We’ve assembled our “12 Classics Cars of Christmas” with cars that inspire lust but won’t end up gathering dust in the garage. A few, admittedly, may also bring back Santa’s own memories searching in every store only to find all have been sold. We even included a few stocking stuffers for family enjoyment.
Despite the Porsche 911’s immense and ongoing success, the 356 series has always maintained a loyal fan base. The 356 was, however, a notorious ruster, which claimed many of the 76,000 built from 1948-1965. The rarest, including the first 50 or so coupes hand-built in Gmund, Austria between 1948 and 1950, plus some later models, can fetch $1.5 million.
The Lamborghini Miura veritably defined 1960s sports car beauty. Its successor, the utterly unique Lamborghini Countach, introduced “brutal” to the equation and became a landmark supercar design.
The Levante takes its name from a warm Mediterranean wind. Maserati must get credit for successfully transferring its design language to the SUV form. There doesn’t appear to be a straight line anywhere on the body, just plenty of elegant curves and no attempt to look truckish. Squint, and you can see a bit of Infiniti’s SUV designs here and there, and the mini fender vents still look a bit Buick-ish to some.
The Ferrari Testarossa burst onto the scene in 1984 like a four-wheeled nuke, unleashed by Ferrari to reclaim territory that had been captured by the Porsche 911 Turbo and Lamborghini Countach.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Italy’s “big three” couture carmakers – Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati – responded to customer demand for high-end GTs that offered more room than their 1960s models. The Lamborghini Jarama secured its unique place in Lamborghini history as one of its last front-engine models.
As the first production car to bear the Bugatti name in thirty-five years, the EB110 had big shoes to fill. The 560 horses produced by its 3.5L V-12 fit snugly into those French racing boots.
The Amelia Island weekend, home to one of the nation’s premier concours d’Elegance, begins in earnest on Thursday, March 10th, 2016. The days to follow promise three separate auctions of high-end cars and a chance to see and show the most distinguished automobiles.
If you want to drive a 911 often, one that combines the visceral personality of a classic with modern power, handling and comfort there’s one number to consider: “993.” That is, of course, Porsche’s model designation for the last of the air-cooled Elevens.
