Volvo 122S
Our last car, the Volvo 122S Amazon, might look the most staid of the bunch, but it offers wonderfully evocative styling by Volvo’s long-serving chief designer Jan Wilsgaard. A step on from the upright PV series, it took its inspiration from the American cars of the early Fifties. Inside there’s more American influence, with chrome details on the facia and a fantastic strip speedo with a bright red ‘worm’ that grows from left to right to indicate speed. The gearlever is a long, chrome wand which disappears into the floor near the bulkhead, so gearchanges are best made in a deliberate, unhurried fashion. Despite that, the Amazon has a fair turn of speed for a saloon car of its day. It’s not as heavy as you might imagine – of these six cars only the little Mazda is lighter – so it gathers speed at a reasonable rate, with a willing thrum emanating from the four-pot motor under the bonnet. Acceleration is aided by short gearing, which results in fussy cruising. Owner Malcolm Crosher, like many other Amazon drivers, has swapped in an overdrive gearbox to reduce engine revs on motorway trips. He’s also added electric power steering which kicks in at low speed to reduce parking effort, making it easy to take advantage of the Amazon’s excellent steering lock.
Most cars of the period made do with drum front brakes, but the Amazon has discs, and where rivals had live axles and leaf springs for their rear suspension, the Volvo has a much more modern arrangement of coil springs, radius arms and a transverse Panhard rod to give very positive location. As a result it tackles these twisty Yorkshire lanes with aplomb, always feeling like it’s in control and never worried too much by the odd bump or pothole in the middle of a bend. It’s easy to see why these cars earned a reputation as good rally cars, in an era when solidity, stability and crew comfort were more important than outright speed.
Amazons resist rust better than many contemporaries. Bonnet and boot lids are rarely affected and rotting outer front wings or front panel can easily be replaced. At the front rust can attack the inner front wings, battery box, radiator crossmember and engine cradle. The front chassis rails are susceptible, as are the sills and the crossmember between the two. The main chassis rail from the front bulkhead backwards can be subject to significant corrosion, as can the rear end of the chassis, rear wheelarches, spare wheel well and boot floor. Doors rust at the bottom but repair panels can be welded in. On estates the tailgate can rust, with no repair panels available, and rust can also affect the bottom edge of the rear side window. Brightwork is no longer available for early cars. Bumpers can be expensive so replating the originals is a good option. Interiors last well, but trim can be hard to source secondhand. Watch for problems with the window winders caused by corrosion or breakage. Engines are good for 150,000 miles or more but worn camshafts can cause tapping noises and valve guide wear leads to oil consumption and smoke. Spares for the early B16 engine can be hard to find but later B18 and B20 engines are better served. Gearboxes rarely give trouble. Cars in good condition start around £2500 and the best can reach £5000 or more. The rare 123GT, with
‘It tackles these twisty Yorkshire lanes with aplomb, always feeling like it’s in control’
the two-door body and 1800S-spec twin-carb engine, is the most sought-after and most valuable – but fairly easy to fake, so beware.
Picking a winner is difficult because these are such different cars with a wide range of values. The Volvo and Mazda are terrific fun, in very different ways, and won’t cost the earth. The Bristol has effortless class, the Honda and Mercedes feel special yet are practical enough to use most of the year. If I were going to take one home it would be the Porsche: it has faults and idiosyncrasies, but so much character. Whichever you choose it’ll be anything but dull.
Thanks to: Dylan Paddison, Sam Bailey at SL Shop (theslshop.com), David Taylor of the Bristol Owners Club (boc.net), Michael Barton, Chris Simpson, Iain Fleming and Keith Coutts at the Mazda MX-5 Owners Club (mx5oc.co.uk), Graham Horgan at Plans Performance (plansperformance.com), Amazon Cars (amazoncars.co.uk), Robert Whitton at Phoenix Classic Restorations (phoenix-classic-restorations. co.uk), Graham Ford, Porsche Club GB (porscheclubgb.com), Giles Brown at the Mercedes-benz Club (mercedes-benz-club.co.uk)