Ultimate Holiday Gift Cars

We like this made-in-America hypercar for many reasons: the fighter-jetlike sheet metal; the SSC-designed, billet aluminum V8 engine; and the 2.5-second sprint from zero to 60 mph, on to a projected top speed of 276 mph, to name just a few. Essentially, this midengine, rear-wheel-drive supercar is more over-the-top than anything else on the road. It seats two, has carbon-fiber everything and puts out an insane 1,350 horsepower and 1,042 lb-ft of torque. If that's not a gift to cherish, we don't know what is.

Watch Video:  SSC — A True American Super Car

If you're going to give yourself a Bentley, money is clearly no object. So why not drop an extra $100,000 above the Mulsanne's $300,000 base price to give yourself the Bentley Executive Interior Concept, one of the most elegant and technologically advanced vehicles to come out of Crewe, England. Yes, it's a concept. But the company will in fact produce 100 vehicles outfitted with the same dual Internet-connected iPad workstations, a drop-down television and a special yachting veneer — think a vintage teak powerboat — applied to the handcrafted interior, which alone takes more than 170 hours to create.

View Slideshow:  10 Outrageous Options on Luxury Cars

Sure, a $65,884 MINI Cooper seems silly — OK, it is silly — but where is it written that the only those willing to drive ultralarge luxury saloons should be afforded ultraluxury interiors? For the MINI Inspired by Goodwood, BMW, which owns both MINI and Rolls-Royce, raided the Roller parts bin to create a superluxe interior for the supersmall commuter, including burr walnut trim pieces, floor mats made of lamb's wool and cashmere-lined storage trays. The high-price MINI, which is mechanically identical to the Cooper S, also wears Black Diamond exterior paint, a color otherwise exclusive to Rolls-Royce vehicles.

Compare: MINI Cooper vs. Hyundai Veloster vs. Volkswagen Beetle

For the well-heeled SUV fan, Range Rover has long been the standard for opulent off-road capability. For those who consider the regular $80,000 Rover a peasant's ride, there's the Overfinch Vogue GT. The Overfinch models add upon the base Rover with aerodynamic enhancements — engineered front and rear bumpers, integral exhaust tails, side sills and a roof spoiler — plus aesthetic touches such as a resculpted mesh grille and LED daytime running lights. The interior can be fully decked out with bespoke touches, including Nappa leather upholstery and real wood and carbon-fiber finishes, and the company boosts standard performance via engine-control-unit reprogramming and updated supercharging systems.

See: New SUVs More Than $60,000

With all the variants of the Porsche 911, it's hard to stand out in a crowd. But the Black Edition 911 is an automotive anomaly: a special-edition vehicle that costs less than its standard counterpart. The Black Edition is, in effect, a specialty parts package. It receives the same 3.6-liter 345-horsepower flat-6 engine as the 911 Carrera, but gets a blacked-out theme both inside — black instrument cluster, black rear console, sport steering wheel, black lettering on the sill plates — and outside, with Solid Black or Basalt Black Metallic exterior paint options and black brake calipers. Priced at $91,300 for the Cabriolet, it's $6,000 less than a comparably equipped Carrera.

Read:  Porsche Brings Latest 911 to L.A.

While Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are known for their Black Edition vehicles, Germany isn't the only country that likes to go dark with its special editions. Our favorite sport wagon, the 556-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V wagon, gets the Black Diamond treatment this year, with silver-accented black paint, 19-inch Satin Graphite wheels, yellow Brembo brake calipers, Recaro bucket seats and, inside, sapele wood trim. The premium for the Black Diamond package is nearly $5,000 over the base CTS-V.

View Slideshow:  Special Edition Cars

Sure, it's a track-only toy. But at just under $50,000, it costs $200,000 less than Ferrari's track-only racer, the 599XX, and could be even more fun to pilot. The third-generation Atom offers a limited run of 25 vehicles powered by a healthy V8 engine that has a stunning top speed of more than 200 mph, and its 500-plus horsepower rating gives the lightweight Atom a ridiculous power-to-weight ratio of 900 horsepower per ton — that dwarfs both the Bugatti Veyron (530 horsepower per ton) and Ferrari Enzo (434 horsepower per ton).

Bing Images: Ariel Atom V8

The Ford Mustang Boss 302 is the Blue Oval's "race car with a license plate" — a track-oriented performance machine packing a 5.0-liter 440-horsepower V8 engine, as well as improved aerodynamics and a stiffer suspension. The exclusive Laguna Seca edition is even Bossier, with a stiffer body and suspension and, in true race-car form, no rear seat, to reduce weight. It offers the same aerodynamic package in the Ford Racing Boss 302R, and the same quad exhaust system as the base 302. There are faster Mustangs, and plenty of more exclusive special editions, but for our money — about $50,000 worth — no Mustang is more fun to ride than the Laguna Seca.

Read:  Future Classic Cars

Ferrari's $300,000, 4-seat, all-wheel-drive FF shooting brake was the featured vehicle in the 2011 Neiman Marcus holiday catalog. Neiman Marcus upped the ante by $95,000, but for the extra bucks you get an exclusive color — Grigio Caldo — an interior commemorative plaque and a spot at the automaker's 2012 Winter Driving Experience in Aspen, Colo. Oh, and you take delivery of the car in the spring 2012, skipping Ferrari's usual two-year waiting period. If that sounds worth the money to you, you are unfortunately out of luck: The special-edition FF went on sale at noon on Oct. 27, and all 10 available models were sold by a mere 50 minutes later.

Watch Video:  Ferrari FF

Don't think we mean to neglect the 2-wheel riders on this list. Plenty of motorcycles are more expensive than the $45,000 Confederacy Hellcat — the $275,000 Ecosse Titanium Series RR Limited Edition comes to mind — but few inspire such pure lust. The boys from Birmingham, Ala., have created in the third-generation Hellcat X132 the ultimate expression of the company's handcrafted drag-race architecture, one that employs a billet aluminum case machined from two blocks of aircraft-grade aluminum for its 132-cubic-inch, fuel-injected V-twin engine. That's an appropriate choice of materials, considering that the Hellcat is named after the F6F Hellcat fighter plane from World War II.

View Slideshow:  2-Wheeled Masterpieces

Josh Condon has covered everything from nanotechnology to champagne and caviar for the likes of The New York Times, Popular Science, Men's Journal, Cargo and RL Magazine. He's recently relocated from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Los Angeles and is spending way, way more time in his car as a result.

Like us on MSN Autos Facebook and follow us on Twitter

• Visit MSN Autos' "Exhaust Notes" blog to keep up on all things automotive.
• In the market for a new car? MSN Autos is pleased to provide you with information and services designed to save you time, money and hassle. Click to research prices and specifications on any new car on the market or get a free price quote through MSN Autos' New-Car Buying Service.