Feature Cars
Feature: Atypical 855
By by: Jeremy Chapman, photos: Sam Du
Sep 27, 2005, 05:20

The Volvo aftermarket is still in its infancy relatively. In Volvo tuning, one often sees the same modifications and wide use of newer factory parts to differentiate these cars from the masses. That said Volvo has been providing the foundation for tuning enthusiasts all over the world. Forced induction and motorsports have helped to ignite the interest in these often overlooked cars, inspiring Jeremy Chapman to take the road less traveled in the buildup of his 850.

Jeremy started customizing cars in 1990, when he took his first car, a 1969 VW Beetle, and transformed it into a show car using Porsche wheels and interior components. His next car, a 1986 Golf, again took the Porsche theme and became a mainstay on the Northwest VW show scene. After building these two cars, Jeremy broke with tradition to pursue his consulting career in Germany and China for several years. Although he took a bit of a break in building cars, he still religiously attended motor shows and enthusiast events in both countries. In 2003, Jeremy relocated back to the United States with his wife and then 10 month-old-son.



Returning to the States with family in tow, it soon became obvious that Jeremy’s Golf, still in storage, just wasn’t going to be big enough. Jeremy always admired the fact that Volvo was first automaker to campaign a wagon instead of a sedan in major racing series, the BTCC. So the choice for a white 855 was an easy one.

Initially, it was a hard road to modifying the Volvo, compared to previous VW, but soon changes began to take shape. The first things on the agenda were small touches like clear corner markers, debadging, European side markers and red-tinted rear turnsignal lenses. Next came the larger-ticket items like wheels and suspension.



Finding a wheel solution presented difficulties. Very few wheels are offered in Volvo’s 5x108 bolt pattern, so Jeremy decided to take the road less traveled and called upon his VW tuning heritage to adapt the bolt pattern to 5x112 using German adapters. His time in Germany also made him appreciate the widened track look, so Jeremy went with aggressive 20mm front and 25mm rear adapters to push the rims beyond the fender flares.

After initially seeing Mercedes S-Class Monoblocks on one of the first tuned Golf IV's from Germany in 1998, Jeremy instantly propped these wheels to all-time favorite wheel status. Measurements were taken and preparations were made to accommodate these wheels by rolling the 850’s fender lips and pushing out the fenders nearly an inch beyond factory specs. Wheels are 18x8.5 with Continental Extreme Contact 215/35/18 tires, providing the German stretched look.

Spax 40mm lowering springs and Koni shocks were installed to replace factory sport suspension and Mintex pads were added to increase stopping performance and reduce dusting.



In keeping with the unique modification theme, Jeremy opted to make his own chin spoiler using a technique passed from the archives of VW/Porsche tuning. The spoiler was made using interior floor molding and aluminum structural supports, finally attaching them via 2-part epoxy. The resulting look is unique, yet still understated compared to the usual aftermarket aerodynamic offerings. To continue the theme began by the wheels, Jeremy fabricated a custom badgeless grill using a Mercedes Benz E55 unit and rebadged the hatch with "855" using Mercedes Benz V8 Geländewagen and E55 emblems.



To fulfill another former passion of car audio sound quality competition, Jeremy installed a TV/DVD/MP3 head unit and seven inch LCD fold-out monitor. Both items were rescreened with Volvo emblems to provide a clean, factory appearance. A 100 watt amplifier received similar treatment and was mated to a JL Audio 10 inch subwoofer; the spare tire continues to reside under the amplifier and subwoofer and all is hidden in normal operation via factory trunk panels. Speakers and grills were also heavily experimented with and modified to improve the soundstage and imaging characteristics. The sound is clean, precise and spectrally balanced.



The dollar per horsepower justification of reflashing the ECU made the decision to buy an easy one. Speed Tuning was called to increase pressure to 17 lbs under full boost and a K&N drop-in filter was added. To aid performance and appearance, a strut brace and carbon fiber engine components were sourced from Eurosport Tuning.

One of the most visually unique features of Jeremy's car is the lighting. As a self-proclaimed lighting enthusiast, it wasn't an option to convert to High Intensity Discharge lamps without first installing projector type headlamps. Jeremy considered everything from BMW E30 ellipsoid headlights and BMW E36 projector headlights to a projector retrofit using the factory 850 reflectors. Instead, he opted to research what the aftermarket had available and after looking at every projector headlamp on ebay, he determined that the Honda CRX had a very similar headlight size and shape. He ordered these lights and began experimenting.



First the CRX lights were baked in an oven and disassembled - the mounting points and perimeters trimmed to fit in 850 housings. The 850 housings were extensively modified to accept the complete projector and high beam reflector. Factory reflector buckets were trimmed down to their outer frontal surface and used to trim out any visible difference in shape between the 850 reflectors and CRX headlights. The lights were mated to the factory headlight housings and sealed, then PMMA plastic replacement lenses were defluted and polished by hand. Finally, an HID retrofit kit was added. The lighting performance gains are dramatic and cut-off is razor-sharp.

Adding to frontal lighting, Jeremy installed Hella fog lamps behind his lower bumper grills. These lights are virtually unnoticeable and once illuminated the 110 watt Hella Yellowstar bulbs provide ample lighting in inclement driving conditions.

The Volvo wagon is first and foremost a commuting and family car, but since Jeremy can't leave anything in factory form, he has built the car for his family and himself to enjoy. His son is three years old now and insists on watching cartoons on any trips while sitting comfortably in his heated leather car seat.



Many car enthusiasts who started in modded compact cars such as the Volkswagen Golf or Honda CRX can certainly learn from Jeremy’s lead. Though perhaps not the most immediate choice for a ride, the 850 wagon smacks as a very capable and tunable choice, keeping the enthusiast, spouse and kids all happy. One thing is certain, Jeremy certainly makes it look easy, while his 850 proves that a family station wagon need not be slow or mundane.

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