Dear Santa,
Sorry, I stopped believing in you when I was nine. Hoping that’s all water under the bridge. Loved those toy cars you gifted me back then, but I’m ready to move up to the real thing. Here are the 12 Cars of Christmas I hope to see under my tree this year. No pressure.
P.S. Can I take that flying sleigh for a test drive? What’s the 0-100 on that thing?
BMW M2
Of all the cars I drove this year, the M2 was the only one that had me reshuffling my finances to see if I could manage a lease payment. It just feels right: the six-speed shifter, the compactness of it, that 365-horsepower straight-six, the push from the rear wheels as it accelerates – rapid, but manageable. The M2 is BMW’s smallest, most affordable M car, and the best one in a decade.
Volvo V90
Volvo wagons are minor automotive icons. For many, they are synonymous with family. Sadly, Volvo has been rudderless for years and SUVs long ago usurped the wagon’s place. But with a massive infusion of cash from its new Chinese owners, Volvo is back. And, dare I say, better than ever. The new V90 is the best car design of the year. It’s airy and artful where everything else is aggressive. The ultimate in good taste.
Acura NSX (the original)
I drove the hybrid-powered NSX this year. It’s impressive from a technological point of view. But a brief test drive in the original NSX, a 2002 model, left no doubt as to which one I’d want. The 290-hp V-6 doesn’t make it fast by modern standards, but the sweetness of the manual gear change and the way it sings at 8,000 rpm make the old NSX a joy to drive. It’s a bona fide classic and much cheaper than the new model.
Related: Acura NSX: The Supercar 30 years in the making
Tesla Model X
Yes, the Model X looks like a Model S fattened up to hibernate over the winter, but you can’t get gull-wing doors on anything else that can carry seven people. Kids will fight to sit in the back just to see those things pop up. With the “Ludicrous Speed Upgrade,” it’ll do 0-100 km/h in 3.1 seconds. The price is ludicrous, too, so it really works best as a gift.
Related: Riding along as a Model X hits Canadian roads for the first time
Jaguar XE
The compact sedan is the bread and butter of the premium-car market. You’ve got your Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4: the usual suspects. Well, the Jaguar XE is the blood pudding, the Marmite and crumpets. It’s different and yet still delicious. Superb ride, handling and performance leave a lasting impression. The 340-horsepower V-6 is wickedly fast. It looks great, too.
Mazda CX-9
Mazda was quietly gunning for luxury-auto makers with its biggest SUV, the CX-9. The styling is certainly handsome enough to teach more expensive vehicles a lesson. There are seven seats and real wood trim enclosed inside a zen-like cabin. The small four-cylinder engine is lacking in overall grunt, but the deft steering and well-tuned chassis make the CX-9 a surprisingly pleasant machine to drive.
Aston Martin DB11
Money no object, the DB11 is the ultimate all-rounder. Brogued leather seats, chopped carbon-fibre, twin-turbo V-12, low, lean and long: Everything else looks out-of-fashion. It’ll be a cushy grand tourer if you want it to, or a big, lairy sports car at the press of a button. The new 600-horsepower motor can deliver a mean jolt of torque right from 1,500 rpm. On the DB11’s haunches rests Aston Martin’s future.
Related: Why the DB11 is the most important car in Aston Martin's history
Ford Focus RS
The Shelby GT350 is the best Mustang in my lifetime. It makes a Porsche GT3 look mighty expensive. But the magic of the Focus RS is that it combines the Mustang thrill with the every-day practicality of all-wheel drive and five-doors. It’s far from a perfect car. You could spend thousands on aftermarket parts trying to right its many little wrongs and that’d be part of the fun.
Lancia Fulvia coupe
A Lancia Fulvia won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1972. It finished the 1970 Targa Florio behind only a few sports-prototypes from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Porsche. It’s a strangely beautiful machine; as delicate as a snowflake. The narrow-angle V-4 engine is a minor marvel, too. Best of all, it’s an eminently affordable Italian classic with genuine motorsport pedigree. The Rallye 1.6 HF is highly sought after, but many of the 1.3 coupes made in the 1970s can be found for less than €10,000 ($14,230).
McLaren 570GT
I’ve limited myself to one supercar. The Lamborghini Huracan nearly earned the spot, but it must go to McLaren’s entry-level 570. Here, entry level means $236,400, but for that you get a carbon-fibre tub and a twin-turbo V-8 mounted behind the seats. Nothing else near this price can boast such exotic specifications. The handling is playful. It covers ground like a laser-guided terrier after a rabbit. The GT is more comfortable and has more cargo space than the S, in case that helps justify it.
Audi A4 Allroad
The A4 Allroad deserves to be more popular. It mixes the ruggedness of an SUV with the style and handling of a wagon. Since it’s part of the A4 range, it has the best-designed interior of any compact luxury car. It offers the same “virtual dashboard” display you’ll find in the Audi R8 and Lamborghini Huracan. Driver-assistance and tech features are on par with class leaders, and all-wheel drive is standard. There’s nothing not to like.
Opel GT concept
I wish somebody would put this concept into production. The GT stole the spotlight at the Geneva Motor Show. Opel says its 1.0-litre, three-cylinder motor makes 145 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, all of which goes to the rear wheels through mechanical limited-slip differential – 100 more horsepower and it’d be perfect.