#PAG

Today’s Rare Ride was a part of a very limited run of Thunderbirds that coincided with the release of the last Pierce Brosnan era Bond film, Die Another Day.

It’s a car so special it’s probably almost priceless, and should be stored in a heated garage next to a Plymouth Prowler and/or Chevy SSR.

The Rare Rides series has touched on Jaguars multiple times previously. But perhaps those beautiful and powerful sporting vehicles lacked something the true car enthusiast always requires: cargo capacity.

Presenting the very rare Jaguar X-Type Sportwagon.

The Rare Rides series featured a vintage Aston Martin once before, when we took a look at the luxurious Lagonda sedan from 1984. Today we move forward in history a few years to see a luxurious, large coupe that’s more along the lines of what you’d expect from the Aston Martin brand.

It’s a Virage, from 1990.

Last time on Buy/Drive/Burn, we checked out three C-body offerings from General Motors and forced you to choose one. The luxury flowed freely, and only limited salt was dashed upon its splendor.

Today we follow the same form with Ford, looking at offerings from three different brands riding on the same platform. Crack open a DEW and let’s get to it.

The recent surge from Volvo’s U.S. automobile operations is fueled largely by the second incarnation of the brand’s flagship — the XC90. Sales of the XC90 nearly trickled to a halt at the end of 2014 and early 2015, as the first-generation SUV turned 12 years old.

But the XC90 has quickly regained its position as Volvo’s best seller. More importantly, November’s U.S. sales figures suggest that the XC90 does in fact have the ability to pull other Volvos ahead as well. Though sales of the S60, S80, and V60 are down 16 percent through the first 11 months of 2015, the trio jumped 38 percent in November, as XC90 volume shot beyond 2,000 units for a second consecutive month and as XC60 sales increased for an 11th consecutive month. Year-over-year, Volvo volume in the United States increased 91 percent in November 2015, the best year-over-year gain of any auto brand in America.

With 6,902 November sales, however, Volvo still trailed its former Ford Premier Automotive Group partner, Lincoln, by more than 1,000 sales in what was a disappointing month for Lincoln.

Remember the Premier Automotive Group?