This Old-Skool Volvo Took SEMA 2006 By Storm, But We Tracked The 600hp Turbocharged Wagon Back To Its Swedish Homeland.
For those of you who caught our coverage of last year's SEMA show (et 2/07), you'll know this car. It stood out like a sore thumb among the brightly painted muscle cars. The engineering was so impressive that this 600hp Swedish wagon was recognized as a masterpiece.
Although it oozed class, few actually knew what the car was. Known in its homeland as the Amazon and in America as the 122, the '69 wagon turned every head in Volvo's booth.
After seeing such creations firsthand, few would doubt the Scandinavians are world class when it comes to performance engineering and styling for road cars. Best of all, such work is usually carried out in cramped, freezing backyard garages.
The 26 year-old creator of the Amazon, Mattias Vcks, hails from ngelholm. During the day he works at Koenigsegg, builders of the most extreme supercar in production. Working in such an innovative (and downright crazy) environment inspired many ideas for the Volvo.
His work hasn't gone unnoticed, and that's how he found himself at SEMA last year after winning Sweden's "Hottest Volvo" award.
Modifying a Volvo is a patriotic rite of passage for most Swedes, but before you even start to appreciate the mechanical engineering, the body will have already knocked you sideways. Mattias explained he bought the shell six years ago, tidied it up a bit, lost interest while fixing up a Volvo P1800, then went crazy on the wagon.
The front and rear panels and each fender were extended 2" closer to the ground and lined up with new side skirts. This was done by Mattias, who bashed sheet metal into the desired shape before welding it in place.
Home-made stainless steel exhaust header is a work of art.
If you thought that was hard, it was easy when you realize he also performed a two-door conversion on the four-door body. Using larger doors from a Volvo coupe, the flanks have been reconstructed to accommodate the new arrangement. The result, using original chrome trim strips down the sides, is impressive.
Up front, the Volvo's visage retains its old-skool charm, albeit with an enormous intercooler behind the grilles, while the chrome bumpers and period mirrors are retained.
On a custom level, the exhaust is a side-exit, the hood was raised at the rear to allow heat to escape (preferable to cutting vent) and the gas cap for the fuel cell is above the C-pillar.
The wagon's tailgate didn't escape, and it now features a Volvo XC90-style plate recess and meshed outlets for the water cooler inside.
2.5 liter Volvo straight six vored and stroked to 2.8 liters. With Garrett GT4088.
Remaining faithful to Volvo's '60s color palette, he opted for PV-grey with clearcoat, which is nearly the original '69 Amazon hue.
Finally, the wheel arches have been raised an inch and pulled to allow modern boots to be worn. It's hard to go wrong with 19" BBS LM wheels, and the black centers with polished lip are winners on this ride. Shod with 245/40 front rubber and 275/30s rear, the classic Volvo is able to put down some serious power.
What this man has done under the bulbous hood and throughout the Volvo's chassis is phenomenal. Roll back 35 years and this car featured Volvo's B20 80hp four cylinder, which wouldn't cut the mustard in the 21st Century.
Remaining faithful to the marque, Mattias dropped in a 2.5 liter six cylinder from the Volvo 960, bored and stroked to 2.8 liters using a combination of SPM pistons and rods plus a Volvo 960 3.0 crankshaft.
Running high boost, the crank breather is an important component.
Among his considerable skills, Mattias handcrafted the beautiful, stainless steel exhaust manifold and exhaust system. The header mounts the Garrett GT4088 ball-bearing turbo, which pushes air into a Packman ported cylinder head with custom Hedlund camshafts.
This installation was not easy, and Mattias had to mount the motor at a slight angle to allow the custom runner on his aluminum plenum chamber to be as long as possible for low speed torque. He also pushed the firewall back 8" to improve weight distribution.