Ulf Thorén is an authority in Swedish Volvo R circles. Ever since his teenage years, he has been fascinated by and collected performance models in the more striking colors.
Now he is selling part of his collection on Bilweb Auctions.
In the spring of 1994, at the Geneva Motor Show, Volvo unveiled a very yellow 850, called the Turbo Plus 5. It would later be named the T-5R, earn the nickname “T-Gul” (“T-Yellow”), and become one of Volvo’s most iconic models.
And 15-year-old Ulf Thorén in Växjö was hooked.
“I dreamed of one day being able to afford a T-5R,” he says.
Even the registration number of the car in the brochure stuck with him: PDY 444. Especially when the same number appeared again a year later when the red 850 R – “T-Röd” (“T-Red”) – was launched. Volvo had reused the same car.
Fast forward to 2001: Ulf can hardly believe his eyes when he spots a saffron-colored 850 outside a shop in Halmstad. Registration number: PDY 444. He speaks to the owner, but it’s not for sale.
“But in 2015 it shows up on Blocket, and I strike. The sills have three layers of paint: yellow, red, and saffron.”
Ulf restores the car to its original condition.
“And that’s when things start to spiral,” he laughs.
He begins searching for and acquiring the most unusual T-5Rs, for example in colors that only a handful of cars ever had. Some of these are now the ones he has chosen to sell.
“These are ‘one of a kind’ cars—you can’t just pick another one,” he says.
The four cars in brief:
A 850 T-5R estate, one of two pre-production cars built on April 21, 1994, in the unique color Aubergine metallic. This color was recommended as the production color by Ingvar Malander, head of exterior colors at Volvo Cars, but it was rejected. Instead, the color that would strongly contribute to the model’s success was chosen: Cream Yellow. That made the two aubergine-purple cars unique.
The second T-5R pre-production car, also in Aubergine, but a 4-door sedan built the same day as the estate. It now has an engine tuned by Autotech Motorsport in Gothenburg, a heavy-duty clutch, and racing-grade brakes. It also has a series of service stamps from Volvo’s internal test vehicle department, “Vagnverkstaden.”
Another T-5R sedan in a color that shouldn’t even exist! This is the only remaining one of three T-5Rs ordered by the importer in Saudi Arabia in a grey metallic color that was only available on the 240 and 740. How this happened is still a mystery… A Swede found it in Saudi Arabia and brought it home as personal belongings in 1998.
