Volvo 120 Series - 121/122S/123GT

If you’ve been following my articles right from the beginning you would have realised that I’m more into British and German cars. So obviously a Volvo write-up will be somewhat odd. Well, the truth is I was never and am still not a fan of Swedish cars which include Volvos and Saabs being the more prominent names. But there is one Swedish name that excites me which is none other than Koenigsegg who are a manufacturer of Super Cars. Well, let’s leave the Super Cars alone and concentrate on what is known to be an iconic series of Volvos after the P1800 series, which is none other than the 120 Series.

The Volvo 120 series consisted of the Volvo 121, the 122S and the rare 123GT. Better known as the Volvo Amazon in some parts of the world, the cars came in 3 different body types which include the two-door coupes, the four-door sedan and the station wagons. Close to 700,000 units were manufactured during it’s production period form 1956 – 1970 and there were three different engine variations available namely the B16 which was a 1.6 litre, the B18 a 1.8 litre and the B20 a 2 litre. Although most of the models had the manual transmission there were a few later models (1964 onwards) that came with the automatic transmission.

The Volvo 120 Series of cars were certainly beautifully designed cars compared to the later models Volvo came out with such as the 240, and the 940. In Malaysia, the 120 Series is probably one of the most collected classic in the country after the ever famous Volkswagen Beetle and the Mini. Of course not all are in the best of condition nevertheless parts are easily available be it new or used though I find them a little pricey. A decent Volvo 122S will cost in the region of RM 10,000-20,000 depending on the condition and the coupe models such as the 123GT naturally command a slightly higher value due to it’s rarity. 

The pictures attached are some of the well kept 120 Series models available in Malaysia covering all the models which include the sedan, coupe and the wagon. I've also attached a rather interesting video of a 1967 Volvo 122S coupe.

 

Mercedes-Benz 170S-D

As always, we try to write good articles as well as feature cars that are collectible or rare. Today’s feature car is totally that, it is a Mercedes 170S-D. As perplexed as you are, I was too as perplexed as you when I heard of this model as I’ve only heard of the 170V and to be honest, I’m more well versed with Mercedes-Benz models from the late 1950s and onwards.

The 170S was the first Mercedes-Benz to be given the ‘S’ suffixes which means ‘Sonder’ in German or ‘Special’ in English. The particular model we are featuring today is the 170S-D of which the ‘D’ stands for Diesel. It is quite similar to the 170V and it initially even shared the same chassis code of W136. (It’s quite odd that the codes Mercedes-Benz had never really followed a sequence which is also evident in the later models such as the W111 which was an earlier model compared to the W108.)

The engine was the 1767cc inline 4 with a four-speed manual transmission which the 170V also shared, although the initial 170S and 170V had the 1697cc engine. One look at the car and you will know that it is a very old car dating from the 1940s with its real timeless vintage design. Cabriolets were also manufactured based on the same chassis to create a wider range of models and towards the end of its production a base model known as the 170S-V was introduced. Between its production years of 1949-1955 there were close to 70,000 units built which included the various specifications and body types.

Below are some of the shots taken, so sit back and enjoy the marvel of engineering by Mercedes-Benz who until the early 90s were known to over-engineer their cars and that’s the reason these old cars survive for more than 70 years. I've also attached a video of all the model variations below.

The video

Charity Drive

For the first post for the month of September, I’ll be doing a write-up of a Charity Drive which we did on the 31^st of August. The 31^st of August is a very significant day in Malaysia as it is our National Day, and it’s been for a few years where a group of classic car owners do some charity. We usually meet at a central location and ferry the underprivileged children from various homes for lunch, in our classics of course.

This drive was organised by MY Classic Cars (MCC) together with Community Support Network (CSN) and as it is an annual event, more participants are welcomed to support this good cause. We had over 60 cars as well as over 20 Harley Davidson owners that turned up with their bikes to escort us and of course that was a good experience for the children who thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We too sent our Jaguars in support of the event and even our very own World Rally Champion, Karamjit Singh came and gave his support to this event.

Once at the lunch destination, the kids had games to entertain them as well as lunch for them as well as us. It was a great gathering and kudos to the organisers. I’ve attached some photos as below. Many rare car species in Malaysia which include a ’59 Cadillac as well as a Chevrolet Impala also lent their support. They are not too clear as they were taken using my mobile phone.