Volvo 850 GLT Goes for a Drive

The car that finally replaced the 700 and 900, the Volvo 800, in this case the Volvo 850 saloon is taken for a drive.

Furious Merch!
T shirts £15 + £2.50 UK Postage
Hats £15 + £1.00 UK Postage
Mugs £12 + £3.50 UK Postage
stickers £2.50 + 50p UK Postage

Post me stuff for Junk in the Trunk post bag section!
Furious Driving
PO Box 477
AYLESFORD
ME6 9LE

[bakes]

I love the 850. My Dad used to have a T5R saloon years ago, in olive green which was the rarest colour they were made in. Was an awesome car! I remember the factory stereo being very good. All the same speakers that this 850 has, but ours had a double DIN "premium sound system". It was a Volvo branded unit but was actually made by Alpine, with a Volvo branded Alpine 5952 changer in the boot. Must have been streets ahead of the standard systems in most comparable cars of the day, including BMW.

There were 3 fast 850s. The T5 which was "warm", then the T5R which was a lot more powerful and finally the R, which came a bit later with a tiny bit more power than the T5R.

[geschut]

My (Dutch) 1995 850 has done 502.000km, on LPG! No problems at all. Used every day, a fantastic car!

[MYZTICTRAVLER]

I purchased my Volvo 850 brand new in Germany. Then I had it shipped back to the U.S. I still own it. And it looks just a beautiful to me now as then.

[Jeroen]

I bought an 1995 estate back in 2010, with about 225K miles on it and not the best looking example but needed a car now. It was a 144 bhp 10V version on LPG. Drove it to 408K when I finally took it to the scrappers. Left me stranded only once (at home) with a broken camshaft sensor, it was the LPG system that gave headaches twice but in the end were easy and cheap fixes. Things that broke were the radiator, alternator, clutch slave cylinder and fuel pressure regulator, and I replaced front control arms twice. Impressed me enough that I'm on my 3rd Volvo now.

[anthonyjankowski]

Great video of your beautiful Volvo. I have a 1996 GLT with only 129, 000 miles and it is still a pleasure to drive and maintain. Thanks for sharing!

[johnmorgan]

Just after purchasing this very car near London. Collecting it on Sunday the 30th April 2023 and driving it back to its new home in the West of Ireland. It will be well looked after and garaged. It'll will be for occasional use only, but I'm sure ownership and driveability won't disappoint.

[grayfool]

Nice car. Talking about owners keeping thier Volvo for a long time, I worked for a guy in the late ninities who still drove a 740 with nearly 300, 000 miles on it. It was fine. His wife told me that he would never sell it, he'd just use it until it fell apart around him.

[fredjones]

What a beauty... I had a virtually identical one in metallic green and although I've had a few Volvos since then (and before it) that was my favourite of all. The pre-"facelift" cars like this are vastly better looking than the later models to my eye... the S70 I had afterwards was hugely more powerful and every option ticked, but none of the later cars handled as well as this one. By the way, I don't believe that gear knob is correct for the car? I would say that this gearbox was also perfectly mated to the engine and almost never chose wrongly - kickdown was instant and the engine loved being revved to the ridiculously high redline.

[philipmartensson]

I work at Volvo Group. Not the company that makes cars, but lorries, buses and construction equipment etc. We still use the Volvo Broad font a lot. It’s the default font for headings in our ppt templates, for example.

[davidhinkson]

I always remember the headline of Road and Track's first review of this car in September 1992: "This is not your Uncle Olaf's Volvo!"

[danieleregoli]

what a lovely car that was! I remember driving a 2.4 GLT auto in Sweden in 1996 and thinking how amazing and refined that car was...!!!

[TekkenBones]

3:05 That engine does not sound like it's running right. Sounds like exhaust manifold is leaking or its not running on all cylinders.

[scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Great review and what a lovely looking car, cannot beat the sound of a 5cylinder Volvo.

[volvo]

A bit of a nerdy fact, but the font used IN a Volvo is called Handel Gothic, not Volvo Broad, which is a bit similar so the mistake is easily made. Volvo Broad is used only in their marketing and communications and was copyrighted in 1997, so the 850 pre-dates it.
Handel Gothic was used by Volvo since 1974 and can still be found in their new cars.

[michaelstamper]

Never tried an 850, although I've had various other models over the years. This video makes me wish I had one of these.

[gazzebow]

Lovely to see an early 850, but it actually killed off the 240, the 900 series cars were sold alongside the 850 until the millennium.

[cornishrider]

I do like the combination of White with Blue interior, this example really is mint. The Saab 9000 was a more dynamic drive and the cabin had more flair but the 8 Series has been more durable and has stood the test of time better in my experience.

[jarredd]

Love my pearl 97 GLT. Over 300, 000 miles and still a blast to drive. Great video

[damianfuller]

Am I alone in thinking it sounds really tappety?! Not the delicious 5 cylinder sounds the tapping! Anyways nice car Cheers.

[rccup]

I love the blue interior, shame they don't make these colourful options anymore. Great review as always!