About life, and everything else : A Volvo Amazon 122S brought back to life

Louie Amorim describes himself as being quiet, and passionate about cars, classics in particular since he was 22.

He also loves, collects, and sells antiques. He was an independent financial broker, now retired, but still attends to the requirements of many long-standing clients. He became a member of the Lowveld Old Wheels some 15 years ago. "I am still actively involved. Among the 50-plussers boasting some 300 classic cars, the youngest member is in his 30s. To engage with the younger generation and get them involved with what we do, is one of our biggest challenges," said Louie.

He has just completed the restoration of a Volvo Amazon 122S and this is his story.

"My uncle, Victor Jardim, only owned two Volvos in his entire life. He bought his first Volvo, a PV444, in 1960, and immigrated to South Africa from Mozambique in 1963.

"In 1967, while I was boarding with him, he traded the PV444 for a 1965 B18. This became his everyday car for 41 years, and when he was unable to drive in 2008, it was given to me as a gift.

"As was the normal practice in the early 70s, he replaced the B18 engine with a B20. My uncle was a fitter and turner and did all repairs and servicing himself. Before restoration, the speedo stood at 87 426 miles, but I was told the clock had clicked over eight times, which comes to 887 426 miles or 1 428 173 kilometres, which is an annual average of 34 833 kilometres. Apart from the engine swap and normal servicing, no major repairs were done.

"In 2015, I started with the restoration and was hoping to complete it this year. But alas, there is still some work to be done.

"It’s been an eventful and sometimes frustrating journey. The overhaul kit and additional parts imported from Nordic (in Holland) arrived in Johannesburg on March 2, 2018, got misplaced during the post office's annual strike, and was finally delivered a year and two weeks later, only for me to find out that some parts did not fit, as there was a difference between the B20 motor with a six-stud flywheel and the one with an eight-stud, and to complicate matters, Volvo went metric in 1969.

"To add salt to injury, the engineering firm lost some of the parts, and that was when I was introduced to Fred Eksteen (classic Volvo mechanic specialist) and Rodney Verasammy (SA supplier of classic Volvo spares) who came to the rescue. The reassembly of the engine was eventually done by Ken Grossmith from Ken's Garage here in Mbombela, and still to do is the hood lining and upholstery.

"While reassembling, and to my total amazement, I noticed that my Financial Services Board Licence number, 4479, issued in 2004, was the same as the Volvo’s production number.