2019

Some years ago Cadillac tied a Christmas tree to the roof of a CTS-V Wagon to perform a holiday burnout. Six years later, Hennessey Performance tied a tree to a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to give us the world’s fastest Christmas tree. Sort of.

If you haven’t seen a Christmas tree run at 181 mph, this is the video you need to watch.

Christmas is all about being together with your family and friends, right? Well, here comes Lamborghini, showing us that the same applies to… cars. Come to think of it, Sant’Agata Bolognese’s family of models isn’t a big one, but Lamborghini has always been about more quality and less quantity. So to properly celebrate Christmas, Lamborghini set up a lifestyle-y convoy that’s been traveling around Italy to various points of interest, including the CO2-neutral Sant’Agata Bolognese headquarters, the sinuous roads of Alto Adige, and Plan de Corones in the Dolomites, at altitudes of 2,275 meters (7,463 feet), and the AlpiNN restaurant run by Michelin three-starred chef Norbert Niederkofler.

The tour’s main stars were none other than Lamborghini’s V8, V-10, and V-12 powered go-fast machines: the Urus, the Huracan EVO, and the Aventador SVJ. What’s the reason to celebrate, you’re asking? Well, other than the holiday season, an unseen-before boost in sales and profitability for the carmaker. Driven by the Urus super-SUV’s popularity, Lamborghini delivered more than 8,000 cars worldwide, a hefty increase compared to the 5,750 units it shipped in 2018.

But, hey, we didn’t bring you here for boring sales reports and whatnot. You’re here to enjoy a fleet of mean performance cars flaunting their shapes and lines in some of Italy’s most stunning landscapes. Oh, yeah, the drivers weren’t afraid to take the cars out for a fun session in the snow; and if that’s not a proper way to look back on 2019 and reflect on what the new year might bring, we don’t know what is. Who knows, maybe the following pictures will inspire you and your mates to finally kick off that winter road trip you’ve been planning. After all, driving a Lambo is hot juicy fun, yet nothing beats a driving get-together between old friends, regardless of what car each of you use on a daily basis.

Think of custom motorcycle builders and America and Japan immediately spring to mind. But, after watching this film, you realise that Australia has its fair share of visionary creators too.

Part of Yamaha’s “Faster Sons” lineup, the XSR700 is based largely on the proven MT-07 platform. It is a reinterpretation of a vintage design for a modern-retro look, clearly meant to draw in the hipster/Millennial crowd, as well as those with an appreciation for classic design elements. It’s not all about looks, though, the mill churns out a claimed 73.8 horsepower and 50.2 pound-feet of torque to push the 410-pound wet weight, so there’s no shortage of thrills to be had on Yamaha’s mid-size roadster.

Kawasaki delivered the 2015 Concours 14 ABS with a whole slew of improvements over the prior year — some cosmetic and some for performance — and carries that over to 2022. At the core, the Kawasaki kept the 1,352 cc engine derived from the Ninja® ZX™-14R in a chassis tuned for touring. The sportbike DNA is quite evident in the overall styling, so whether you love it or hate it, you don’t ignore the Concours 14 ABS.

Kawasaki raised the bar for its Versys adventure-bike range with the new-in-2019 1000 SE LT+. The Special Edition rocks a host of new comfort- and safety-related features to put it on Kawi’s top shelf and make it the flagship of the Versys family.

Suzuki continued with the evolution of the SV650 line with the all-new-in-2017 SV650. Built on the success of the original SV650 that covered 1999 through 2008, and its offspring, the SFV650 “Gladius,” the new ride carries the SV DNA into a new generation. With a revamped 645 cc engine, it has more horsepower than ever before.

Done properly, brand indoctrination starts early, and the updated-in-2019 YZF-R3 is Yamaha’s primary bid for the supersport larvae it needs to support the rest of the range. The”R3” presents a race-tastic face to the world with design elements borrowed from its big brothers, the YZF-R6 and YZF-R1. It sports lower-drag bodywork and the same powerplant as the ’18 model for a net performance gain, however slim, and maintains its agile nature/fun factor for experienced pilots.

Honda carries its venerable XR650L line into 2021, but to be honest, it’s almost completely unchanged from the original version unleashed on the world back in 1993. Before you scoff, I would point out that sharks haven’t changed in millions of years, having evolved long ago into creatures perfectly suited to their environments, and apparently, so it is with the XR650L. The Red Riders got it right out of the gate with this one, and popular support keeps the bike on Honda’s showroom floors even after nearly a quarter-century.

Traffic-carving performance wasn’t the first thing I thought of when hearing the name Harley-Davidson, but the MoCo started changing that perception with the new-in-2017 Street Rod 750. While it is, in fact, based on the Street 750, multiple changes in the setup and equipment turn it into another animal entirely. Shorter steering geometry, a more aggressive rider triangle and a more powerful engine come together in H-D’s decisive push into the sport-standard market.

Have two wheels: will race. It doesn’t matter what the surface - tar, sand, mud - people have raced across it. Add in something that’s near vertical that you might struggle to walk up it and it attracts a different breed of madman.

Many of the major players offer a pure-D racetrack hypersport for the public’s consumption, and for Kawasaki, that honor falls to the freshly updated Ninja H2 R. The H2 R brings to the table the best Kawi has to offer along with top-flight aerodynamics and a supercharged engine on top of a full electronics suite making it a threat on the track right out of the box. That’s about the only place it’s a threat though, since the H2 R is far too awesome to be street legal, and as a track-only bike, it wastes not an ounce on any silly old mirrors, headlights, or turn signals. Carbon-fiber components complete the package with their own brand of lightweight strength.

Kawasaki took the next step in the struggle to find that perfect balance between displacement, performance, and affordability with the new-in-2018 Ninja 400. This ride delivers the aggressive styling that you expect from the Ninja family with a host of improvements over the previous generation. More power, less weight, and a mature presentation should hold the new Ninja in good stead in the highly-competitive small-displacement sportbike market that serves as the main battlefield in the contest to instill some brand loyalty in the increasingly important new buyer base.

The Bolt from Yamaha’s Star cruiser line is a cool little bobber-style bike with its high tank, short wheelbase, and solo seat. It’s a nice around town bike — lightweight and agile — and naked with real-steel sheet metal, so it just begs you to customize it. What could be better? Enter the Bolt’s siblings, the dressier Bolt R-Spec and the café racer Bolt C-Spec. The Spec duo are every bit as snappy and fun to ride as the Bolt, but with some upgrades, both hardware and cosmetic. Powered by the air-cooled 942 cc V-twin engine, the Specs are in the same size slot as the Bolt: not too small that you’ll outgrow it right away and not so big to be overwhelming for new riders. At just a few bills more than the Bolt, they’re worth a look.

Aprilia’s Dorsoduro line added to its stable for MY2017 with the all-new Dorsoduro 900. This supermoto-inspired ride serves as the successor to the popular Dorsoduro 750. It brings over 95-horsepower to the table with a ride-by-wire throttle, variable power delivery, traction control and ABS to help riders cope with the extra power. Not only does this show a certain amount of model-maturity, but it promises some security and safety for those who would use it in their day-to-day riding. Officially billed as a sportbike-supermotard hybrid, the factory also refers to it as “the fun bike.”