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Every year cars get better. They're safer, greener, bigger and more comfortable; and for the daily grind, we couldn't ask for more. But here's the question - if you won the Lottery, would you buy a shiny new practical hatchback, or something with a little more of that special something? Of course you would, so here are the cars that we want, above all others, in our Christmas stocking this year…

Hypercars

Bugatti Veyron
No list of fantasy cars is complete without the Veyron. Developed by Volkswagen's top brass to be the ultimate hypercar, it's considered by many to be the car industry's 'Concorde Moment' - the pinnacle of engineering that will never again be achieved.

The Veyron is best described in numbers: 1,001bhp, 921lb/ft of torque, 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 253mph. But there's more to it than that - those lucky enough to have driven one say the Veyron is superbly built, stable at high speed and oozes a special feeling few cars can match. If you have £1.3m burning a hole in your pocket, this is the car for you.

Koenigsegg Agera
Few hypercar manufacturers have had such a stratospheric rise to the top. Founder Christian von Koenigsegg launched his company in 1994 and his first supercar, the CC8S, rolled off the production line in 2002.

The new Koenigsegg is the Agera and it's already whipping up a storm, and has grabbed the world record for the fastest car to go from 0-186mph and back to a standstill in a barely believable 21.19 seconds. That's less than it takes a Nissan Serena MPV to reach 60mph.

That, and the fact that Koenigsegg has the guts - and ability - to build its own engine, unlike most other hypercar manufacturers, means we want one.

Pagani Zonda F Roadster Final Edition
After a series of special models expected to be the last Zonda F were released, the Final Edition actually was the last hurrah for the carbon fibre stormer.

The dealer selling this awesome piece of kit describes the Final Edition as "possibly the last ever true blooded supercar". And he could be on to something - it has a slug more power than the standard Clubsport F and enough exposed carbon fibre to satisfy the most ardent fan of the stuff. For the record, it'll reach 214mph and pass 62mph in 3.6 seconds, but we'd be happy just to look at the car if it was ours.

Supercars

Ferrari 599 GTO
The standard 599 is a pussycat when treated well, but don't, even for a second, take liberties with it. The GTO - as with previous models wearing the iconic badge - turns up the heat considerably.

Power grows from 620 to 661bhp, and the pace increases accordingly. The 599 GTO will reach 62mph in 3.35 seconds and achieve a 208mph top speed, with a faster acting automatic gearbox and the full range of traction control modes. Its best suited to a track though, with firm suspension and little soundproofing. And with the frustration of congestion, potholes and speed humps, it's probably a good thing.

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
Possibly the best looking supercar of the last 25 years, the Alfa 8C Competizione attracted 1,200 orders when the wraps came off for the first time at the 2006 Paris motor show. Trouble was, only 500 were going to be built, leaving a lot of very rich, very disappointed Alfa enthusiasts.

A car like this would sell even if it drove like a Trabant, but with a Ferrari-built Maserati V8, suspension derived from the Maserati Quattroporte, the threat of it being a damp squib was unlikely. It might lack the precision of the very best from other Italian supercar stables, but none look as sweet as the 8C.

Spyker C8 Laviolette LM85 Limited Edition
This Spyker has a pretty crazy name, but it's also the supercar here - it is the last of 15 built, and one of only two with the steering wheel on the right.
Its orange over silver paintjob, and carbon fibre wing might make it look like a racetrack refugee - it was built to commemorate Spyker's involvement at Le Mans - but the interior is effortlessly cool, and surely the best of any supercar. Consistent with its race car looks, power is up from 400 to 500bhp, which makes the C8 a very cool way to go very fast indeed.

Fast and furious

Ford Escort RS1800 Custom
Radiating the coolness only old fast Fords can, this completely restored and modified Mk2 Escort has all the right ingredients to make Ford fans go weak at the knees.

Only 109 Mk2 RS1800s were built, and just 20 were offered as Custom spec which added more interior trim to the standard car's iconic BDA engine and Mexico bodyshell, brakes, suspension and rear axle. This one has rally-style wheelarches and a long-range fuel tank, but while it looks ready to rally, it still retains enough originality to please the purist. A fine way to spend £49,000, as well as being a cast-iron investment for the future.

Nissan GT-R
Terrifyingly fast and incredibly easy to drive, it's simply not possible for the moderately talented motorist to go faster for less. The list price for new models might continue to creep up, but even at a sniff under £72,000, it's still a bargain for what it can do.

Like the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Nissan GT-R uses massive computer processing power to keep the driver on the straight and narrow. Through the bends it shifts power to the wheels with the most grip for cornering with the force of many Gs, and a brutal twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 to devour the straights in a way few cars this side of £150,000 can manage. Plus it's got space for four, a decent boot and lots of equipment. What's not to like?

Corvette ZR-1
Forget any preconceptions about Corvettes being like a sledgehammer on the straights, and uncontrollable through the corners: the ZR-1 handles as well as the very best from Europe.

The rippling bodywork hides a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 developing 640bhp of go for a 3.4-second 0-62mph time and a 205mph top speed. That means the big Yank will out-accelerate a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, has a better power-to-weight ratio than a Ferrari 599 and more power and a higher top speed than a Porsche 911 GT2. And if that doesn't convince you, check out the Hollywood looks.

Classics

Jaguar E-Type
Enzo Ferrari famously described the E-Type as the best looking car in the world, and a barely-believable 50 years later, his comment still stands. The early Series 1 models are the most sought-after, and with a symphonic six-cylinder engine up front, the convertibles are the best way to enjoy the soundtrack.

The E-Type put glamorous performance motoring within the reach of more buyers than ever before, but it remained far enough out of reach to allow most motorists to dream. Incredibly the 3.8-litre E could reach 149mph and pass 60mph in 7.1 seconds at a time when the average family car could barely muster half of that.

Volkswagen Beetle
With more than 21m Volkswagen Beetles built between 1938 and 2003, more Beetles have been built than any other model on a single design platform. The car evolved from the Porsche Type 12, which never went into production and the Beetle was born under orders from Hitler to design a car capable of carting a family at 60mph.

From there, the Beetle went on to become a symbol of the hippie culture and was one of the first cars to gain a cult following from enthusiasts willing to modify their cars. Even today it remains one of the most popular cars to customise. So why it on our list? Well, 21m people can't be wrong, and with its timeless looks and basic engineering it is the epitome of classic car ownership.

Audi Ur-Quattro
The legendary status of the boxy Ur-Quattro was sealed on the rally stages in the early 1980s. In 1981 Michele Mouton became the first woman to win a world championship rally in one, and over the next three years power increased, until the short-wheelbase Sport Quattro entered Group B rallying where it was dominant.

Sport Quattro models are super-rare, and wildly expensive, but good examples of the standard car are regarded as bona fide classics. And packing around 200bhp from its 2.1-litre five-cylinder engine means performance of early models is more than a match for today's hot hatches. And anyone who watched TV cop show Ashes to Ashes can't forget Gene Hunt's immortal line "Fire up the Quattro"…

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