Volvo did moderately properly promoting the homely PV444/544 in the US starting within the center Fifties, and its better-looking successor first appeared on our shores as a 1960 mannequin. That was the Amazon, which was out there right here via 1968. In the present day’s Junkyard Gem is a kind of automobiles, present in a Northern California self-service yard just lately.
The Amazon identify wasn’t used on these automobiles in North America (they got 122S badging right here), however everyone makes use of the home-market identify for these automobiles by this time.
The engine is Volvo’s dependable 1.8-liter pushrod straight-four, rated at 115 horsepower and 112 pound-feet.
The transmission is a four-speed handbook.
I’ve discovered quite a few discarded Amazons during my junkyard travels, as these are rugged automobiles which have lengthy impressed highly effective affection from their homeowners.
This one was so beloved that its closing proprietor penned a farewell word to its flank earlier than sending it on its closing tow-truck journey to Choose-n-Pull. The automotive saved a minimum of two lives, although it could have been good to get extra particulars right here.
The automotive that did all of it!
It was in tough form by the point of its retirement, with the top-down rust you see on California cars that live near the Pacific and its salt spray.
Junkyard customers had bought many of the inside and trim elements by the point I arrived.
The substitute for the Amazon was the 140, which arrived in the US as a 1968 mannequin and later developed into the 200 Series.
Turns you right into a Swedish rally driver!
Volvos are constructed so properly that they final a mean of 11 years in Sweden.
The very best Amazon commercials are in Swedish, in fact.