Short of a new ski chalet in Whistler or a boutique winery in the Okanagan, the ultimate gift just has to be a luxury sports car, an opulent sedan or maybe a high-end SUV.
This season, several automakers in the luxury class have something special to offer for the new model year and we’ve checked some of them out in detail—though making a choice from a lineup like this would be a near-impossible, albeit highly desirable, task.

Close to the top of anyone’s seasonal wish list is the Porsche 911 and the German manufacturer has a revised version for 2009. New Porsche 911s always draw the same response when they’re first shown to the public—something along the lines of “it looks just like the last one.” In fact, people have been saying this for just about every one of the multiple generations this legendary sports car has evolved through since the wraps came off the first 911 at the Frankfurt motor show in 1963.

As has been the case for many years, there are Carrera Coupé, Carrera Coupé S and Carrera Cabriolet models available, plus variants with all-wheel drive (Carrera 4) and the awesome Turbo. The base 3.6 litre engine delivers 355 horsepower and if you upgrade to an “S” model, it climbs to 385 horsepower. Either way, you get an exceptionally fast sports car with very impressive acceleration and top-end speed.