Car: Volvo PV544 Sedan

Year: 1965

What makes it special: The Volvo PV is a series of two-door, four-passenger models made up of the PV444 and the PV544 from 1947 to 1966. During World War II‘s  early stages, Volvo decided that a new, smaller car that could deliver good fuel economy would assure the company’s future. A raw materials shortage during the war drove home the point that an automobile should be smaller, and also complicated Volvo’s ability to mass-produce the product. In 1944, when the car was finally introduced, response was very positive and orders poured in from the Swedish population. It was another three years though, until 1947, before series production began.

What made it famous: In 1958, the PV544 was phased in. Subtle differences included the introduction of a curved one-piece windshield to replace the two panes of flat glass, larger taillights, and a ribbon-type speedometer. The next significant change occurred when the B16 was replaced by Volvo’s new B18 engine, initially developed for the P1800 sports car. This 1.8 L engine had five main bearings. Single and twin carburetor versions were offered, designated B18A and B18D, respectively. A 3-speed manual transmission was also supplanted by a 4-speed unit in the 544.

Why I would want one: I’ve always loved these. They have the looks of a 1940’s era American car, but have the sound and performance of a sports car.

Fun fact: The PV quickly earned a reputation for being strong and rugged, although the design was considered outdated from early on. The PV also competed successfully in the American SCCA class but also internationally, with a second-hand PV544 memorably winning the Safari Rally in 1965.

Car: Edsel (Ford) Villager Wagon

Year: 1958

What makes it special: The Villager wagon was produced and sold by Edsel from 1958 to 1960. Like the two-door Roundup and premium Bermuda station wagons, the Villager was initially built on a 116 in wheelbase shared with Ford’s station wagons, and, throughout its lifespan, shared Ford’s wagons core body stampings. The Villager and the Ranger were the only two model names that existed throughout Edsel’s three-year life span as an automobile marque. The Villager represented the lower trim level available within the Edsel brand for station wagons, but differed from the two-door Roundup by being offered in six and nine passenger styles. The Villager was available in a four-door configuration only.

What made it famous: To differentiate the wagons offered by Edsel from their Ford counterparts, they were fitted with Edsel’s front fascia and grille assembly. The wagons also received unique boomerang-shaped taillights for 1958. In terms of interior and exterior trim, standard features included black rubber floor mats, ashtrays, cigar lighter, arm rests, chromed rear-view mirror and crank-operated rear windows. Like all other Edsel wagons, the Villager came with a two-piece tailgate. Seat belts were optional. All 1958 station wagons shared the Ranger’s engine choices, with a 361 cu in V8 as standard. All wagons came with a 3-speed manual transmission. Buyers also had the option of a 3-speed automatic transmission with a standard column-mounted gear selector, or during the 1958 model year, they could choose Edsel’s highly touted but trouble-prone Teletouch automatic, which placed its drive-selection buttons in the steering wheel hub.

Why I would want one: You don’t see too many Edsel’s nowadays, let alone a wagon. Most find the Edsel to be an ugly vehicle, but I enjoy its uniqueness.

Fun fact: The Villager name resurfaced at Mercury on a wood grained Comet station wagon from 1962 to 1967, and on similarly trimmed wagons in other Mercury series, including the Montego (1970–1976), Bobcat (1974–1980 Canada, 1975–1980 U.S.), Cougar (1977 and 1982), Zephyr (1978–1981) and Lynx (1981–1984).

Car: Pontiac GTO “Judge” Hardtop Coupe

Year: 1970

What makes it special: The first generation of the GTO was a muscle car produced in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Although there were muscle cars introduced earlier than the GTO, the Pontiac GTO is considered by some to have started the trend with all four domestic automakers offering a variety of competing models. The GTO became a separate model from 1966 to 1971 (VIN 242…). It became an optional package again for the 1972 and 1973 intermediate Le Mans.

What made it famous: For the 1970 model year, hidden headlights were deleted in favor of four exposed round headlamps outboard of narrower grille openings. The nose retained the protruding vertical prow theme, although it was less prominent. The GTO retained the Endura urethane cover around the headlamps and grille. As originally conceived, the Judge was to be a low-cost GTO, stripped of features to make it competitive with the Plymouth Road Runner. The package was more expensive than a standard GTO, and included Rally II wheels without trim rings, Hurst shifter with a unique T-shaped handle, wider tires, various decals, and a rear spoiler. Pontiac claimed that the spoiler had some functional effect at higher speeds, producing a small but measurable downforce, but it was of little value at legal speeds. The Judge remained available as an option on the 1970 GTO. The Judge came standard with the Ram Air III, while the Ram Air IV was optional. Though the 455 CID was available as an option on the standard GTO throughout the entire model year, the 455 was not offered on the Judge until late in the year. Orbit Orange, which was actually a bright canary yellow became the new feature color for the 1970 Judge, but any GTO color was available. Striping was relocated to the upper wheel well brows.

Why I would want one: It’s a special variant of the GTO, and is just cool.

Fun fact: The name came from a comedy routine, “Here Come de Judge”, used repeatedly on the Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In TV show. The Judge routine, made popular by comedian Flip Wilson, was borrowed from the act of long-time burlesque entertainer Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham. Advertisements used slogans like “All rise for the Judge” and “The Judge can be bought”.