Every January, Arizona’s dry, salt-free climate brings automotive enthusiasts from around the world to Scottsdale for a week of shows, auctions, and seminars. As the first major event on the collector car calendar, Scottsdale showcases a quality of cars rarely seen off of a concours green.
Automotive connoisseurs are likely to keep their garages stocked with the best internal combustion vehicles from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Porsche for a long time. But it’s a safe bet those same garages will make room for high-performance EVs.
Known as the “Rambo Lambo” for monster proportions, monster looks and monster capability, the Lamborghini LM002, also was a 6,600-pound, 4-wheel drive leviathan powered by a V12 and capable to traversing the Arabian Peninsula at very high speed – without a road. On Rodeo Drive, it was the ultimate status machine, able to frighten small children and make grown men swoon – and vice versa, too.
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.
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.
The Atlanta Concours d’ Elegance was held at the beautiful Chateau Elan Winery and Resort which is owned by Dr. Donald Panoz. Dr. Panoz started manufacturing hand-crafted sports cars bearing his name in the 1990’s and several Panoz street cars and race cars were part of the Concours display.
Ferrari built its reputation on dual-purpose machines, the sports and GT cars one could drive on the road during the week and to the track on the weekend. There were more comfort-oriented models, such as the 250 GT Lusso, but the 250’s immediate successor, the 275 GTB and 275 GTB/4, skewed closer to the pure sports car side of the family.
The entire F50 is built like a sports racer. The central tub is made from carbon fiber, while the body uses a carbon fiber, Kevlar and Nomex honeycomb. As in an F1 car, the engine, transmission and differential are mounted as a structural unit to which the suspension, elements of the composite body and even the rear bumper are attached.
