In early 2015, my partner Cathy and I were informed by our German friends, Barbara and Wolfgang, that during their visit to the US they would be stopping in Niagara Falls, New York. Given that we could drive there in just over an hour from our Toronto surburb, we made plans to meet and enjoy the view of the Falls from the US side.

After spending a relaxing day by the Falls, they suggested we go back to their hotel and walk to the famous Anchor Bar to sample the best chicken wings ever. However, as we parked our cars both Wolfgang and I were very surprised to find a rare and unique collection of cars in the parking lot. They were competitors of the 2015 Trans-America Nova Scotia to San Francisco Rally and had parked their vehicles in the same lot outside of the hotel!

Initially I thought this was a remake of the classic movie Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies starring Tony Curtis. That is, until I did some research on this event and their participants. It turns on out that one team consisted of a 97-year old mother with her son driving a 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III. They would finish fifth overall!

The cars ranged from a 1927 Bentley to a 1977 Triumph Stag. There was even a 1967 VW Beetle. Competitors were from the USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Malaysia. Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to meet any of them but it was a real treat to see the collection of cars in the parking lot. If you would like to see the results of the event, please click here.

All of this already has me thinking about competing in similar events in the future; Hey, does my 1988 Mazda Rx7 qualify to enter? I’m not sure that the rotary engine could survive the event…

John Larsen is located in the Greater Toronto Area, whose PhotoGraffics website contains samples of motorsports and hot air balloon photography from numerous Canadian balloon festivals.

I bought my first imported car, the 1958 Volvo PV444 shown in the fuzzy photo below, back in 1964 for the princely sum of $395. As a steelworker and staunch union man, my father was not amused.

The PV444 was Volvo’s first unibody car. It was also the first Volvo in almost 20 years to have a four-cylinder engine. These first PV444s were powered by a 1.4 liter inline-four cylinder engine that was designated B4B and had three main bearings, overhead valves and a single downdraft carburetor.

In early 1956, the car began to appear for sale in the US, mostly in Texas and southern California. These cars received an engine called the B14A and had twin side-draft 1½-inch SU carburetors producing 70 hp. By 1957, engine displacement was increased to 1.6 liters with single downdraft carbs on the B16A and twin side-draft carburetors for the B16B (the model I owned) versions offered. Fuel economy was above average for the time and performance, particularly with the twin carburetor configuration, was brisk as I can attest to with my experience with the car I owned. Remember, this was the era of the “drive it like you hate it” Volvos, well before they became luxury cars.

My car was one of the last of the PV444’s because later in 1958, the new PV544 model, an example seen at right, was phased in. Differences in the new model included a curved one-piece windshield to replace the 444’s two panes of flat glass, larger taillights and a ribbon-type speedometer. The 444’s three-speed on-the-floor manual transmission was replaced by a four-speed unit.

Later I would go on to own other Volvo automobiles, including a 240DL wagon and a 700 series 2.4 L turbo diesel wagon and I loved all of them in their own way. But when I look at the cars the company produces now, I don’t get the same feelings although I am sure that they are just as safe and dependable as any Volvo ever made.

PS. The scan of my 1958 Volvo above was made by ScanMyPhotos from a contemporary slide that was shot in 1964 with my trusty Argus C3. I’ve found that ScanMyPhotos does a great job scanning old slides and negatives. And they did their best with what was a slightly overexposed and fuzzy slide of my old Volvo. This is not a paid or sponsored endorsement, just my experience.

My first car was a brand-new red 1961 Ford Falcon Futura, much like the one pictured below. Over the years I’ve owned lots of different cars and have written about a few of them in the “Our Cars” feature that appears here from time to time.

In a short time the lease on my Range Rover Evoque will be up and I will be car-less. My short term plans are to drive Mary’s personal car for a while but a rear-drive two-seater won’t work in the Colorado winter even in the near term. I want/need a car with some kind of 4WD or AWD setup. In fact, I want a station wagon, something that every time I say it causes Mary to gag.

Like most men, I hate shopping, even for cars. I also wanted a car that was 8-10 years old because Colorado’s punitive car tax aka annual license plate fees are outrageous for new and relatively expensive (even leased) cars.

I started by eliminating what I didn’t want. Even though the Evoque is more crossover than SUV, I’m tired of driving a truck—even a nice one. I’d make an exception for one of my bucket list cars—a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen—but even used ones cost more money than I want to spend. I really didn’t want a Japanese car and the fact that my lease ends on December 7’th has nothing to with that. Again, I would make an exception for the unique Subaru Baja. But used Subies, and used Jeeps for that matter, have big price tags in Colorado.

I like European cars so I talked to my friend John who works at the import specialist where we take Mary’s car for service and sought his advice about maintenance costs for a 8-10 year old Audi vs. Mercedes-Benz wagon. He likes the newer Audi wagons but suggested the Mercedes would be a better fit for me. Sorry BMW fans they’re not on my shopping list and E-Class wagons are too long for my garage space. The only problem is that 4Matic versions are scarce.

I’ve always had a thing for Volvos ever since I bought a 1958 PV444 back in the sixties and Mary and I have owned both 240 and 740 wagons over the years. The V40 is close in length to a C-Class wagon and some were built with AWD. And no, I’m not considering their pseudo crossover Outback clone the Volvo Cross Country—too big, too tall for me.

So if any of my readers come across any of these cars for sale, please drop me a note via the Contact button above. And when I finally get a new (used) car, I promise to do a post about the frog kissing process I went through to get it. Frogs, yuck!

Ford Falcon photo from Motorbase, The Encyclopedia of Motoring.