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.
Recently I posted a photograph on a social media site of my ‘classic’ car collection circa 2007. It struck me for a two reasons. First, was that I remembered the day vividly. The second was that I was struck by how different each was from the other: a 1950 ‘Crosley-Gardner Special, a 1952 Lancia Ardea, a 1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Touring Spider and a 1969 Lamborghini Islero.
The Islero delivered all the right ingredients for a high-end GT. Its 4.0-liter, 325-horsepower V12 was a four-cam, six-carburetor aluminum sculpture backed by a 5-speed manual transmission for a 150-plus mph top speed. The Islero name, which sounds almost musical, was borrowed from a bull that had killed a matador.