When Perry spread the word about Volvo week, it was the perfect excuse for me to chase up a mythical creature, the Volvo 165 wagon. I first read about it in ‘Volvo Down Under’ by Pedr and Tony Davis and since then, my interest has persisted, especially since my grandfather owned two 164s and my father had a 145 wagon that eventually became my first car. I made contact with John Johnson from the Volvo Club of Victoria and tentatively asked if he could point me to any special-bodied Volvos. Well, he responded, I’ve got a one-off 165 wagon if that interests you…
Let’s start with a bit of pre-history. The first Volvo to officially enter Australia was a PV444 brought in during 1954 for a Swedish trade promotion. It was put through its paces over here, with Volvo’s Sales Manager Ture Gustaf Andersson racking up 10,000 kilometers in ‘testing for Australian conditions’. Nothing eventuated from this trip, but this unrelated promotional photo serves as a reminder of what could have been.
In late 1960, Volvo imports started to enter the country. A dealer in Melbourne and one in Sydney brought in a small number of 122 and P1800 models. Sales uptick was slow during this decade, but the durability of the Volvo became popular within the racing and rally fraternity, particularly when combined with local engine-modification know-how.
Meanwhile, back in suburbia, the first 144 was imported into the country. It was ordered in 1967 by businessman Eric Nordling to be delivered with 36 ignition keys. When asked why 36, he replied that his wife had a habit of losing her keys and that he wanted a one for each of her 36 handbags. Volvo complied.
In 1971, Volvo Australia struck an agreement with Motor Producers (owned by Volkswagen Wolfsburg) to assemble Volvos at their Clayton, Victoria plant alongside VWs, Datsuns and the odd Mercedes Benz truck. Ownership of the factory shifted to Nissan Australia in 1976, and Volvo continued to produce vehicles here; starting with the 140/160 series, through the 240/260 series and culminating in the 740/760 series.
Volvo Australia sold 1646 units in 1973. For 1975, Volvo the annual sales figure had surpassed 6500. That was the year of the 240/260 series launch (245DL pictured), and at that point Volvo had nearly thirty percent of the luxury car market in Australia. By the time local production ended in 1988, Volvo Australia had produced and sold around 66,000 vehicles.
But back to the 165 Volvo wagon. Its genesis begins with the Managing Director of Volvo Australia, believed to be Jo Wedde, summoning ADR Engineer John Ousey (left, with John Johnson) to his office. By the end of the meeting, Ousey was under instructions to build a 165 wagon for the MD’s personal use.
There was a problem, however. The 165 wagon did not actually exist. The 164 saloon was the flagship of Volvo’s product range. Designed alongside the 4 cylinder 142/144/145, the 164 was the company’s six-cylinder prestige model and a wagon version had thus been deemed inappropriate by the powers that be. (For clarification here, it must be noted that the last digit in the model code denotes the number of doors: 2 for a coupe, 4 for a saloon and 5 for a wagon.)
The solution? Take two complete knock down (CKD) kits, a 145 wagon and a 164 sedan and marry them up. Both variants shared the same architecture from the A-pillar back, but the front end of the 164 sat on four inch longer chassis rails to accommodate the larger engine. So for this task the marriage of two kits was one of necessity as well as convenience.
The 165 came off the Clayton production line in February 1972, painted Kansas Red (aka Nissan Orange) with black leather interior, B30A engine with twin Strombergs, M41 manual with overdrive, aircon and power steering. It was spot-welded as per every other car on the line and had its own 165 Vehicle Identification Number. There is even a Volvo Australia Body Drop schedule verifying the car’s provenance.
Then another problem popped up. Headquarters in Sweden had done an audit and wanted to know where the missing CKD kit was. It appears that Volvo Australia’s response might have been an ingenious ruse. ‘Why, the two kits were used to develop a prototype 165 wagon to explore the possibilities of export to the US in return for increasing import numbers into Australia. Unfortunately the idea was rejected by the Australian Government.’ No-one can actually verify this. The export plan comes from the book ‘Volvo Down Under’, whilst John Ousey’s genesis account came from the man himself. Whether true or not, the export angle does sound like a great cover story.
So is this the only factory-built Volvo 165 in the world? Well, yes and no. Volvo Australia built another wagon from two cars damaged in transit, but even though this vehicle has 165 badges, its VIN classifies it as a 164. It is rumoured that there was another 165 built in South Africa or South America, however there is no evidence of that car either in any document.
Volvo Sweden built some unofficial 160-series wagons back in the day, but they were subsequently destroyed. There is also the much longer wheelbase 165 Transfer wagon which is rumoured to have been built for an executive of Volvo Sweden. This seven seater curiosity has a wheelbase of 131.5 inches and appears to be based on a Volvo Special Vehicles offering designed for, you guessed it, airport transfers.
Of course, there are some coachbuilt versions. This particular 1972 example was recently found and purchased by Swedish classic car journalist Fredrik Nyblad. It was originally put together by Yngve Nilssons Karosserifabrik of Laholm, Sweden and featured a sun roof, roof rails, fuel cap door, custom-built stainless trim, black leather interior and Jaeger instrumentation. There are also claims that UK Volvo importer Lex Brooklands built 3 or 5 examples from flood damaged cars. And a quick perusal of the web reveals some home-made versions.
All of which makes John Johnson’s wagon a truly unique vehicle; the only factory-built Volvo 165 extant. It is a car that would be desired by many enthusiasts around the world, and perhaps even by Volvo itself. At present, it’s undergoing a complete overhaul. I hope to bring you part 2 once it’s complete. Many thanks to John for sharing his story with CC.
One offs are always interesting, I woulda thought those would sell ok given the sheer numbers of Volvos in Australia especially wagons,
I found a 1 of 2 Holden special panel vans in Sydney, the other is in Melbourne at the Police museum, designated HD, LB, for long body. An extra foot of car was added behind the rear axle the one I saw is owned by a professional car restorer and was a coroners van used for transporting corpses, something for ya to investigate Don.
Thanks for the headsup on the HD, Bryce.
They should have put fake wood on the sides and sold it in the US as a Volvo Squire.
Thanks for this fascinating look at this oddity.
Cross brand it with IKEA!
That is interesting. It pulls off the wagon body style quite well. Good to hear it is in enthusiast ownership as well.
Yeah, it does. That longer wheelbase in front makes the whole thing look more balanced.
It really seems perfect. Like the later 960 without the electronic overkill.
Very cool.
The 164 has always been my favorite Volvo, especially the early version before the interior restyle.
So… has anyone built a “162”?
Or even better, a “162C” using sheet metal from the later 262C Bertone bodied coupe?
The prototype was effectively a 162C.
Don, that Clayton site has a rich history on itself. I was told that way before becoming a car site, train carriages were made there. In some places there are tracks that extended, would probably connect to the current Cranbourne / Pakenham line.
I didn’t know all the brands were made together. I was also told that only solid colour Volvos were assembled there with cars with metallic paint being imported.
That picture is great, do you have other or know where to find more?
That car is another sample of Aussie ingenuity 🙂
Sorry Athos, don’t know of any other Clayton pics from this period. Couldn’t find anything with a Volvo on a line. Before I sat down to write this, I was under the impression that only 4 cylinder Volvos were built out here. Haven’t heard the metallic paint version.
I went there for a job painting Nissans, nekminit they packed their shit and left.
nekminit. hehehe
What does “nekminit” mean?
What happened to Phil Spector?
Fat pizza brings more LULZ
The whole nekminute catch-phrase irritates the heck outta me! It was hugely overused here for a while but thankfully seems to be lessening in popularity.
:'( … although they did not necessarily have to be from that period.
I was told the metallic colors story by someone I worked with.
There are some streets in the complex named after VW products, like Kombi Rd.
I’m surprised that it is said 7 series were built at Clayton too. I think this is not correct, can anyone verify for sure?
As for the missing car in auditing, all the other bits could have been used to make a 4 cyl 144.
KJ
We can solve that one easily. Find a VIN from a 7 series car. If the WMI is a local one (probably starting with 6)… it was made here.
I haven’t even read the post yet but all I can say is COOL!
I always wished they had catalogued a 165E. When the 260 Series replaced it a six-cylinder wagon finally joined the sedan.
Seems a waste that they didn’t slap together a 164 body, 144 frame and front clip with a 4-cylinder to make up for the missing CKD kit.
Good point. Maybe the entrails left through the back door to produce another hybrid. John Ousey passed away recently, so the vital link to this story is gone. The present owner, John Johnson, has been chronicling progress on the car here.
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=95653
You’ll find most of my cribs from the learned commentary there.
Whats not to like. You would think this would have sold in viable numbers somewhere.
Great story Don. One off cars for execs are an interesting area.
Of course the Clayton site still has some car building, Holden Special Vehicles is
HSV is located in that site sir.
MDs usually get some different / cooler stuff in their cars. I remember one that had the roof of its white tourer painted in black.
I’m going to blame posting on the phone for not completing the sentence there..
One of the coolest MD cars I’ve seen was Bill Bourke’s 1969 427 Falcon GT, a car was sent over to the US, had a Q or R code 427 fitted (replacing the 351 4V) plus a few other extras, a custom paint job etc.
Got an article on that car. Would love to hunt it down.
Yes, I have an article on that car too. Had factory a/c and a sunroof too possibly? Maybe power windows too. A beast with a softer side!
I would have gladly lined up to purchase one of these!!! Sadly, I had to part with my 74 142GL because the wife (now ex) didn’t like loading our two youngsters into the back seat. The odometer read 323,000 miles at the time of sale and barely lost 1/8 of an inch of oil from the dipstick between service intervals. The fuel injected, manual overdrive transmission achieved 36-38mpg with the family loaded into it. It always stated in the dead of winter despite temperatures regularly exceeding -40*c in Canada’s far north!
Years later, I purchased a low mileage diesel GLE, which happily idled in the driveway from December until March. I promptly sold it upon discovering the VW logo on the engine block.(Call me a purist, but I didn’t really want a Rabbit and a half engine powering my Volvo!?)
I currently own a 1970 1800e and my grandson loves riding in the back seat.
Great article and a fantastic website!!
Don, great work digging up this story! It seems crazy to me that Volvo didn’t have any interest in doing an “authorized” version, but I guess wagons hadn’t yet become their bread and butter back in 1972. I wonder how much it cost when it was all said and done, and I bet the guy who ordered it ended up paying the price of both cars. If I had the means, and a personal connection to someone who ran an automobile factory, I would have ordered mine exactly the same way!
The finished product looks great, even better than the 145, IMO.
When the 164 became the 264, a 265 wagon was offered in the regular lineup, at least in the U.S.
I owned a 1979 265 with auto transmission. It had the Renault V6 also used in the Delorean!
I like these early bricks with the stand up grille and floating headlights. This color red sets the first wagon off. And this is one of those rare instances where wheels from a newer car sit just right! I always did like those 5 spoke ‘turbo’ wheels on sportier versions of the bricks…
Fascinating find Don! I’ve previously researched the mythical 165, but hadn’t heard of this one, so my life is now complete 😉 Some of those self-build 165 blogs make for fascinating reading – one goes into extraordinary photographic detail of the different chassis rail and engine compartment pressings during the conversion. I look forward to Part II!
In the final photo with the car disassembled for body prep–does that grille panel with only the smaller circular cutouts remind anybody else of a Rover P4?