Volvo 144 'The Camel'

A REAL FRONT RUNNER

THE MODEL

Launched in 1967 as a successor to the Volvo Amazon, the 144 was a mid-sized, practical car, noted at the time for its new angular design.

It was the first Volvo to use the ‘tri-digit’ naming system, where the first digit indicated the model series, the second digit represented the number of cylinders, and the third digit specified the number of doors.

The 144, then, was a 1st Series, 4-cylinder, 4-door saloon.

Initially fitted with Volvo’s 1.8L inline-4 ‘B18’ engine, the 144’s power unit was soon enlarged to 2.0L for the 1969 model year, together with a variety of other mechanical and cosmetic improvements such as a new generator in place of an outdated alternator unit.

During it’s 8 year production run, more than 1 million 144s left the Volvo factory in Torslandaverken, Sweden, of which just over half were completed as 4-door saloons.

THIS CAR

There may well be over a million 144s in the world, but there is only one ‘Camel’…

Fully rally prepared by Amazon Cars of Brundish, Suffolk, in 2010 for use in the 2012 London to Cape Town World Cup Rally, ‘The Camel’ has competed successfully at a number of high profile international rally events, including:

2012 London to Cape Town World Cup Rally – 6th overall

2013 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge – 11th overall
2016 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge – used as replacement car

Mechanically, there are very few elements of the car that haven’t received some kind of attention.

A full breakdown of the work carried out is available to view in the Documents section below, but to mention a few:

Strengthened shell
Upgraded suspension set-up
Uprated brakes
Metal underbody protection plates
‘Safari’ bull bar & roll cage
Re-directed fuel/brake lines (running inside the car to avoid damage)
Twin foam-filled aluminium fuel tanks
Fully rebuilt ‘B20’ 2.0L engine (<5,000 km ago)
- Lightened flywheel
- Free-flow exhaust system
4-Speed gearbox w. LSD
Built-in air compressor
Twin-fuel pumps