500 via craigslist. This post is part of DT’s 2016 Birthday Celebration of 100 cars; enjoy the ride!
The 850 was Volvo’s first front driver unleashed on North America and besides being available in boring, bread and butter models, came in a high performance R variant. Powered by a transverse, 5 cylinder turbo, it was capable of accelerating your stuff from 0 to 60 into the back window in 5.8 seconds and topping out to a governed 153 mph. Unfortunately US cars only came with automatics, but the seller says he has the parts to do a manual swap.
Porsche is said to have helped Volvo out in designing the interior, specing out sport seats with Alcantara inserts. From this angle, the still look good, but it would be nice to see the outboard bolster of the driver’s seat.
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The pieces one touches on this era Volvo are really shitty. I bought a very clean, one owner 2003 V70 for my daughter. Decent miles and a thick binder from a longtime Volvo Dealer on LI. What a royal POS car. Yes, my expectations were high given the service history, and my history with older Volvos, but trim and switches and servos, and soft pieces self-destructed. I even swapped cars to make sure my kid was given to sabotaging the car because she hated it. But no. Mechanically except for plastic parts in the cooling system either melting or cracking or both, and the sway bar links clanking, and only less so when replaced. But 5.8 sec and a great looking wagon. Plus they keep their value. Might be worth a shot.
Low prices for these and V70's have always surprised me, though I'm guessing there's a reason.
So cheap I often thought I could buy a V70 with all the AWD, leather and nice stuff and just use it as a truck. Heck if you killed it you only have a few $k invested.