Collaborating with a popular fashion designer or retailer for a special edition of a car has been an industry practice for decades, as a way to generate additional hype and exclusivity for a model. Made most memorable by Lincoln in the 1970s, with collaborations from high-end fashion houses such as Pucci, Bill Blass, and Givenchy, these so-called “designer editions” have been offered on various models from almost every brand through the years, and in many cases include partnerships with firms specializing in something entirely different than fashion.
Regardless of the non-car producing party, some of these partnerships have been very fitting. Take this early-00s Subaru Outback L.L. Bean Edition I recently spotted. Given Subaru’s high take rate among outdoor enthusiasts and northern New Englanders alike, collaborating with the Maine-based retailer of outdoorsy apparel and recreational equipment only seemed natural. Yet some others haven’t been so fitting nor convincing.
Without delving too deep, the AMC Hornet Gucci Edition, Chevrolet Venture Warner Bros. Edition, and the Ford Focus Sony Edition come to mind. But among the many, many “Designer Edition” vehicles, which one strikes you as most interesting or obscure?
Buick Regal Joseph Abboud Edition, 2001-04 (?). Don’t think I ever saw one.
I knew a drug dealer who had one. He thought it was “so fresh”. No, Craig…
A family friend of ours actually owned one in the early-00s, and I actually rode in it once. If I recall, the two-tone leather, two-tone exterior, and special badging were the only unique things about it.
I don’t think the exterior two tone was unique, my GS (non-Joseph’d) was dark blue over gray. I do think there were some exclusive colors available though.
The brown/tan two tone paint was unique to the JA Regals, but they could be had in a monotone tan too. The JA package was also available on both regular and GS (Supercharged) Regals.
My first thought.
I love it, but only as the GS model. That’s the only reason IMO to get a W-body Century/Regal–it’s the smallest, lightest car to have the supercharged 3800.
Would the Fender New Beetle count?
Levi’s Edition Jeeps. I can’t decide if they’re awful or awesome.
Yeah, you’d think that Jeep would pair up with “Wrangler” as opposed to Levis…
This was back when Jeep was selling CJ’s and they hadn’t used the Wrangler name yet.
It just seemed like a fun play on words. ?
We had a Jeep CJ-7 Renegade in powder blue with Levi’s “denim” seats and soft top and an iron duke 4 cylinder with a stick back in the early 1980s. I think it was a 1981. It was better than it sounds;-)
Similar to this one
Would that jeep be for sale ??
But did they have denim door pockets like the Levi’s Edition Gremlins?
The Orvis Edition Jeep Grand Cherokee seems to have been forgotten pretty quickly.
As was the Jack Nicklaus Town Car.
Those GC Orvis interiors… bleh.
Just an orange stripe away from the Gucci Sportabout.
In 1995 I went to the auto show at the IX Center in Cleveland. The Jeep booth had an Orvis Grand Cherokee accompanied by the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in the flesh. She was wearing Orvis outdoor clothing – I can only imagine her in a cocktail dress like most of the other models were wearing.
….. then, there was the pseudo-luxo- Tuxedo Park Jeep …..
For me it’s the Fila Thunderbird. At the time, I thought to myself, ‘Why?!?!?’.
I had an ’83 at the same time in that same shade of gray… yes gray, not white. Mine was a normal one though. This one just didn’t cut it for me. Funny, I would later have an ’88 5.0-LX with those same wheels, although THANKFULLY, they were not painted.
The Fila T-Bird is a new one on me.
The Fila Y10 I remember well.
Man, that’s a good one. Wasn’t 80’s tennis star Ivan Lendl a big Fila guy? Talk about a once-hot brand that’s fallen off the radar.
On that note, did anyone ever do a Members Only special edition?
2003 Toyota Tundra Terminator 3 Special Edition (not sure it counts as ‘designer’ but still a weird tie-in). Apparently only 200 produced.
Mercury Villager Nautica?
Yesss! What could be more 90s than a two tone Mercury minivan with Nautica trim and white alloys? Amazing.
Although they were not particularly obscure, the VW Trek and K2 edition cars with the matching rack and either bike, skis or snowboard are probably very rare.
A bike for when your Jetta (inevitably) breaks down!
Ford Telstar Radisich edition, go on look it up, quite prized these days and the Ford NZ performance flagship when new.
Got to be the winner if judged on obscurity.
That depends on your point of view, which is hard to account for in a global group like us. You never heard of Radisich? Admittedly he’s a race driver rather than a ‘designer’, but it’s the special edition thing that counts, no? Many of the US ones mentioned are way obscure to us.
Crossing the ditch from NZ, us Aussies could nominate the Carla Zampatti Ford Laser (yep, she was a designer), and the Nissan Pulsar Reebok. Obscure enough for you? 🙂
Most of the editions mentioned were aimed at the huge US market, and many commenters are kinda ignoring the “obscure” part and just mentioning ones they love or hate. Bryce’s comment implies that the car was NZ only – what’s the population? 4 million? He wins! I wasn’t belittling the car or the comment.
I’ve actually seen Paul Radisich in the flesh on more than one occasion so I have heard of him 😉
I was going to nominate the Carla Zampatti Laser.
Radisich’s main claim to fame was winning the World Touring Car Cup twice, plus I suppose two monster crashes at Bathurst.
Ford Falcon All Blacks edition after our world champ rugby team yes NZ only nobody else would want one.
I’d forgotten about those, great choices, Paul Radisich won the BTTC in a Ford Mondeo Ford NZ jazzed up a V6 Telstar in his honour, survivors are rare and I cant find the pic I had of one He did go on to drive for Dick Johnson in Australia and destroyed a couple of Falcons but that was on his way down in his career.
Do you count the dealer editions as well? There were many Florida, Golf, Sunshine, or some other similarly named editions of large brougham-mobiles, complete with fake carriage top, wire wheels, and fully tufted velour interiors that moved off dealer lots in Central and South Florida, mostly to recent retirees, and in great numbers. Mostly Mercury or Buick models, but it affected a lot of others IIRC.
Ford Focus Kona edition. Used to be one putting around town here probably 9 years ago now…
Agreed…one of the colors offered (a metallic brown) was actually called “Dirt”.
Truth in advertising, with a vengeance!
I actually saw a Focus Kona edition a week ago. The 1st thing that struck me was: is this a legitimate model? I thought it sounded like a name for a Volkswagen Jetta “special edition”. The badges were so small, too, like they were admitting there wasn’t really much that was special about it.
Oh wait, the Imperial FS!
Even though the ’81 through ’83 Imperial was total crap while still on the assembly line, you have to admit there’s nothing cooler than driving around in a car you can call the Frank Sinatra Edition!
Considering the fate of these Imperials, I wonder if he was privately ashamed of his promotion of the cars. Did it affect his relationship with Iacocca?
Anyway, I still like the style of these cars.
With your own set of Sinatra cassettes!
Oooo… another one that comes to mind is the Pierre Cardin Javelin.
At the time I had the aforementioned T-Bird, a buddy of mine had a ’74 Javelin that he installed this interior into from a parts car that happened to be one. Some AMC enthusiasts said he committed some serious sacrilege there, but he argued that the ‘parts car’ was beyond saving having found it in a junk yard.
Just look at That 70’s SHAZZAM! Interior….
Sometimes called the “Cardeen Can”. Saw one at a dealers showroom when my Dad had his AMX, it was so over the top that it worked. Has any other car ever had a designer headliner with stripes?
Usually nobody seems to think about the headliner – all this space just begging for some attempt at visual interest. Kudos to Cardin for looking up, not just around.
Yep, my buddy even swapped out the headliner from the donor car into his ‘74 Javelin. The ‘72 Pierre Cardin may’ve been a junk yard car (I can’t recall whether it had body damage or rust or was a non-runner due to something major), but its interior was better then the one in his ‘74, so he swapped it out, headliner and all!
He had the car painted a very bright orange, with a white stripe around the back window coming to points near the taillights IIRC, which really set it off. Whether intentional or not, there’s a little orange in the striping on that interior that tied it all in.
It was a pretty car. Sadly, I don’t have a picture to share.
And who can forget the Pierre Cardin Javelin? That is one of my favorite interiors, ever.
Oh, wow… what are the odds we’d post the same picture exactly a minute apart.
Curbside Coincidence indeed!
Obscure? Toyota Paseo Galliano:
This has to be the winner just for the size of the low-highbrow gap.
The Etienne Aigner VW Cabriolet springs to mind for some reason…
For sure. A favorite of Northern NJ Sorority girls through the 90’s. They were most often spotted parked near Starbucks, sushi places, kosher delis, and of course in any mall parking lot.
But only when they weren’t at the FroYo place.
1997 Saab 900 Talladega Edition FTW. After all, when you think NASCAR, you think…..Saab?
They were called Talladega in Europe too, where when you think Talladega you think…WTF is a Talladega? I think it was a reference to an endurance test or something they did there.
And of course the John Varvatos Edition Chrysler 300C! Him I had never heard of before seeing the commercial. I did somehow end up with a Chrsyler 300C (non-Varvatos edition) and more curious, a set of John Varvatos leather Converse low-tops which I am quite fond of.
The best part was Iggy Pop in the commercial.
+1 on a very obscure car. John Varvatos is not very well known outside of the hipster NYC and LA crowd, so it was a bold choice to pair the designer with a Chrysler primarily aimed at more traditional buyers.
Another very rare special edition from Chrysler during the same time period was the 300 Glacier Edition, an AWD-only package with special trim and limited colors, including the unique Glacier Blue Pearl.
You bought those Converse, as “you didn’t see a 300 in your future.” Got a chuckle out of that
Brendan, do you have your Nautor’s Swan edition of the M760Li on order yet? It’s a little more highbrow than the Nautica edition Villager but I don’t think we’ll be seeing one curbside anytime soon.
https://www.motor1.com/news/179635/bmw-individual-m760li-nautors-swan/
Wow, that’s actually quite stunning, but I wonder what impact all that wood on the interior floor panels and trunk floor has on overall sound levels. I can’t imagine it hasn’t been thoroughly worked-around, but it strikes me as a bit of a “clunky” place to be. I’d imagine getting into that car on a wet day would require a bit of caution too, as those teak floor panels would surely get a bit slick (not to mention really sloppy looking in winter, with snow and road salt sloshing around on them)
That Damask Red paint is one of the most stunning colors in a long time.
I’ve seen the pictures before and while it is quite stunning, the color combination isn’t to my personal preference. I’m not a huge fan of leathers that light, especially with the light tone-wood.
Now that really looks special. Not sure that it’s to my taste, but you can tell it’s not just a run-of-the-mill 7-series, if there’s any such thing.
North Face edition Chevy Trailblazer
There was a North Face Avalanche, too. IIRC it had built-in removable backpacks and maybe a cooler.
Yeah, there were some built in bed bags, and a unique interior.
Ironically, there was a North Face edition Ford Explorer in the UK!
The 1978 Nikki Lauda Alfa Romeo Spider. Only 350 made. Believe they only came with a driver’s side mirror.
Why not the other side mirror????
Well, we had the Chevy Monza Emerson Fittipaldi 500. A homage for his first Indianapolis 500 win.
My parents had more than one car with only one mirror but they always got the base model.
Here you go – Fiat Seicento Schumacher.
I’m going for the Oleg Cassini Matador. So understated and elegant.
Oh you beat me to it! Would love a Cassini!!
What about that multicolor VW Jetta III? It looked like a junkyard-Frankenstein special sitting on the lot new.
What you describe sounds like the Harlequin Edition. VW produced them as Rabbits/Golfs, Jettas, and a picture in the latest issue of the British magazine Modern Classics shows a VW Polo (Ford Fiesta sized car) version.
Porsche did that with the 944 too. There was one for sale in Australia a while back although I think it was a used import from the UK.
Citroen did a 2CV Harlequin too
I remember reading somewhere that the Harlequin VWs were all assembled in one color, disassembled, and then the panels mixed up in the same sequence on every car.
Well I have never seen one in person there is a Walking Dead Edition of the Hyundai Tuscon.
https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2014-hyundai-tucson-the-walking-dead-special-edition-starts-at-29775.html
I actually see one of those at work sometimes, was wondering what the hell it was.
You win, although it should be a hearse.
I saw one on display at a mall a few years ago.
The Dodge Dude truck…
https://jalopnik.com/5109341/the-dodge-dude-abides-adventures-in-truck-marketing
Don Knotts?
The Ducks Unlimited Tahoe was always a favorite of mine.
AMC should have done the Ducks Unlimited edition! Mason was a major supporter of DU, and left part of his land to Michigan as a nature preserve for waterfowl.
Canada-only 2003 Honda CR-V Specialized Hardrock Edition. Came with a bike rack and other mountain bike goodies. So obscure that all I can find is an old newspaper ad.
A friend from uni had a Nissan Pulsar Reebok….
….and another Aussie special, the Carla Zampatti Ford Laser.
The later ones mostly came in pastel colours and had matching wheels.
Not a designer, but the Mazda MP3 played mp3 files with its Kenwood stereo. It drove pretty nicely too.
Are you referring to the 2001 Mazda Protege MP3? Those were pretty unique in that they were only available for one year, had about 10 extra horsepower due to a different ECU tune, and of course came with that Kenwood MP3 capable stereo. They also had special 17″ wheels that I believe were made by Racing Hart and a rear wing. There’s a small handful of them roaming around in the Portland Metro Area in varying levels of worn out, despite being pretty rare.
I totally forgot about thatone. Didn’t the MP3 package basically become the Mazdaspeed Protege with the addition of the turbo engine?
More or less since they weren’t available at the same time. I’m sure the Mazdaspeed had a factory short throw shifter and a different body kit/wheels as well, but it basically was a turbo charged MP3.
Car & Driver: Jul 22, 2008 – Grand Marquis: Sadly, another year passes without a “de Sade” package.
Ah yes, a perennial C&D classic.
Is that a 1971 or a 1972 Marquis? Grand Marquis didn’t come out until 1975
For me this question calls to mind the original Mini and Fiat Panda. In the 80s/early 90s it seemed like every single one of them was a special edition of some sort. I’d like to see an exhaustive list of Panda special editions, it would be longer than the car.
As the question mentions “designer”, I’ll mention the Mary Quant Mini and Sergio Tacchini Panda, but the one that’s seared into my brain is the Italia ’90 Panda with soccer ball wheel covers.
Good call, there were so many of those.
A couple of years ago when I was shopping for a pickup the local GM dealer had a year old unsold “Duck Commander” edition Silverado. Black with camouflage accents and interior trim and badges. Looked even worse than it sounds. Salesman said he’d give me a hell of a deal on it. It was still there a year later.
Unless the dealership owner ordered it I’ll bet someone was in deep duckshit. I’ve seen some weird special editions but this one topped ’em all.
I thought how bad could it be? So I looked it up…wow…pretty bad.
I mean even if you like camo, this is just bad.
Must have had some success though I guess, I see they now have the RealTree Edition. This one is done better and although not something I would want I don’t think it looks too bad.
My father in law is an avid hunter, and usually accessorizes his current pickup just like this… i live in rural Wisconsin and see trucks decorated like this regularly (usually to hide rust holes, as well as personalized them) I never realized that there was a factory camo package, though
Ram has a number of Mossy Oak trim packages. I think they all do now.
Can’t believe nobody mentioned the abysmal Nissan Rogue/Rogue One tie in from a couple years ago. What would Vader drive? Not a Nissan crossover with a questionable CVT and mediocre build quality…
Yeah, really! – Everyone knows he drives cool cars like these three:
First up – Dodge Viper (flanked by his Stormtroopers in their Chargers and Challengers)…
Or this a couple of decades earlier…
or this one from the decade before that….
One o’ y’all hode m’beer ‘n’ y’all watch:
The li’l ol’ 1961 Plymouth Valiant Dixie Special, celebratin’ th’ beginnin’ o’ the
Civil WarWar Between the StatesRecent UnpleasantnessWaw o’ Nawthun Agrayesshun.Git a load o’ this here clippin’ f’om the li’l ol’ Southside Sentinel, April 27 o’ 1961:
International sold a ‘Rebel’ special edition pickup around 1972. Confederate battle flag stars and a caricature of ‘Johnny Reb’ decals. Don’t see that one coming back……
de Sade Edition, only available on the Mercury Marquis.
hat tip, Car & Driver
Great question, Brendan. I can see I’ll be coming back several times during the day to see what else we can dredge up from the collective memory banks.
Who could ever forget the Hello Kitty Smart Car Limited Edition?
The “Kirkland Signature” Chevy Silverado would be my pick. Never saw one, but I remember many contemporary jokes about buying your vehicles in bulk.
Has any manufacturer ever tried the opposite approach: high-end car paired with mass-market design? The Land Rover Wal Mart edition, for instance. A terrible idea, perhaps, but we’ve seen a lot of terrible ideas from the auto industry over the years.
I can’t remember all three but AMC had three Woody special wagons in the 60’s and I’m sure one of them was named the Mariner or Nautica edition or something like that.
Peugeot 205 Lacoste.- a very fitting car for the Lacoste brand.
Well there is the Buick PGA Tour Edition. The dealership i hang out at has a Lucerne PGA Tour Edition and it seems to just have special badges and a slightly better seat material.
I don’t think the WB Chevy venture was a obscure vehicle. The take rate by customers was pretty high. GM was one of the first car makers to realize that the path to road trip nirvana was to keep the kids quiet so they offered a van with a VCR and later a DVD player to shut the kids up.
Buick has also had Olympic Editions a couple of different times with the Olympic symbol incorporated into the car’s badging in different ways.
Wonder if there’s ever been a Skoda Fabia Faberge?
My favorite designer edition would have to be the 1979 Cadillac Seville Gucci. It doesn’t really count here because it was made by an aftermarket company.
Now if we’re talking factory-produced, then I think one of the most obscure would have to be the 1984-85 Lincoln Mark VII Gianni Versace Edition. Its numbers must be very rare indeed.
I don’t think Dell counts as a “designer”, but the “Focus and a Dell” commercials from 2004 were pretty cringe-worthy.
111 comments and no Lexus Coach edition? I didn’t think they were THAT obscure…it was offered on the LS, ES, and RX. The ES and LS came with chrome Mercedes monoblock imitation wheels, and all came with Coach luggage!
My favorite was the Yugo Hamilton Beach version. But it would always blow a fuse if you had two slices going..
As if the Izuzu VehiCross wasn’t obscure enough, the Ironman Edition
Although, of all the ones cohorts have cited, I want a Darth Vadar Buick GNX
How about the 2007 Volkswagen Jetta/Golf Fahrenheit editions? Not necessarily designer, but surely obscure with only 1200 of either example.
How about the Tony Stewart edition of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo?
AMC offered the Rebel Mariner, the Rebel Briarcliff, and the Rebel Westerner all at the same time.
Thank you Michael!
I meant to go search these out and verify my memory and I got distracted.
Bill
The Kid Rock Chevy 3500 is a sight to see. I thought it made production but I guess it was a one time SEMA prototype.
My vote would be on the Mercury “Voga” luxury editions of the Mariner and Milan.