For the 2021 model year, there will be more than 275 different models of car for sale in the United States. But only a handful of them are truly iconic. Known instantly on sight. The Jeep Wrangler. Perhaps the Ford Mustang. Cars with decades of history and shapes even a child might know.
Even they don’t hold a window candle to this one, after more than 2,000 model years.
Elf motors was kind enough to grant us a test drive in the 2021 Santa Sleigh.
We see some potential confusion in the name, as the model has nothing to do with the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz or Santa Fe. But the elves point out that there’s little room for the market to be confused, as the market consists of one buyer. He knows when you’ve been sleeping, and he knows what he wants.
Built as an extraordinarily limited edition of 1, the Santa Sleigh is priceless.
An Iconic Look No One Should Change
An open-top roadster, the Santa Sleigh seems ponderous on sight. It’s exceptionally long – 58.7 feet with its full propulsion system attached. It’s about as wide as a typical midsize SUV and fits comfortably in parking spots designed for buses and on each of the world’s rooftops.
The bulbous look of the passenger module is a bit dated. But that’s what you want with an iconic vehicle like this. After an ill-advised experiment with fins in the late 1950s, designers have learned to lean into the classic silhouette. And we’re all better off for it. One modern surprise – it all rides on 140-inch skids made of carbon fiber. We were shocked to see the Pirelli name on them. But perhaps not every inch of the vehicle is made in the same workshop.
Only one color choice is offered – red mica pearl. This seems like a mistake. Even Little Tykes offers three colorways this year.
The lack of a hood ornament took us a bit by surprise. A single red fog light seems inadequate, but we didn’t get to test it.
It all comes together to create a vehicle that should look dated but instead, looks timeless. It’s undeniable. This thing has presence.
Velvet Upholstery, Mysteriously Ample Cargo Space
It’s inside where the real magic happens.
Crushed red velvet upholstery in an open-top roadster seems like a terrible choice at first, as you think one good snowstorm is likely to do things to it no detailer could fix. But it seems magically immune to weather. A single bench seat seems, again, an out-of-date design choice.
But that bench is comfortable for extremely long hauls. Epic hauls. World-spanning cruises. It appears to be neither heated nor cooled, and we couldn’t find a temperature setting on the 12.5-inch central touchscreen. But somehow, the cabin remained a pleasant 72 degrees at all times and in any weather.
Plush, quilted leather lines nearly every surface other than the seats. In a deep crimson with gold piping, it lends a luxury flair.
Cabin tech all functions through that touchscreen. It includes a generous 22-speaker stereo and a breathtakingly functional navigation system that lets drivers input more than 7 billion waypoints. The optional hot cocoa dispenser is a touch we’ve never seen before.
The show-stopping feature, though, is the cargo space. The space behind the rear seats measures a RAV4-like 33.4 square feet. But, in a quick luggage test, we managed to fit in 30 shopping bags, two steamer trunks, 14 standard carry-on size roller suitcases, 12 pear trees, a full glazed ham, and the odd KBB editor. There was still room.
“Mechanical” Details
The Santa Sleigh comes only in front-hoof-drive (FHD). We didn’t expect much from the 9-reindeer-power engine, but we were wrong. This thing flies.
The elves have designed a complicated launch control system that is a bit difficult to use. Most vehicles we test drive these days have a push-button start. But the Santa Sleigh requires the driver to crack a glowing whip in the air, chant part of a 19th-century poem, and laugh heartily before it leaps into action.
But once it does, 0 to 60 comes in no time at all. All of the Arctic spun out beneath us, and we were over southern Ohio in no time at all. We crossed the Atlantic, checked again, and no time had passed. Whatever technology the elves have built into this thing, it makes even the Tesla Model S Plaid‘s claimed 1.99-second 0-60 sprint look slovenly.
This year, there’s been a trend away from standard steering wheels in the automotive world. Tesla-style yokes are popping up in concept cars on several continents. But the 2022 Santa Sleigh eschews even that, giving the driver a pair of reins to control.
It’s cumbersome to the untrained. We found it had a turning radius about the size of the Yukon Territory. But engineers assured us their test driver can take it down the Tail of the Dragon in the Great Smoky mountains in (of course) 0.00 seconds, and handle all 318 curves precisely.
Braking isn’t a problem. Pull back on those rains, and all 36 hooves dig in hard. The whole thing comes to a stop in less than the distance of one urban rowhouse rooftop.
Safety equipment includes automatic emergency braking when the reindeer panic as you get too close to a snow-covered juniper. But there’s no need for lane-keeping assistance where this thing is going.
Have a wonderful holiday season and thanks for trusting us to keep you well-informed and save you money on your driving needs. We love our jobs, and we get to do them because of all of you.
