This early 850 from across the Atlantic was a unicorn hiding in plain sight for Volvo fans.
We have a feeling that most current and former Volvo 850 owners wouldn’t notice this 850 GLE as being something unusual if they saw it in traffic, but odds are this was the only one of its kind in the entire country when we spotted it in Washington DC.
It’s a European-spec 850 GLE—a trim that was not offered stateside—and it was on diplomatic plates. But even without the plates, Volvo enthusiasts might note it has a wheel cover design never offered here on any 850 trim level, as well as clear side markers, and amber turn signals on front fenders in place of small Volvo badges on US models.
The 850 debuted stateside in 1992 for the 1993 model year, but had been out in Europe since the summer of 1991. For the first two years the model had taller headlights, a different front bumper, and a different belt of plastic cladding all around. The 1994 model year brought a few changes, including narrower headlights and a different plastic belt trim and bumper, but the taillights remained square until the 1995 model year.
There were quite a few changes year to year for the 850’s relatively short time in the market, before it was renamed and updated into the S70 and V70.
In the US, all 850s for the 1993 model year were optioned in the GLT trim, which was not the case in Europe. Stateside, the GLT trim was dropped for 1994 just as a new base model arrived, badged simply as the 850. But both the GLT and the base model featured 2.4-liter inline-fives underhood for these first two years, even though there were now some differences in equipment, like wheel choices. A Turbo version also arrived for 1994, as did the station wagon. And in 1995, redesigned taillights were implemented for all versions of the sedan.
The rear plate niche still has a shadow from where a Euro-spec plate was attached.
Autoweek
Among these early 850 trims the GLE never made it here, but was certainly on the menu in Europe along with the SE trim. The GLE was offered with a choice of 2.0- and 2.4-liter engines, with the smaller of the two unavailable stateside. Yet another engine we didn’t get in the 850 in the US was the 2.5-liter turbodiesel, which would have been interesting but probably not very compelling.
It’s rare to see a European-spec Volvo from the 1990s, especially now, but there have been a few that have made their way here. Mostly, they were the more exclusive, stretched versions of the 960 and S90 used by Swedish diplomats (including the three-row limo models with conference seating), but a few lower-spec models such as this one were brought in by individual diplomatic staff who’d normally drive them here for a couple years or so before returning to Europe or to another posting elsewhere. That’s how this 850 GLE (temporarily) ended up stateside.
Keyword: Street-Spotted: Euro-Spec Volvo 850 GLE