The amazing thing about this Volvo 122 is not the overall condition, although it does look really good, it is the fact that until recently it had been left to languish in a Volvo dealership for 10 years. It has left the dealership and is now up for sale here on eBay. It is located in Schenectady, New York, and is being sold with a clear title.
The body of the Volvo looks quite good. One of the known trouble spots for rust on the 122 is the lower fenders, and these look clear. The other problem area is the inner rockers, so these would need to be checked. The rest of the body and paint look quite good, and I suspect that a buff and polish will bring it up really well.
Unfortunately, we’re a bit short on information on the mechanical specifications and condition of the car. However, the lack of exterior chrome trim, the white paintwork, and the black interior, all suggest that this car is what is known as a 122 Favorit, which was introduced by Volvo in 1966. This would mean that if it has remained original, then it would be fitted with the 1.8l 4-cylinder engine and the 3-speed manual transmission. Given the fact that the car has been sitting for at least 10 years, there will certainly be some work required to get it going again. These are a pretty robust car, so that work may not be too involved.
If I am right and this is a Favorit, then the interior trim will be black, and the car will lack a few luxury items such as a cigarette lighter and passenger side sun-visor. The owner says that the car is complete, but it is missing the door trims. Replacement trims for the car should be quite easy to source. The type of dust that has accumulated on the car suggests that the car’s time at the dealership may have been spent parked in a shed or workshop. If this is the case, then it may have had little exposure to UV rays, and the interior could be in quite good condition.
The Volvo 122 is a fun car to drive, and they are a very strong vehicle. Good examples command prices starting at around $14,000 and can sell for as high as $23,000. The fact that this appears to be a Favorit makes it that little bit more unusual, and this may be reflected in the price to a true enthusiast. The owner has set the opening bid at $6,000 for the Volvo, and with 10 people currently watching the car, I suspect that he will probably find a buyer for this one.
Hmm, with no interest here, and zero bids, perhaps the bottom finally fell out of the 122 market. Mechanically, they’re great, 100% Volvo, it’s just, in it’s stock form, they are about as exciting as a Rambler American. ( and not those fancy American’s either) For a while, I wanted a 122 wagon, but I can get a decent Z car for less. The 122 was never popular, except among Volvo nuts. It was the 140 that things really took off for Volvo. If you’re into 122’s, this looks like a good one, for 1/3 the price, maybe.
I’m not a “Volvo nut” but 122s and 544s before them were great cars for a young guy without much money. I had 2 or 3 and they were strong and easy to work on. 144s never had any appeal for me, so I guess it’s whatever floats your boat.
While these do not handle quite as well as the 444/544 cars, owing to a less compliant rear suspension, the much better outward visibility makes them a lot handier in traffic – they are very fine around-town cars, and pretty good for longer trips as well. The one I had showed one of its weaknesses early, when an upper trailing arm at the back broke in traffic one day, most handily right in front of Nashville’s one independent Volvo shop!
I actually do like the 144s a bit better – to me it seems they got the old 544’s happy handling back – but just about any of the pre-smog (in CA) postwar Volvos is a good and useful car. Pretty easy to work on too!
I own a 67 122 and have never heard the term “Favorit”. Learn something new every day. I think this one spent some time in Northern California. I notice a College of Marin bumper sticker on the back.
Like these as well……..
One of the bumper stickers has a Brazilian telephone number on it. Maybe it was from Brazil at one point?
I congratulate you for unearthing the “Favorit” variant from the fine print of the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Amazon, however unlikely that theory may be. Waaaay more likely is that this is a conventional 122S that that appears to have had a repaint with the trim removed and and not replaced for either aesthetic or cost reasons and never put back on the road. Similar conclusions are often reached by BF for similarly flimsy reasons, e.g, old sports cars with a roll bar and dash plaques often seem to written up as having “racing history”.
If you feel that BF’s write ups are “flimsy” and obviously not up to your standards, maybe you should consider finding another site? Or better, why don’t you take the time, effort, and skill that it takes for this crew of WRITERS, to put out their fantastically educational articles!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYDAY!!!!!!
Just my opinion.
Sounds to me like the Favorit was just an entry level “stripper” and with less profit in it, hard to get a dealer to stock them. So in this case, rarity does not equal value. Look at the Studebaker Scotsman for a similar idea.