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 Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival that hearkens back to this romantic era of the sporting gentleman, holding races for vintage automobiles that could have raced there during the track’s heyday.
If you have any interest in the Macan Turbo, you’re probably going to want the Performance Package, because in addition to goosing the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 to 440 horses, it equips this all-wheel drive machine with an upgraded brake system, lowered “sport” chassis, a sport exhaust system and the Sport Chrono Package. That’s a lot of “sport.”
The Concours of Elegance is an international car show and competition that celebrates the best of automotive art and engineering. But it’s more than just a concours; it’s a two day motoring experience that features a vintage rally, car show, and awards ceremony.
The Tail of the Dragon isn’t for sight-seeing, its surroundings are heavily wooded and the bends are anything but mild. However, the dynamic series of hairpin turns, dips, and esses are more than enough to keep driver and passenger engaged.
The story of the Revs Institute begins when Miles Collier acquired the Cunningham Museum and started adding to the collection of important vehicles. Recent partnership with Stanford University has made this museum one of the world’s preeminent sources of automotive information.
