Dear Fellow Millennials, Not One But TWO Of Jess’s Volvo Wagons From ’New Girl Are Being Auctioned Right Now

I have embarked upon a journey, friends, and in doing so I’ve solved a mystery and uncovered a remarkable treasure. It is a great accomplishment in my journalistic career, and the only people who are really going to care are either Volvo enthusiasts or fans of the extremely Millennial sitcom New Girl.

Maybe I’m selling myself short? New Girl has found a new audience, and was one of the most watched shows during the pandemic, even though it had been off the air for a couple of years. So maybe more people will care than I think.

While not a car show, New Girl was set and shot in Los Angeles, which means that automobiles were a big part of the characters’ lives. For a long stretch, Ford even provided paid product placement, correctly giving a Flex to Max Greenfield’s Schmidt character (it is the most baller of 2000s cars).

If there’s one car that stands out, though, it’s the Volvo 145 station wagon owned by the new girl herself, Jess (played to adorkable perfection by Zooey Deschanel). The wagon reflects her sensible, quirky character and gets most of the automotive screen time (though Nick’s sleeper-cool AE86 is maybe a close second).

Since the show went off the air there have been two mysteries surrounding the wagon: What model year was it, as it demonstrates characteristics of both the 1969 and the 1972 model, and where did it go? I have answers to all of those questions.

New Girl In An Old Volvo

New Girl is on Netflix, so you can watch it if you haven’t somehow seen it. Very briefly, the thin premise of the show is that the protagonist, Jess, is a slightly awkward and good-hearted teacher who finds her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman. Lacking enough money to live on her own, she moves into a large apartment with Nick, Schmidt, and Coach (later to be replaced by Winston).

Where the show succeeds is not so much in the concept, as in the perfect execution of a single-camera, no-laugh-track comedy. There are multiple will-they-won’t-theys, incredible guest turns (Jamie Lee Curtis and the late Rob Reiner as her parents, for instance), and an ensemble cast that clearly loved one another (they have multiple very good podcasts). It is a go-to comfort show for me, and about once a week I think to myself “Gave me cookie, got you cookie.” I’ve also seen the video of Jake Johnson absolutely blowing a promo on a Nashville TV station about 7,000 times.

I’m not going to do it justice, just trust me and watch. And when you watch it, please enjoy that Jess pilots a blue Volvo 145 in decent condition. The car is seared into my memory, having rewatched the show so often. It’s also a predecessor to the Volvo 240 wagon, of which I’ve owned two.

The car itself is a part of a bit of New Girl-meets-Volvo nerd lore, as it was initially identified on The Internet Movie Car Database as a 1969 model, though user zodiac points out some issues with that:

What makes this particular car interesting is that it has the 1971 longer rear window, but not the free flow ventilation system (a black rectangular plastic patch on the right rear wing).
It also has the hazard light introduced in 1970 (not, as far as I know, available in 1969).
It, though, has the 1969 seats without the head rests, but a 1973 steering wheel.
It has the 1972+ doors and the (1971-74) DE Luxe wheels.
It has the BW 35 automatic gear box with a floor gear shift, which I thaught was introduced around 1972. Before that it had a column gear shift.

That’s all sorts of weird.

Was it a 1969? Was it a 1972? Was it both at the same time? Movie cars sometimes are cobbled together from pieces, so it’s possible that a mix of parts led to a sort of early ’70s hybrid car.

The Auction That Solved The Mystery

I can’t remember who it was, but someone sent me a link to the Hollywood Movie Car Auction taking place this month. I believe because it features the 1971 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback from the Harrison Ford movie “Witness.” This is an oddly specific star car, from a movie I forgot even had a car in it (it’s about Amish people, essentially).

While browsing through the auction I saw Lot #69, a blue 1969 Volvo 145 with a white grille surround and odd seats. Almost immediately I had a guess about what it was.

Look at photos of the car and then look at this:

Both The Bishop and I went back and forth comparing the two vehicles, noting some of the specific discrepancies, but thinking that it was close enough to give the auctioneers a call.

Excited about my find, which wasn’t noted on the website, I called the auctioneers to see if I was right. After a bit of research, Thomas Mau, an auction partner at Fleet Vehicle Disposal, called to let me know that the company had determined that both vehicles were from the show.

“Winner, winner chicken dinner,” Tom cheerily told me when I picked up his call. “You are correct, both were used.”

Wait, both? In my excitement over finding the car, I overlooked the fact that Lot #70 was an almost identical 1972 model. That’s right. There are two different wagons, which both makes sense from a production standpoint and also explains the difficult to place model year.

Looking at the records, Tom thinks that the vehicle mostly worked as a background player for films pretending to shoot in Europe after its starring role in New Girl.

That’s not the only interesting vehicle at auction. There are a ton of famous cars, though I’m drawn to the John Deere from the infamous Mad Men episode “A Man Walks Into An Advertising Agency.”

I’m curious if there are other interesting lots there that have not yet been identified. Let me know what you find in the comments.

Top graphic images: moviecar.net; Fox