CarBrandLogos archive · Volvo · 1956

VolvoAmazon

First car in the world sold with three-point seatbelts as standard equipment.

Photo: Mick from Northamptonshire, England · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Volvo history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Volvo Amazon, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

1966 Volvo 122 two-door in Black, front right

Origins

Jan Wilsgaard was in his twenties when he styled the car that replaced the PV444, and he gave Volvo something it had never had: a shape that looked international rather than parochial. The slab sides, the light glasshouse and the modest fins read as American in miniature, but the engineering underneath was pure Gothenburg — a front-engined, rear-drive layout, sturdy B-series four-cylinder engines that grew from 1583cc to just under two litres, and a body engineered to take a beating.

1966 Volvo 122 two-door in Black, front right · IFCAR · Public domain

Design and engineering

Its place in history was fixed in 1959. Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin had developed a belt that restrained the pelvis and the upper body with a single strap and a single buckle, and the company fitted it as standard here and on the PV544 — the first production cars anywhere to be sold that way. Volvo then declined to enforce the patent, on the grounds that the design was worth more to the world open than closed. Almost every car built since uses Bohlin's geometry.

Volvo Amazon Amsterdam · Richardkw · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The name is a curiosity. A German motorcycle firm held the rights to "Amazon", so outside Sweden the car was sold by number — 121, 122S, 123GT, and the 220-series estate that gave Volvo its first mass-market load-carrier and the beginnings of a reputation for wagons. Buyers in Britain and America mostly knew it as the 122S.

Volvo 122 S sedan · sv1ambo · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

Some 667,791 were built between 1956 and 1970, in Gothenburg, Torslanda, Ghent, Halifax and Arica, before the 140 Series took over. A great many survived: the combination of thick steel, simple mechanicals and a devoted parts supply means running examples are still ordinary sights in Sweden, and the model remains the clearest illustration of what Volvo decided to be.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Units built

667,791

Engine

1583&nbsp

Designer

Jan Wilsgaard

Body

2-door Sedan

Technical specification

The Amazon, in detail.

Production: 1956–1970; 667,791 produced
Class: Large family car (D)
Body style: 2-door Sedan (car); sedan (130-series); 4-door sedan (120-series); 5-door station wagon (220-series)
Layout: FR layout
Engine: 1583 cc Volvo B4B engine; B16 Straight-four engine; I4 ; 1778 cc Volvo B18 engine; B18 I4 ; 1986 cc Volvo B18 engine#B20; B20 I4
Transmission: 3-speed H6 manual transmission; manual ; 3-speed Volvo M30 manual ; 3-speed Volvo M31 overdrive manual ; 4-speed M4 manual ; 4-speed Volvo M40 transmission; Volvo M40 manual ; 4-speed Volvo M41 overdrive manual ; 3-speed
Designer: Jan Wilsgaard
Assembly: Sweden: Lundby, Gothenburg ; Sweden: Torslanda (Torslandaverken) ; Belgium: Ghent (Volvo Car Gent; VCG) ; Canada: Halifax Regional Municipality; Halifax (Volvo Halifax Assembly; VHA) ; Chile: Arica (Divolvo); South Afric
Manufacturer: Volvo Cars