I've got a pair of 122S wagons and we really dig them. We got them as a pair, one was actually supposed to be a "parts car" but really just needed some TLC. I will say that while hunting for our Amazon wagon, we looked at a couple that were rusted out pretty badly. These cars use fairly thick sheetmetal for cars of the era, but I still wouldn't even consider one that's lived with salt for years. The floors do seem to go first most often, but we did see one that had ok floors and the structural areas were rotted pretty bad.
In regards to daily driving one, I daily drive one so sure it's possible. I'm a few days away from getting my megasquirt installed along with a TBI and VR dizzy (no points, no carbs, woohoo!) and I'm expecting that to make a much more enjoyable drive. It still gets the job done, but fiddling with the choke and such in the cold just isn't my bag. The handling sucks, but in the Volvo's defense it's a 40 year old car that I haven't rebuilt any suspension parts on yet and the lack of power steering and power brakes sure isn't doing it any favors. Heck, I haven't even checked the alignment yet, I just drive it! The big steering wheel helps with the steering, even if it does make leg room a little cramped. The pedal placement does make for easy multi-tasking on the brake and throttle at the same time (necessary a lot with the carb) with the right foot, even if it does make my big shoes a bit of a tight squeeze between the brake pedal and tunnel. The seat adjustment doesn't allow for my 6 foot frame very well, it gets tight after about 3 hours behind the wheel.
Mine doesn't seem to mind sitting at all...there's zero electronics on board, so they don't discharge the battery. There aren't many gaskets on them to leak, but new gaskets are cheap if you need them. Parts are pretty available, as there are plenty of enthusiasts and Volvo used common parts across many different models.
If you don't mind it looking rough around the edges, driving poorly, being cold-blooded, and being louder compared to an econobox out of the 80s then it's a great car.
You will get a lot of people asking about the car, and you'll find that there's no such thing as the car NOT needing some attention (even if it gets around fine, old cars just always like attention). If you just want a beater, I'd say something like a Civic is a hell of a lot better car. If you want a cool beater that's all rusted out, what the heck.
Oh, the fuel economy is pretty good, our wagon gets about 27 mpg on the highway and 20ish in the city with the 4.10 rear end and non-overdrive four speed.
Bryce
Edit: Holy cow, didn't realize this post would end up so long...just kept typing as I was watching some tv!
