Christmas 2019: Dear Santa, We've Been Good... Mostly

Christmas is here; so we thought we'd take some time to prepare a wishlist of cars. Because, why not. Being greedy when it comes to cars, we decided to split the listicle into five and set some ground rules. Below are five wishlists, one from each author. Each list comprises four new cars/bikes that money can buy today and one ultimate unicorn with no constraints whatsoever. Here we go:

Adithya

My requirements are fairly simple -- it should be fast, fun and full of soul. Above all that, a car should be able to make you smile on the worst of your days. Unfortunately, I don’t fancy the vast majority of cars on sale today (call me old school), but there are some hidden gems. 

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: If the term ‘gorgeous’ was ever a sedan, this’ll be it! The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (cool name btw) is the most beautiful 4-door that money can buy today. It also happens to be the closest thing to a 4-door Ferrari.

Alpine A110: What an absolutely epic way to resurrect an iconic French sports carmaker. The Alpine A110 is a lesson on how to make a driver’s car today -- a lesson that makes every other manufacturer sit down and take note. Even so that a legend like Gordon Murray is benchmarking the upcoming T.50 hypercar against this little sports car.

MAT Stratos: Simply put:

• You can’t buy a new Lancia Stratos today.
• Lurking underneath the new Stratos is a SWB F430 Scuderia with three pedals. Can’t beat that.

Alfaholics GTA-R 290: Alfaholics to Alfa Romeo is what Singer is to Porsche. And the GTA-R 290 is an artwork on wheels and a complete hoonigan, depending on what you want. This right here is motoring nirvana at its finest.

Lexus LFA: If there’s a gun to my head to pick one of all the cars ever made, it’ll be a Pearl Blue Lexus LFA with white interiors and gunmetal wheels (someone else also wants the exact car in the exact spec). Love is too weak a word for what I feel for the LFA.

So Santa, when can I expect delivery? 

Aniruthan

I’m also known as the Volkswagen AG (VAG) fanboy due to my crazy love for their well-sorted, premium and fun-to-drive cars. Now that Christmas is here, here is the list of cars and bikes I want: 

Lamborghini Huracan EVO:The Lamborghini Huracan EVO with its razor-sharp handling and the brute 5.2-litre V10 is the perfect car to roam around in the wee hours of the day. Yes, there’s the sweet-looking EVO Spyder, but I prefer the coupe.

Audi RS Q8: I love SUVs, especially fast ones! The RSQ8 with its 600PS twin turbo V8 perfectly suit my needs. What’s more, the Green Hulk you see is the fastest SUV around the ‘Ring. 

Audi A6: I have a soft corner for luxury cars and the A6 pitches in as the perfect choice. It’s neither as big as the A8 nor as small as the A4. Just the perfect cup of tea for me! 

Skoda Octavia RS245: The Octy RS245 is the perfect size for narrow city roads and the twisties on any mountain roads. Further, razor-sharp handling, the 245PS engine, and the lightning-quick DSG will keep me smiling all the time. 

Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin: The Africa Twin DCT is one perfect bike off the road as well as on it. In fact, it can do anything off-road without stalling its engine. How cool is that? Now, I can’t wait for the next-gen CRF1100L, which comes with a bigger heart and more tech. 
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Gaurav

Considering I’ve grown up with everything related to racing, I’ve always craved for rides that are fast, as well as take on sharp bends like butter. Now that Christmas is here, these are some cars that I’d love to own:

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Swift Sport : Yes, the first car on the list may not seem like something radical but I’ve held a nostalgic love for the Swift and have been longing for the more aggressive variant. It's not only sportier, but also features a more powerful turbocharged engine.

Koenigsegg Regera: While the Regera has been out for a long time, the plug-in-hybrid is still a technological marvel, with 1500PS/ 2000Nm from a 5.0-litre V8 hybrid and the only single-gear direct drive transmission that I’ve never seen in an ICE car. 

Ferrari 812 GTS: While the world moves towards electric propulsion, the folks from Maranello soldier on with orgasmic V12s. And the 812 GTS does just that with a power output of 800PS and 718Nm to make it the most powerful cabriolet you can buy. It also gets a variety of driver tech and aerodynamic trickery to handle the V12 beast.

Aston Martin Valkyrie: Sure, Aston Martin is facing tough times currently, but that didn’t stop them from making one of their most technologically advanced cars, named the Valkyrie. Aside from the 1,176PS output, the hypercar has been co-designed by Red Bull F1’s legendary aero guru, Adrian Newey, which features advanced aerodynamic solutions like ground effect.

McLaren F1: A car well ahead of its time, it is still acknowledged as a benchmark of automotive engineering. You could say the McLaren F1 is the world’s first hypercar. The Gordon Murray-designed poster-worthy beast was such an animal that it won the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1995 even though the concept wasn’t meant to be a track machine.  
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Sukrit

Dear Santa, I have been naughty this year, as I had been the year before, and the one before that. But I have an all-you-can-eat cookies and milk buffet for you in the kitchen. Now that I have your attention, here’s what I want for Christmas:

Citroen Berlingo: To me, the MPV is a more organic alternative to an SUV. That’s why I’m drawn to the old-school sensibilities of this French car. It has in-roof storage and neat cubby spaces everywhere in the cabin. Oh, and when will dent-resistant air bumps on the side become a car feature in India?  

Fiat 124 Abarth Spyder: Few sportscars today retain the essence of the roadster as well as this one. It’s a small rear-wheel drive and has no roof. Mazda-engineered dynamics and a sweet soundtrack is all I will ever need from a car. 

Morgan Three Wheeler: Morgan is a British carmaker known for making hand-assembled cars out of wood and metal. This is its road-legal reimagination of a spitfire aircraft. I can almost hear that V-twin soundtrack already...  

McLaren Speedtail: If I ever have a Speedtail, it will never see the inside of a garage. It would be placed in a glass case in a town square where artists would be invited to draw inspiration from it. It has milled carbon fibre trim on the inside. Whoever had that idea? 

Jaguar XJS V12: The concept of the grand tourer is almost as old as that of the petrol car itself. But grand tourers as we see them today find their roots in the XJS. It had a massive V12 in the front and an instantly recognisable body shape. 
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Dhruv Paliwal

Dear Santa, get me the cars and the motorcycle listed below and I will put out milk and cookies for you, for the rest of my life.

Lamborghini Urus: Drop dead gorgeous looks of a Lamborghini coupled with its blistering performance and go-anywhere capability, the Urus will be my everyday ride. I had always wanted a Lamborghini for its looks but was always worried that I wouldn’t be able to drive it around. The Urus changes that.

Skoda Fabia: I know following up a Urus with a Fabia sounds ridiculous but this car has been on my wishlist for the longest time. I love the Fabia because it is a small, but potent package that is great for negotiating tight spaces and still keeping up with the big cars on the highway.

Nissan GT-R R35: A combination of 2 Fast 2 Furious and Need For Speed Underground made me fall in love with the R34 Skyline GT-R -- a boxy Japanese sports car that was every tuner’s wet dream. However, as the R34 is not available anymore and the R35 is kind of better in every regard, I wouldn’t mind having it as my supercar slayer.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX25R: Big bikes are not my thing, but smaller bikes do not come with inline-four engines. That’s where Kawasaki stepped in and said, hold my beer. The result was a 250cc Ninja that looked like its bigger siblings and could rev to 17,000RPM! 

Lamborghini Countach: It's the second Lamborghini on my list and it's my unicorn. It looked like it would take off if you went too fast and the wheels on the later editions of the Countach are in my opinion, the best looking rims ever made. Couple that with the fact that it had a V12 and there is no other car I’d have more in the world than a Lamborghini Countach.

Did we go overboard with the wishlist? Ermm, think so. Well, we are willing to trade in all the aforementioned cars for one car, the first-ever supercar -- Lamborghini Miura SV. This beautiful Italian supermodel in any colour of your choice (sorry, anything but red), would suffice everyone’s greed, especially Abhishek's. (shush: He made us add the Miura to this list, but he’s too old for this anyway. So, give it to us and we promise to share).