Volvo 122S
DTCA Chairman, Michael Driver, celebrates classic Swedish style.
In the 1960s, most of the cars seen on British roads were of English manufacture, such as Austin, Morris, Ford and Hillman - these perhaps being the most common. Occasionally, a ‘foreign' vehicle would pass by and, in those days, that car would stand out as unusual. Although our toy makers here generally concentrated on home produced English saloon cars for their models, they did add European, American and other cars to their ranges. Dinky Toys were no exception, and of course they also had an eye on the export markets.
One such foreign car was the Dinky Toys Volvo 122S (No 184) that appeared in December 1961. It is seen in an advert in the Meccano Magazine that month, and is featured in the Dinky Toys News in “New Model Has A Swedish Background”, which says “It is a miniature of that very fine Swedish car the Volvo 122S”. It also says “We have had very many requests for this model from enthusiasts both in this country and abroad”.
The Meccano Magazine back cover advert headlines it as “An Elegant Scandinavian”. The advert shows the car in red with a cream roof and has the following note under the picture “Following the maker's colour finish, this model is now enamelled in red only and not two-tone as illustrated here. It is headlined as An Elegant Scandinavian''. A further comment also states that “Here is a model every collector will want to own.” The all red model has a silver painted radiator and bumpers, plus four-wheel suspension, Prest-o-matic steering and windows, together with a white plastic interior. A 'not very common' version is finished in off-white with the same interior. The cars were, of course, left-hand drive and were fitted with spun wheels and treaded tyres. The model was sold in a