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.