Christmas Crackers – What’s the Ultimate Festive Car?

Christmas is upon us. By this point we would imagine your fridge is at bursting point, your tree is sitting atop a pile of presents and you’re slowly rocking back and forth, slipping into insanity as you’re forced to listen to Noddy Holder abuse his vocal chords for the five millionth time this week. Ah yes, Christmas. But we’re not here to talk about presents and trees and turkeys. No, we’re here to talk about cars. Christmas cars at that.

Here at Car & Classic, we have weekly team meetings. In one of those, we were asked ‘what is the most Christmassy car?’. And that, we thought, was a very good question. Of all the cars out there, which one is the most festive? Which one embodies all that is good about the season of good cheer? It was a question that we thought about long and hard. One that frankly, we spent far too much time digging out the answers for. But, we think we’ve done it. We have created the definitive list of the top five Christmas cars. Do you agree with them, though? Do you have a better suggestion? Let us know via [email protected].

5) Police Cars

No, really. Police cars are festive if you look at them in the right way. You have normal, run of the mill cars that have been ‘decorated’ with bright livery that twinkles when the light hits it. Then you have the flashing lights on the roof, in the grille and on the rear end. A Police car is basically a rolling Christmas tree, right? It’s something normal that has been dressed up to be bright and attention-grabbing. Like a Christmas tree. Then of course, we have the big thing that ties them in with Christmas, and in particular, the big man himself – Santa. You see, the occupants of a Police car might well be the keepers of the thin blue line, but in doing so, they generally have a good idea of if you’ve been naughty or nice. See, we’ve thought this through.

4) Hans Gruber’s W124

1988’s Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and we will not only die on that hill, we’ll dig foundations, build a house and live there. It’s the tale of a man trapped at a Christmas party, it has Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis on the soundtrack, and it features the line “It’s Christmas, Theo. It’s the time of miracles. So be of good cheer!” Yup, it’s a Christmas movie. So what about the car? Hans Gruber turns up to the Nakatomi building in a van, but other henchmen turn up in a rather snazzy Mercedes-Benz W124 on Centra alloy wheels. Why festive? Because John McLane scorches earth in pursuit of getting the bad guys. The building gets blown up, rockets are fired, a helicopter explodes and bullets are exchanged. The W124 is out front the whole time, yet at the very end of the film, can be seen unscathed. It’s Christmas, the time of miracles.

3) Checker Cab

How could a humble, and frankly terrible New York Checker Cab be at number three on our list? The Ghost of Christmas Past, that’s how. In 1988’s Scrooged, the brilliant Bill Murray version of the classic A Christmas Carol, we see Frank Cross (Murray) being haunted by the three familiar ghosts. While the Ghost of Christmas Present is hilarious, with her wand-based abuse, it’s the Ghost of Christmas Past who drives the cab. With it, he transports Frank back to his childhood, so he can see the wrongs of his past and his previous neglect to others and as such, gives him the opportunity to grow and be a better person. Or something along those lines. All we know is that he had a cab that could time travel, and that’s pretty cool.

2) Coca Cola Truck

Obviously the big red soft drink truck had to be on this list. And yes, we are bending our own rules here, as this is truck and not a car, but come on, is there anything more festive on wheels? It seems to have been around forever, but in reality we saw the first ‘Christmas Caravan’ advertisement in 1995. It was the brainchild of ad agency, W. B. Doner. They had little idea, though, that this truck’s popularity would last for so long. You can hear it now, the holidays are coming, the holidays are coming, the hol… it’s a sight and sound synonymous with Christmas. And one that people flock to see. The trucks in the original 1995 advert were the product of computer graphics, whereas today, they’re very real and can be seen all around the world.

1) 1954 Chevrolet Corvette

In at number one, we have a 1954 Chevrolet Corvette. A light blue one, at that. But why? There is nothing inherently festive about a Corvette, right? Well, no, as a car, there is nothing that ties a Corvette to Christmas any more than a Fiat Panda. The link here comes from popular music. More specifically, Eartha Kitt. She sang the now timeless Christmas hit, Santa Baby in 1953. A song that is still as popular at Christmas today as it was then. In the song, Eartha runs through all the things she wants Santa to bring her. In amongst the diamonds and the furs is a “fifty-four convertible, too. Light blue.” Now, she never says Corvette, but as it was arguably the leading and most desirable car of that period, and as you would order a ’54 in 53′ it all kind of adds up. We doubt she was singing about a Morris Minor.