We’ve worried enough this year, so let’s pretend money is of no concern, live it up, and buy whatever we want…automotively speaking. Whether you covet elegance for celebrating, luxury for traveling or sport for sleighing, one of these fantasies – with whiffs of nostalgia – should brighten your carpark this season.
For Celebration: 2026 Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary Private Collection
With Graceland aglow for the holidays, it’s easy to imagine one of Elvis’ Cadillacs…or his 1963 Rolls-Royce Phantom V…parked on the driveway, ready to whisk him through the famous music gates on the way to a lit holiday celebration. He preferred close gatherings at home, but could have been coaxed out by the special run of twenty-five Phantom Centenary editions.
It certainly shimmers like a lawn ornament with the Spirit of Ecstasy rendered in solid gold from a design based on the 1925 casting. A black grille, hood, roof and decklid contrast with white lower body panels and gray aero wheels. It cuts a swath whether rolling through winter snow, shopping on Rodeo Drive or arriving for holiday merrymaking.
Envisaged to honor the Phantom’s centenary, interior scenes honor notable clients who have traveled within one during its 100 years. Developed with a fashion atelier, rear seats wear high-resolution printed fabric bearing 160,000 stitches. Up front, laser-etched seats depict hand-sketched linework. Woodwork boasts 3D marquetry, ink layering and 24-carat gold leafing. The dash art gallery reflects pages of a book with abstract text formed in aluminum.
Elvis’ Phantom had a GE mobile phone. This Phantom plots directions and RSVPs via voice.
Behind that titan Parthenon grille is an engineering masterpiece: A 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 engine shrouded under a cover finished in Arctic White with 24-carat gold accents. The Three Kings possessed less gold. It also summons 563 horsepower and 664 lb.-ft. of torque – enough to whisk the big sedan 0-60 mph in a scant 5 seconds while humming Silent Night back to the village.
Everything about the Phantom Centenary seemingly outshines a king’s birth or even a king’s driveway. Good thing, because it costs a king’s ransom of $3 Million each.
For Travel: 2026 Cadillac Escalade IQL
Traveling over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house, or taking your elegant family to the train station, was once the mission of a classy wagon. Chevrolet virtually invented the modern SUV with the 1935 Suburban, but its electrified successor, the Cadillac Escalade IQL, gets you to your Gulfstream for a holiday hop to Vienna.
It’s glitzier than a Christmas market riffing on the brand’s grille, rendered in plastic with welcome lighting, and bracketed by tall light blades. Its body stretches towards its rear haunches like reindeer launching to flight. When your valet is loading gifts, they’ll notice vestiges of fins that promise luxury.
After riding in the Escalade IQL, stepping on-board your jet may dampen moods as the Caddy’s cabin is bedazzled by a pillar-to-pillar infotainment screen and available 42-speaker AKG audio system. Crank up Mariah! An Executive Second Row package adds stowable tray tables, personal screens and dual phone chargers. Those middle captain’s chairs massage, heat, ventilate and are graced with headrest speakers.
Unlike with gas-powered Escalades, there’s a front eTrunk with power hood and 12.2 cubic feet more. Clubs in front, presents in the back, easy as that.
If you don’t wish to fly, the electric powertrain delivers 460 miles range and can recharge 116 miles per 10 minutes. It’s powerful too with 750 horsepower underfoot – enough to disappear 0-60 mph in just 4.7 seconds. Adaptive Magnetic Ride Control and Air Ride control blissfully dispenses with turbulence below. It can even power your house during a snowstorm.
Hands-off Super Cruise is standard, but come 2028, GM will launch its “eyes off” version on the IQ. You might even be able to video chat with Grandma on your way to her chalet.
For those who own planes, the $132,695 price is but a puff of marshmallow.
For Sleighing: Ferrari SC40
A Ferrari painted Rosso Corsa red shadows even Santa’s crimson sleigh. I remember when I received my magazine wearing the exotic Ferrari F40. Unveiled in July 1987, this was a car that could destroy a track, and if you were careful enough, survive a ride to dinner (definitely not in snow). I lost my entire mind, but relived the feeling when I saw the Ferrari SC40.
That red sleigh leapt off magazine covers and down the track as the first production car to break 200 mph. Its howling 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8 delivered a then-fantastical 478 horsepower. It was an abominable monster without electronic traction nannies and a spartan interior that made Santa’s barn feel luxurious.
Dreams dance again through a one-off by Ferrari’s Special Projects programme. Stylists started with a 296 GTB, then penned sharp lines that recall the original. SC40 script is honorably engraved on sides of the wing. Open mesh on the rear deck reveals mechanical components. The engine is viewed through Lexan louvres. An artful central exhaust outlet is tipped in titanium and carbon-fiber. Even the sugary white paint is bespoke.
As another nod to the F40, carbon-Kevlar is visible in footwells and behind seats. Seats are upholstered in red fabric and charcoal suede with Prancing Horses embossed on the headrests. Flatscreens and wireless phone connections jingle towards modernity.
Unlike that antique of Christmas past, this sugarplum cuddles a plug-in hybrid system with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 that delivers 819 horsepower. It matches the old sleigh’s acceleration and terminal velocity, but shines brighter with 15 miles EV range and 50-MPG combined.
Sadly, not even Santa can bring you an SC40 as it was created for an undisclosed client for an undisclosed price. Maybe he can rekindle lost love and drop an F40 instead, but even those are dearer than Cabbage Patch Kids.
Storm Forward!
Send Casey questions and comments at CRWAuto@aol.com; follow him on YouTube @ AutoCasey.