Quote:
Originally Posted by Burdekin
Thought they dropped the 4 door Amazon when they brought the 144 to the market?
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I think there was a bit of a cross over period. The 144 first appeared with the B18 in 1966, 1967 model year. Being a bit more modern it sold well so Volvo decided that they would concentrate the 4 door sales on the 144 so dropped the 4 door Amazon when they introduced the B20. 144 sales in the USA also increased so they never sold the Amazon there with the B20. Volvo were still a small company then and having 2 ranges with both 2 and 4 doors running at the same time for essentially the same market was a strain on their resources. They also knew that the Amazon's days were numbered. 144 production started as that of the PV stopped with just a small gap between them. The Duett carried on until 1967 for general sales but they still made a few more of them after that for public service use. Loyal Duett owners liked the rear space and that kept production going until the end of the B18. Volvo introduced the 145 Express and derivatives to try and keep them happy with only moderate success.