Used Car of the Day: 1965 Volvo 122S

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Unofficial Volvo week continues. I wanted to move on from Sweden but this 1965 Volvo 122S is too unique to pass up.


This restored car is black-on-red, which is apparently the rare "19" color combo.

The car was restored, repainted, and the rust removed over the past 6,000 miles. It still has the original engine and the carbs have been serviced and re-tuned. There are also performance spark-plug wires, a sport exhaust system, and a swapped-in manual transmission. The suspension has also been reworked and Bilstein shocks are part of that.

Exterior renovations include a new front nose, front and rear inner fenders, rockers, rear quarter panels, and more. Inside there's a new dash pad, headliner, and Momo steering wheel.

The flooring and hat shelf still need to be redone.

Other mods include a LED third brake light, a Bluetooth head unit, rear three-point seat belts, and Hella driving lights.

The ask for this Pennsylvania-based car is $25,000.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • ChristianWimmer US-spec 380SLs were especially asthmatic thanks to the emissions regulations. In Europe these were considered quite “quick” and powerful. They are slow cars by todays standards but excellent cruisers so this 380SL is perfect for someone who just wants a solid, open-top cruiser and not a weekend drag racer.IIRC the 560SL had a torque advantage over the European 500SL, but the 500SL was ultimately the quicker car.I own an ‘89 500SL R129 and despite the 326-horsepower torquey V8, it’s 0-100 km/h “performance” is held back by the 4-speed automatic and 2-ton weight. Even in their day these cars were not intended for drag racing or 0-100 km/h bragging times. They are cruisers meant to be enjoyed in a responsible manner. Plus, driving faster than 120-130 km/h with the top down or the soft top closed results in high wind noises for the former and a loud fluttering cloth top for the latter. As a result I drive a maximum of 110 km/h on the Autobahn with the top down or 120-130 km/h with the top up.
  • Tassos more lipstick on the pitiful pig...
  • Tassos While Summer officially starts w the Solstice around June 21-22, my summer has started on Monday May 6, when I started my ocean swimming season, a record early for me. Fortunately I think the water is warmer than in previous years (on Monday May 14, 2007, when I returned to my summer palace from a week's stay in Warsaw (the VIP treatment etc) I could not stand it, but did swim the next day May 15.
  • Tassos I will wait for the more understated, if not eliminated, fins of the 60s and 70s. Form Follows Function unless there is really good reason, and I fail to see anything more than a passing fad here. Good Riddance, glad current Caddys are not as juvenile in their excellent styling (that Art and Science or Whatever theme has already lasted a quarter century and still looks better than Bangle-d BMWs.
  • NotMyCircusNotMyMonkeys youll find another cult soon enough. it will be ok, tender snowflake. your tears will dry eventually :)
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