What do these two cars have in common?
Both are basic specification versions of 1990s family cars with the ‘wrong’ engine.
The Volvo was an end of life 2.5 litre non turbo with the catalytic convertor gone and holes in the wings.
The Renault is a basic spec 1.6 non turbo with cloth interior…
But add some bit wheels and lower the suspension, and what do you have?
A tribute to the finest era of British Touring Cars!
I saw the Volvo on Facebook and paid £600 for it, then spent about twice that turning it into a racing car. At the very first show we took it to, the gent on the door waved us down and said ‘put that on the front row please buddy’, and we parked our £2k race replica next to £6-figure supercars.
When I started the build, people would say ‘are you going to take the seats out and use it on the track?!’ And I’d say ‘no, I’m going to put more seats in, and use it for the school run’. So with a little help from a Geoff Buys Cars Group Member, we turned it into a 7 seater.
There’s something indulgent about driving around in a car that people love to stare at, because the attention you get when driving a mock race car on the road, especially a touring car, is not the same attention that you’d get with a brand new, £250,000 car.
With the Volvo, there’s never any jealousy, malice or bitterness… it’s just love and laughter. People love to see it being filled up at the petrol station, or parked outside a pub, or at Morrisons, or in the McDonalds drive through. They always laugh when they see the kids in the rear facing back row seats, and that’s the whole point. I never want to take life too seriously, so daily driving a cheap fake race inspired estate car is about as not-serious as motoring can get.
I love the idea that a cheap car with a few stickers can get just as much attention as any brand new hyper car, and I know how much I’ve enjoyed owning the Volvo BTCC tribute!
Some people have said ‘the Laguna isn’t a BTCC Replica it’s just lowered with some big wheels on it’, but that was exactly the point of BTCC back in the day, and that’s why we love it. This magical era of touring cars was accessible, with the cars still being recognisable as the models available in the showroom. Sure, under the skin, they are NOT the same thing, but from a distance, it’s just another family car!
I won’t get into the details of how the Volvo 850 came around, and how the drivers seat and engine were moved, and how the drivers didn’t even want to drive them because other racers took exception to being overtaken by an estate so would ram them just for fun…. There’s plenty of that online.
My point is that if you want to do something different with a car, something out there, something a bit wild… then go for it.
No, these aren’t racing cars. But tell that to the 5 year old who just gawped for 30 seconds straight whilst he crossed the road holding his mums hand, with me and the kids waving from the traffic lights.
Unleash your inner 5 year old and see the potential, not the drawbacks!
The Laguna is up for grabs on my website, for £10 a go.
Get your entry to own the Laguna for £10:
https://bit.ly/RenaultLagunaBTCC
Watch the video series of my Volvo 850 BTCC Build:
https://bit.ly/Volvo850BuildPlaylist
See my photo album titled Race Cars In Places Where There Shouldn’t Be Race Cars:
https://bit.ly/RaceCarsInPlacesWhereThereShouldntBeRaceCars
