The Holy Grail of Amazons – Will It Break the Price Record?
The Volvo Amazon 123 GT is in itself a cult classic. Add the almost mythical test color “Steel Blue Metallic” – and you have the holy grail of Amazons.
That’s why it’s something of a sensation that Bilweb Auctions can now offer a professionally restored steel blue 123 GT – could this become the most expensive Amazon ever sold?
There’s a saying: “If you know, you know.” It fits perfectly in this context.
Amazon enthusiasts around the world can be woken up in the middle of the night and effortlessly list the details that set a 123 GT apart from a standard Amazon.
The tachometer. The steering wheel. The mirrors. The extra driving lights. The louder horn. The fact that it came with Pirelli Cinturato tires from the factory. And much more.
The B18 engine was tuned to 115 horsepower, the same output as the 1800 S.
It was in the autumn of 1966 that the 123 GT was launched, in white, red, and dark green. Volvo also tested a few experimental colors – and one of them was steel blue metallic.
These were distributed to larger dealerships to attract attention in the showroom. But how many were made? This is where the mystery of the steel blue 123 GT begins: no one knows for sure.
– “On the chassis cards we have in the archive, it only says code 53, which means test color – but not which of the test colors,” says Lars Gerdin at Volvo’s historical archives.
An educated guess, however, is that between 30 and 60 cars were built.
And one of them is the very 123 GT now up for sale at Bilweb Auctions. It rolled off the line in Torslanda just after the Christmas holidays in 1966, on December 27, and was delivered to the dealer in Sölvesborg the next day.
The current owner had been searching for a steel blue 123 GT for 30 years when, in 2010, he was finally offered this very car from Blekinge.
The restoration began in 2018 and was completed in 2023 – a top-quality full restoration in which everything worn was rebuilt or replaced with NOS parts.
The result can be seen in the pictures on Bilweb Auctions’ website.
Since the restoration, the car has only covered 60 kilometers, and the owner has – like so many others – realized that the true joy lay in the hunt for parts and the restoration itself. That’s why it’s now being sold in favor of a new project.
A steel blue 123 GT in this condition coming onto the market is extremely rare – and the expected price reflects that: the market value is estimated at SEK 500,000–550,000.
The auction ends on October 9 at 10:30.
To the auction: https://bilwebauctions.se/en/oktoberauktion-2-2025/volvo-amazon-123-gt-b18-overdrive-54427
