Volvo Amazon - The Foundation of Today's Volvo

On December 16th, 1925 a famous agreement is signed between Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, more than a year after an oral agreement was made at restaurant Sturehof in Stockholm. The agreement is that Larson, receiving some compensation that is to be paid upon completion and only under certain circumstances, will construct a new car from scratch. The two had previously worked together at Swedish ball bearing maker SKF in Gothenburg and both had considered producing a Swedish car for several years. A car manufactured from the world renowned Swedish steel would be of higher quality and would successfully be able to compete with the American cars on the market. Assar Gabrielsson holds a Master of Finance degree from the Stockholm School of Economics and is at the time Heas of Sales at SKF. Gustaf Larson holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology and is at the time Technical Director at manufacturing company Galco (G.A. Lindquist & Co.) on Hälsingegatan 41 in Stockholm, but had previously held the position of Head of Construction at SKF.

The work with constructing the first passenger car from Volvo, ÖV 4, is mostly conducted in the Larson family residence on Rådmansgatan 59 in Stockholm - in the children's bedroom to be precise. Larson could ofcourse not work on the car during regular office hours but is assisted by several young engineers in the construction work, including Jan G. Smith and Henry Westerberg. Westerberg later became the first Volvo employee and still today is the longest serving Volvo employee with 55 years in the company. Several of Volvo's more prominent employees have thorough experience of automotive construction and manufacturing from the USA. The result from the construction work is ten prototypes, nine open-top and one covered, that all are manufactured at Galco during the spring of 1926. Production is started during the fall and is located to SKF's redundant facilities in Lundby on Hisingen outside Gothenburg. Production was also considered in Stockholm, Örebro and Eskilstuna. The first car, an ÖV 4, leaves the factory on April 14th 1927, a date that has come to mark the founding of Volvo. The story of how Volvo's first series produced car had to leave the factory in reverse gear is true. The differential gear had been incorrectly mounted in the rear axis (an error that took less than ten minutes to correct).

The sales of Volvo cars is initially however slow, very slow, and after some time SKF considers selling the business. Charles Nash, owner and founder of the Nash factories, is invited to Sweden from USA to discuss a possible purchase of Volvo. Assar Gabrielsson calls Björn Prytz on the same morning that Nash is to arrive in Gothenburg and offers to invest his own capital in Volvo (capital that he in part got from Volvo for the work with the prototypes) with less of a pretense to reimbursement than SKF had. After a telephone conference the SKF board decides not to sell Volvo to Nash. Volvo soon expands the business to also include the manufacturing of trucks. The trucks are until the 1950s the most profitable part of the company and are the key to its early success. The cars continue to sell poorly and production is modest. The first real success doesn't come until the 1944 introduction of the Volvo PV 444. In the era that follows World War II (in which Sweden did not participate, leaving essentially all of the country's production assets intact), the PV 444 is the first real family car to come out of Volvo.

In the early 1950s Volvo's CEO Assar Gabrielsson decides that a worthy successor to the successful PV 444 has to be built. The idea behind Volvo Amazon comes to grow out of a project called P 1200 (the PV 444 was called P 1100 internally) when young designer Jan Wilsgaard gets the assignment to - among several existing suggestions - come up with a feasible solution. The existing solutions mainly consisted of abandoned design proposals and terminated projects, including Helmer Pettersson's PV 454, Wilsgaard's own PV 55 and P 179. But by the end of 1953 Wilsgaard has designed his own solution, that only after certain doubt gets accepted by Volvo management; the car is for its time very modern in its design. Wilsgaard, at the time only 23 years old, got inspiration from contemporary Italian, British and American car design. Volvo management is at first not very interested in young Wilsgaard's design proposal, and he is explicitly forbidden to work with it during regular office hours; the design of what is about to become Volvo Amazon therefore takes place during early mornings, lunch breaks, evenings and weekends (in the 1950s the regular work week in Sweden included half day of Saturday). The result is Volvo's first pontoon bodied car and a design that is still attractive today. In fact, several design elements from the Volvo Amazon can be found on Volvo cars of today. In contrast, Assar Gabrielsson held the firm belief that cars should be discrete and preferably black, and considered Wilsgaard's design to resemble a pin-up girl.

In February 1956 Volvo announces working with a new car but keeps most of the details to themselves. All Volvo admits is that they work on a bigger and roomier car than PV 444 that will get four doors and be more expensive than its predecessor. No word about launching date or engine choice. Naturally, speculations start more or less immediately - including rumors of the first deliveries starting on August 1st, 1956 and that the car will get a 2.5 liter straight six engine. The two-tone finish is a detail that draws a lot of attention when the first prototype, named X1, is presented to the public in April 1956: X1 is turquoise with grey-beige roof and white wall tires. Already on the day after the presentation of the first pictures of X1, the car is taken on its first longer test drive (until now, X1 has only been driven shorter distances on the Lundby factory yard). Along on the journey are Volvo's Production Manager Tor Berthelius and two young associates named Gerhard Salinger and Rune Gustavsson. The trip goes - without escort - north from Gothenburg to Norway, where the Amazon for the first time is tested in right-hand traffic (X1 was left-hand steered). In the trunk are two winter tires that are fitted on the rear wheels when needed, as late winter Norway allowed testing the car on winter roads. The car turns out to perform well and the trip ends back in Gothenburg without any major incidents. Somewhat surprisingly, the car did not draw much attention during the journey. The remarks are mainly that the car is slightly oversteered and that the noice level is too high, both which are adjusted after the first production run. The picture below is taken by Tor Berthelius and features X1 in Norway. From the left is Rune Gustavsson and Gerhard Salinger.

The prototype X1 on a test drive in Norway in April 1956

A second prototype, named X2, is developed during the summer of 1956. X2 was cherry red with grey-beige roof and white wall tires. The picture below is one of few known of the X2. X2 was also registered for traffic and is together with X1 the only two Volvo Amazons of model year 1956. On Friday, August 3rd 1956 the new Volvo Amazon is shown to enthusiastic Volvo dealers at a conference in Skövde. The Amazon is introduced as a four-door model and is given its characteristic appearance with a split grille, curved pontoon wings and relatively large wheels. The car on display is X2. It has chassis number 2, features right-hand drive and two-tone finish. It differed from the upcoming production version on a number of details, both on the outside and on the inside. Among other things, also the door arches were painted in the color of the roof (grey-beige). This was changed as it would become too expensive. The wheel knobs were of a rounder and different design and had a different center "V". It had different position lights, lacked the chromed grille net, but had VOLVO letters in the rear bumper mid section (between the horns). The pictures in this Swedish sales brochure are of X2. Although unconfirmed, X2 was supposedly later sold to a private person but was found on the junk yard already in the mid 1960s.

The Volvo Amazon has a self-supporting construction with engine in front and drive in back. The body is completely unitized in a fully-welded construction which has been given a thorough anti-rust treatment. The instrumentation is new and different. For the first time, Volvo supplied cars with two-tone color combinations. Technically speaking, the Amazon is very similar to its predecessor, but because of the higher weight (220 lbs heavier than the PV 444), Volvo eventually decides to drill wider the B4 B engine used in the PV 444 to 97 CID (1,583 cm³). The engine plans had consisted of several alternatives, including a small V8 and a straight six. The new B16 engine is armed with one Zenith 34 VN carburetor and has an output of some 60 hp (DIN) / 66 hp (SAE). Not only the engine has its origin in the PV 444 - Volvo also uses the 6V electrical system, the three speed H6 gearbox and the chassis of the PV 444 for the Amazon. The H6 gearbox was soon to be replaced as already at that first show in Skövde there were some grumble about the lack of a fourth gear. The parking brake is placed between the door and the seat on the driver side to allow for bench type front seat and steering wheel lever gearbox. The Amazon is a little more vain than the PV 444 and - above all - already from the very start a safety car. The PV had early a laminated windshield. The Amazon is equipped with dash pad and factory installed fittings for seat belts. The Amazon is a robust car - that's why so many are still rolling.

The international debut comes in October 1956 at the London Earl's Court car exhibit. The picture further down is an advertisement in Swedish press from this period. It isn't, however, until September 1957 that the first car is delivered to a paying customer. A new Volvo Amazon is prized at SEK 12,600 ex works Gothenburg. German moped manufacturer Kreidler has just launched a moped called the Amazone, has already registered the name and now claims sole right to it. In the settlement between the companies, Volvo is allowed to use the name Amazon on the Scandinavian market but not anywhere else. Volvo Amazon is therefore sold under the name Volvo 121 (later also Volvo 122 S and Volvo 123 GT) outside Scandinavia. Assar Gabrielsson is succeeded by Gunnar Engellau (from Volvo Aero) as CEO in 1956 but remains in the company as chairman of the board until he passes away on May 28th, 1962. Gustaf Larson holds the position as chief engineer and deputy CEO until 1952, when he takes a seat in the board which he holds until his retirement in 1958. He continues consulting for Volvo until he passes away on July 4th, 1968. When Gunnar Engellau takes over as CEO at Volvo after Assar Gabrielsson on August 13th 1956 and for the first time meets the staff he opens his speech with the legendary words: "I take my hat off for what has been accomplished, but I take off my coat and roll up my sleeves for the future". The Kreidler Amazone moped is discontinued in 1959.

With the 1965 model year more fundamental changes are introduced on the car. In 1966 the standard version Volvo Amazon Favorit is introduced on some markets, including Scandinavia, as a less expensive alternative and also as a compensation for the by now discontinued PV 544. In 1967 the top of the line version 123 GT is introduced. Product development of the Volvo Amazon ceases in 1968, more and more assets are relocated to the 140-series and the last two model years bring many simplifications.

On a hot summer day in July 1970 chassis number 359726 is manufactured, which will come to be the last - a dark blue two door sedan. By now, production has lasted for fourteen years and the 140-series will now take over all Amazon production assets. The last Amazon is priced at approximately $1,700 in Sweden of which $387 constitutes accis and tax. The first was priced at $1,361 back in 1957, of which $101 was accis and tax. Jan Wilsgaard, who came to Sweden from Norway during the war, didn't come to retire until the mid 1990s and held the job of chief designer at Volvo for several decades - being overall responsible for the design of all Volvo cars from the Amazon to (and including) the 850-series. As bonus for the work with the Volvo Amazon he received three monthly salaries.

Some mile stones:

• Production start in October 1956
• New gearbox M4 introduced in April 1957
• Sport engine B16 B in September 1958
• Underseal treatment introduced in November 1958
• Factory installed front three-point seatbelts in 1960 (a Volvo invention)
• New gearboxes M30, M31, M40 and M41 in August 1960
• B18 engine introduced in August 1961
• Front disc brakes on 122 S in August 1961
• Two door sedan (only in black) in October 1961
• Amazon Estate in production February 1962
• Front disc brakes on all editions in August 1964
• The new Volvo seat is introduced in August 1964
• Output raised in B18 D to 95 hp (SAE) in August 1965
• Output raised in B18 A to 85 hp (SAE), in B18 D to 100 hp (SAE) in August 1966
• 123 GT with B18 B of 115 hp (SAE) in August 1966
• Power brakes in August 1967
• B20 engine and dual circuit brake system in August 1968
• Factory installed headrests in front seats in August 1969
• Factory installed seatbelts in rear seat in August 1969
• Last Amazon manufactured on Friday, July 3rd, 1970

Revised with data from Volvo's historical archives and from the National Road Administration's registers. The last Amazon was saved and can be seen at the Volvo museum in Arendal outside Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo's founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson were both totally uninterested of the history of the company, and Assar Gabrielsson in particular was of the meaning that all focus should be on the future and not on the past. Not until after the founders had passed away did Volvo start collecting historical material in a more structured way.

There are Swedish cars that have been manufactured for longer periods of time and in larger volumes than Volvo Amazon. There are cars that are neater, faster, more safe... ...whatever you want. But despite of that Volvo Amazon is The Swedish Car. Volvo's immortal car has not been in production for over 30 years, but is still considered as a good used buy. Its sport editions 122 S and 123 GT are hard to find and expensive rarities. Alreay a classic and a collector's item.

* Refers to total units P 12104, P 12204 and P 12206 manufactured during production run 1958.
** Refers to total units P 12104, P 12106, P 12204 and P 12206 manufactured during production run 1958 - 1959. P 12208 is missing in the table but is included in the numbers.
*** Incorrect number; should be 9,604 according to Volvo's own delivery books which gives a total number of 234,653 produced P 120.
**** Incorrect number; should be 2,921 according to Volvo's own delivery books which gives a total number of 73,220 produced P 220.

From Volvo's magazine Ratten number 4, 1981. Note that Volvo here presents incorrect figures regarding the engine output in the B16 A, which according to B16 A owners aswell as contemporary Volvo literature is 66 hp (SAE). Some editions were available on some markets earlier than stated here, for instance P 220 in 122 S edition.