Owner: Omar Elaqad – Instagram: @850platty
1996 Volvo 854 Platinum – Location: Gilbert, Arizona, USA
Photographers: @az_automotives @badd_photo @arizona_fishing555
Was there any unusual circumstances around how you acquired your car?
Story time: My father worked at the Volvo dealership in 1991-2008. We’ve had this car in the family before I was born. He found this platinum coming in as a trade-in in 2000 and bought it for my grandfather, who drove it for about 10 years before he gave it back to my dad. My dad used to drop me off to school as I grew up, I always used to tell him to park far away so the kids don’t see the old beat up Volvo 
Fast forward to January of 2019, he gave me the car when I got my license. I put a lot of money into making it reliable, and modified it as well. Now at car shows people offer to buy the same car I didn’t want to be seen in haha. Currently pushing around 400 BHP with a m56 manual swap with Quaife LSD, love this car and will never sell it.
Was there more work on your car than you anticipated? Did you find a bucket of wiring worms, find some secret hidden problems…..
Many issues since the build and modifying it, but that is to be expected when pushing double the horsepower than factory.
Are there any unique mods on your car? Hyper-rare parts, custom made parts…
Quaife LSD
K24 turbo
900 cc injectors
Ethanol fuel
Big fuel pump
Coil on plug
Manual swap
Semi built engine
Ipd springs
Dealer optioned chrome Bbs wheels
Many small things I’m forgetting
Would you consider your car done in its current form? Or do you have a list of “to dos” still left?
I would say I would like a larger turbo in the future, but need to dial in the car. The tune is far from perfect but we will get there!
What is the biggest problem you ran into on your build?
Constantly having issues.
If you had to do it again, would you build the same car?
Definitely would! I just with the experience I have now do more hands on work such as swapping the trans or building the motor. My tuner did a great job but I think it would be cool to say I did it.
Is there any part/mod on your car you had to do a few times, or installed and then removed?
The ECU has given me a lot of issues in regards to flashing and running rich/lean.
What is your favorite part on your car?
The rarity!
What’s the best memory you had in your car?
Growing up in it and have been in three generations of my family.
