Not since the days of Rickard Rydell and the Volvo 850 has an estate car competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC,) but that will change in 2014 when the championship winning Honda Yuasa team switches from the Civic hatchback to the new Civic Tourer (estate to you and me).
Testing for the new model will commence in January ahead of a full assault on the BTCC, starting at Brands Hatch in March, as Matt Neal and Gordon 'Flash' Shedden aim to add more trophies to the Honda cupboard. The team is hoping the new car will help it achieve the team, manufacturer and driver's hat trick after narrowly missing out on the latter in the 2013 season.
"It might be a Tourer, but it's still a Civic, the car that has won every championship in BTCC for the last three seasons," commented Gordon Shedden while team mate Matt Neal believes "there's no reason why this car can't be a winner straight out of the box!"
This is a sentiment echoed by Team Manager Peter Crolla, who says "The weight, wheelbase, layout and suspension remain the same, but naturally, the length of the car is extended due to the larger tailgate."
Anything else?
Changes to the rules meant that the Volvo 850 Estate only competed for one season of BTCC with Volvo admitting the move was a marketing ploy in the vein of 'Race on Saturday, sell on Monday'. In unrelated news the Honda Civic Tourer will soon go on sale...