24th-Nov-25, 02:23 PM
I love those "seemed like a good idea at the time" racing cars which achieved virtually nothing and soon disappeared. Even better is when somebody makes a slot version of one. Step forward the BTCC 1994 Volvo 850 Estate. It only raced for that one year, never won a race with a best placing of 5th at Oulton Park and the team finished just two off the bottom step in the championship. Volvo won the championship a few years later with a saloon but people only really remember the estate version oversteering round the corners with two wheels off the ground.
It is worth repeating the story of the alleged reason they chose the estate for their return to motor racing. It goes like this:
Volvo hired Swedish performance company Steffanson Automotive (SAM) to develop a prototype racing-version of the 850. As the legend goes, when SAM visited the factory to pick up the 850 bodyshell, only estates were available. On a tight timeline, instead of waiting for a saloon model they just grabbed an estate and went on their way.
Volvo realised the PR potential of this as they were primarily known as the middle classes dog transporter of choice. TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) was contracted to finish off the project and testing revealed that the estate actually had better downforce than the saloon due to its long flat roof. While this was certainly a bonus, in the end the decision to go ahead with it was a marketing decision. Naturally the estate caused much merriment and piss taking when it turned up at the first race so the team stuck a toy dog in the back for its first parade lap. The picture below is a recreation done at the Goodwood FOS.
A short lived, unsuccessful car then but people remember it with affection so Scalextric have provided us with one and it has been a lot more successful in 1/32 scale as it is currently their best selling product.
Is it any good though?
Well a bit like its full size counterpart - ultimately not that great a performer but sort of OK and a fun addition to the stable. Let us start with the good points - it looks the part and the decoration is virtually spot on, the wheels let it down a little bit as they are the correct pattern but matt grey rather than prototypical alloys. So 9 out of 10 for appearance.
It is worth repeating the story of the alleged reason they chose the estate for their return to motor racing. It goes like this:
Volvo hired Swedish performance company Steffanson Automotive (SAM) to develop a prototype racing-version of the 850. As the legend goes, when SAM visited the factory to pick up the 850 bodyshell, only estates were available. On a tight timeline, instead of waiting for a saloon model they just grabbed an estate and went on their way.
Volvo realised the PR potential of this as they were primarily known as the middle classes dog transporter of choice. TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) was contracted to finish off the project and testing revealed that the estate actually had better downforce than the saloon due to its long flat roof. While this was certainly a bonus, in the end the decision to go ahead with it was a marketing decision. Naturally the estate caused much merriment and piss taking when it turned up at the first race so the team stuck a toy dog in the back for its first parade lap. The picture below is a recreation done at the Goodwood FOS.
Is it any good though?
Well a bit like its full size counterpart - ultimately not that great a performer but sort of OK and a fun addition to the stable. Let us start with the good points - it looks the part and the decoration is virtually spot on, the wheels let it down a little bit as they are the correct pattern but matt grey rather than prototypical alloys. So 9 out of 10 for appearance.
On to the track then but a disclaimer first. All Scalextric cars are designed for use on their own track with magnet fitted so I never expect them to be perfect on my copper taped mdf home track. I also test them from the point of view of the average home user who just wants to run the cars out of the box without modification. I do the bare minimum preparation, just a bit of lubrication and running in.
First thing to note is that the tyres are a huge improvement on previous efforts, not quite up to aftermarket standards but adequate grip and by no means disastrous. However the first run was not encouraging - flattened the throttle down the straight and it bounced straight out of the slot! The Ninco hop returns. I loosened the body screws a tad which helped but didn't eliminate it. Eventually I had to turn the acceleration knob on my controller right down to tame it which didn't help the overall lap times as it was quite slow leaving the corners.
Once sorted I could turn lap times in the region of 6.8 secs on my 50ft track which is a bit slow but not actually terrible. It didn't tip over at any point but did suffer from the usual random terminal understeer which is a trademark of their guide system so I couldn't really push it to extremes as I never knew when it would decide to throw itself at the scenery. I will have to fit an aftermarket guide to overcome this at some point. I did just manage to get it to corner on two wheels on a few occasions though which brought back memories of the real thing!
Verdict
Not the world's greatest performer on track but I never expected it to be a rocket ship. It is a super rendition of the 1:1 version and is flying off the dealers' shelves so other people must view it with the same affection as myself. I confess to having a large grin on my face as I played with it and I am now off to find a 1/32 border collie to put in the back! 
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