It was six decades ago that the Swedish brand launched itself on the international market with the Volvo Amazon.
It was only Volvo's second model after the end of World War II – after the PV444 – but that didn't stop the Swedish brand from betting heavily on a model that would have unprecedented commercial success. With clearly familiar features, the Volvo Amazon was designed by Jan Wilsgaard, then a 26-year-old who later became the brand's head of design – Wilsgaard passed away precisely a month ago. In terms of aesthetics, Amazon was influenced by several Italian, British and American models.
Initially, the car was nicknamed Amason, a name that goes back to Greek mythology, but for marketing reasons, the “s” was eventually replaced by a “z”. In many markets, the Volvo Amazon was simply designated 121, while the nomenclature 122 was reserved for the sport version (with 85 hp), launched two years later.
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In 1959, the Swedish brand patented the three-point seat belt, which became mandatory on all Volvo Amazons, something unheard of at the time – an estimated 1 million people were saved thanks to the seat belt. Three years later, the “estate” (van) variant was introduced, known as the 221 and 222, whose sports version had 115 horsepower, in addition to other significant modifications.
With the introduction of the Volvo 140 in 1966, Amazon was losing prominence in the Volvo range, but that didn't stop showing improvements: there were plans to develop a version with a V8 engine, and five prototypes were even built, but the project ended up not advance.
In 1970, the Swedish brand abandoned Amazon production, 14 years after the first unit. In total, 667,791 models came out of the production lines (it was the highest production Volvo to date), of which 60% were sold outside Sweden. 60 years later, Volvo Amazon was undoubtedly largely responsible for introducing the Volvo brand to international markets, opening doors for the future of the brand on a global scale.
