The iconic Volvo Amazon, a spiritual predecessor to the new ES90, was introduced 70 years ago this year. While the last 122-model built in Sweden (in July 1970) is now on display in the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg, it isn’t the last one assembled… no, the final Amazon was actually constructed right here in South Africa.
This car, with a T-production chassis number 359918, was a beige two-door right-hand-drive 122S model with a 1,986 cc four-cylinder B20B engine, and an M40 four-speed manual gearbox. It was assembled in the Motor Assemblies plant in Wentworth, Durban, on 19 December 1970. The car was handed over by John Sully, CEO of Motor Assemblies, to Dion Lardner-Burke, marketing director of Lawson Motor Group, the importers of Volvo at the time.
It was initially used as a company car, but it isn’t clear what happened to it when Volvo assembly in Durban ended in 1973, and after Volvo disinvested from South Africa in 1976, all trace of the last Amazon was lost. In total, 667,791 Amazons rolled off assembly lines in Sweden, Canada, Belgium and South Africa over a period of 14 years.
Report by FERDI DE VOS | Images © VOLVO CARS/VOLVO OWNERS CLUB SOUTH AFRICA
