Welcome to Little Car in the Big City, where I highlight fascinating cars I found walking around a town that is known for being bigger than everything else, but where every car is fighting to stand out: New York, New York.
I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret, because I'm a nice guy and also because it's not really a secret. This gorgeous 1967 Volvo Amazon and last week's 1947 Pontiac Torpedo were actually spotted sitting in the same Brooklyn driveway. If you don't believe me you probably should because a) that would be a weird thing to make up, why would I do that what kind of person are you accusing me of being, I'm really starting to resent your accusations and maybe we should just think this whole relationship over and b) you can just go back and check. This green Swede is lurking in the background of some shots. Go on, check. I'll wait.
Good. Now that you haven't actually checked we can move on to today's star of the show. This particular Volvo Amazon is a sad case, if for no other reason that it looks so desperately pretty and, at least superficially, appears to be in such good condition, yet it's been sitting with an expired registration since 2006. What makes today's Volvo even more impressive is that when it was last registered, just two years before, it only had a little over 120,000 miles on the clock.
With such few miles on the clock, this Amazon might as well be brand new. You see, these old Volvos could survive anything. People like to prattle on with apocryphal stories about 1970 Ford pickups that would last forever and then they claim that oh yeah one time Jimmy shot one right through the block and it kept right on running because it's Built Ford Tough® or something or other. Of course, feel free to substitute any GM or Dodge slogans as well, depending on your family history.
The truth of the matter is that the toughest in all the automobile world is an old Volvo. If you don't believe me, you can just ask Irv Gordon, whose Volvo P1800S (which is derived from the Volvo Amazon) just ticked over 3,000,000 miles. And in he did it mostly in New York, no less, with its potholed streets and snowy winters combining forces to rust away any car that stands in their path.
But really, this Volvo is a special one, and it looks to be impeccably maintained despite its lack of driving status. If you take a look at the interior it seems to be all sorted out, and the leather looks to be in fantastic shape as well, with nary a scratch in it.
It really is a shame, then. I'm a big proponent of the theory that cars are built to be driven, and it's too bad that that isn't happening with this car. Unfortunately there's no "For Sale" sign on it either, so there's not much of a chance of me scooping it up.
Just think – I could buy it, love it, and then drive it through winters pretending I'm in Malmo or Uppsala or someplace else very Swedish indeed in my old Volvo. And with only 120,000 miles on the clock, I can also pretend I'm back in the past, too. Not too far back in the past, though. We can say it's 1981 or so. How about some whiskey on the rocks?
This Amazing Car Would Surely Survive The Amazon