Volvo Amazon P120
The first Amazon traded Volvo's rounded little-car shape for a roomy four-door body with tiny tail fins, two-tone paint and careful safety details.
Volvo Amazon BW 2016-09-03 13-30-52.jpg · Berthold Werner · CC BY-SA 3.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Volvo revealed the new four-door in Örebro in September 1956 and began customer deliveries in 1957. Young designer Jan Wilsgaard blended Italian, British and American influences into Volvo's first pontoon body, whose fenders and body sides flowed together. In Sweden it was called Amazon; outside the Nordic countries the standard car became the 121 and the more powerful sport version became the 122S. That market boundary matters: a 1957 Swedish car should not be presented as wearing a 121 badge.
Look a little closer.
For 1957 through 1959, Volvo offered the Amazon mainly in two-tone combinations such as ruby red or black with a light-grey roof.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Why Sweden changes the name on this page
Volvo's own history says Amazon was the name in the Nordic countries, while the standard export model was 121 and the sport export model 122. The queue's provisional 'Sweden Amazon 121' mixes those systems. This packet keeps the familiar Amazon name but records P120/P1200 as the exact early four-door family.
Source: Volvo Cars · Amazon turns 60 ↗Safety before the famous three-point belt
A 1957 Amazon did not yet have Volvo's standard three-point front belt; that milestone came in 1959. It did, however, use a laminated windscreen, a padded dashboard top and belt attachment points front and rear. Keeping those dates separate shows safety developing step by step instead of appearing all at once.
Source: Volvo Cars · P1200/P120 Amazon legacy model ↗Where these facts come from
- Volvo Cars · Amazon turns 60
- Volvo Cars · P1200/P120 Amazon legacy model
- Volvo Cars · Amazon overview and specifications
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed 2026-10-01.