2006 Volvo V70 2.5T

The V70 replaced the Volvo 850 wagon in the 1996 model year (the S70 replaced the 850 sedan). Compared to its predecessor it was much more rounded at the edges, with the company's traditionally staid boxiness bowing to aerodynamic realities.

That first generation ran for four years before getting replaced in the North American market by the even more rounded second generation of V70, which in turn received a mid-cycle refresh for '05.

The second generation of the V70 utilized Volvo's P2 platform, which had a transversely-mounted engine powering either the front or all four wheels.

The base motor for 2006 was a normally-aspirated 2.4L DOHC inline-five making 168 SAE net horsepower. The optional upgrade was a turbocharged 2.5L version of the same engine, featuring variable valve timing on both camshafts and cranking out 207 horses. With the standard five-speed automatic gearbox, these would do zero-to-sixty in a shade under seven seconds.

The Lunar Gold Metallic example in the photo was snapped in December of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.

2006 Ford Mustang Convertible

The fifth generation of the Mustang, known as the S197, debuted for 2005 on a new platform. On the upside, the new D2C platform shed the last vestiges of the old late-Seventies Fox body architecture that had lingered through the preceding SN95 generation. 

It shared much of its front end with the new DEW98 rear wheel drive platform that underpinned the Lincoln LS, new Ford Thunderbird, and Jaguar S-type. On the downside, for reasons of cost and weight, it had a live rear axle, unlike the independent rear suspension of those DEW98 cars.

Base cars had the latest 4.0L SOHC version of Ford's Cologne V-6, the basic lump of which dated back to the early Sixties. The GT came with a 3-valve-per-cylinder variant of the 4.6L Modular V-8.

While the GT versions made 300 horses, even the base V6 cars, like this V6 Deluxe Convertible in Vista Blue Metallic, put out 210 SAE net horsepower, which is almost as much as the 5.0L GT of the Eighties and Nineties.

Motor Trend tested a 2006 V6 convertible with the automatic transmission and recorded a 7.3 second zero-to-sixty run and a quarter mile time of 15.5 seconds at 90mph through the traps.

This car has the Sport Appearance Package, with the spoiler and rocker panel stripes, and someone's retrofitted a GT grille with the fog lamps. 

This one was photographed with a Nikon Df and a 24-85mm f/2.8-4D zoom lens in March of 2026.

2006 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx LT

For the 2004 model year, the Chevrolet Malibu nameplate was migrated over to the midsize GM Epsilon platform, which had debuted as the '02 Opel Vectra. This made it a cousin under the skin to an array of cars running from the Fiat Croma through the Pontiac G6 to the Saab 9-3.

The four-door sedan was joined by this funky five-door wagon, called the Malibu Maxx. It had a glass moonroof over the rear seating area like an old Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. While the sedan had a four-cylinder as the base motor in the value-leader LS model, the Maxx came in LT and LTZ trim with the GM High Value LX9 3500 V6, a pushrod motor displacing (as you might guess) 3.5 liters, and rated at 201bhp. There was even an SS version with a 240 horse 3.9L V-6. 

For a dull rental car looking transportation module, the Maxx was reasonably quick. Car and Driver's test car in the June, 2004 issue, an LT made the dash to sixty in 7.8 seconds and ran the quarter in 16.1 at 86 mph. Price as tested in LT trim was 

This Medium Gray Metallic example has the styling of the '06 mid-cycle refresh. It is starting to show nibbles from the rust monster around the rear wheel arches, and the driver's side fender looks a bit rumpled, but it's overall pretty straight. They only made the Maxx for four years, discontinuing it after the 2007 model year.

This one was snapped with a Nikon 1 J1 and the 1 Nikkor 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR zoom lens in December of 2023.

2006 Ford Five Hundred SEL

In the early 2000s, Ford had two situations on its hands. For one, the Crown Victoria, whose rear wheel drive Panther platform underpinnings dated to the late 1970s, was largely becoming relegated to fleet sales. For another, they had spent a bundle on Volvo and wanted some return on that nearly seven billion dollar investment.

So Ford took the Volvo P2 platform, which underpinned Volvo's newest transverse-engine sedans and wagons, and developed it into the Ford D3 platform, which would provide the basis for the Freestyle crossover SUV and a new full-size FWD sedan that would eventually replace the Crown Vic.

Inexplicably, Ford decided to call the new car the Five Hundred. This echoed the old 500 suffix used on the top trim levels of Fairlanes and Galaxies, but hadn't been used since 1974, so it was unlikely to be emotionally resonant with buyers thirty years later. Anyway...

It came in three trim levels: SE, SEL (like the Redfire Metallic one in the photo, and Limited.

Power came from Ford's 3.0L Duratec 24V DOHC V-6, making 203 SAE net horsepower. The base SE had this motor backed with a CVT driving the front wheels, while the FWD versions of the SEL and Limited had a 6-speed automatic. All trim levels could be had with an all-wheel drive and CVT driveline.

When Car and Driver put a 2005 Five Hundred Limited with the AWD setup through its paces, they got an 8.0 second zero-to-sixty time and a 16.3 quarter mile at 88 mph.

This one was photographed with an Olympus E-510 and Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens in April of 2025.

2006 Mercury Milan V6

Introduced in 2006, the Milan took the Mystique's place as Mercury's smallest sedan. Whereas the Mystique had been a badge-engineered Contour, the Milan was the Mercury counterpart to the Fusion.

Based on the CD3 midsize sedan platform, which also underpinned the Lincoln Zephyr and Mazda6, the Milan came in four- or six-cylinder flavors, with the latter being offered with optional AWD starting in 2007.

The nine-spoke 16" alloy wheels on this Vivid Red example were stock on the V6 models, and if you ordered the Premier package you got 14-spoke seventeen-inchers.

The base four-cylinder was the 160 horsepower 2.3L Duratec and could be had with either 5-speed manual or 5-speed auto gearbox. The V6 was the DOHC 24V 3.0L Duratec making 221 horses, and it only came with a six-speed slushbox.

With as much horsepower as a mid-Nineties Mustang GT, the 3,300 pound Milan was reasonably sprightly for a vanilla mid-Aughties sedan. MotorWeek's test car dashed to sixty in seven seconds flat and ran the quarter in 15.4 at 93mph.

Base price for an '06 Mercury Milan V6 was $21,995, or a bit over $34k in today's dollars.

In the automotive Trivial Pursuit category, the Milan was the last new nameplate introduced by Mercury before the brand's demise after the 2011 model year.

The one in the picture was snapped with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 in January of 2025.