It’s almost time to set up and decorate the tree, wrap presents, see the family, and snuggle up on the couch with your spouse or partner with a hot cup of cocoa before plunging into a familiar cinematic experience. Christmas movies are comfort movies. They make us feel good and safe. However, eventually, they can get stale. After the 10th viewing of Bad Santa, your mind starts to wander, and before you know it, the movie’s over, and you’ve wasted two hours. Luckily there’s a solution to stave off monotony, and it comes to us in the forms of cars. After this, you’ll be able to point to these cars during the movies and tell your family, spouse, partner that it’s “the fastest car in the movie, and here’s why”.

The Santa Clause (1994): Tim Allen drives a Ford

The timeless classic Christmas movie The Santa Clause from 1994 features Tim Allen driving a 1990 Ford Taurus SHO. This car was a beast. It featured a 3-liter Yamaha-built V6 with 220 horsepower and a 7,000 RPM redline. It could hit 60 mph in just 6.6 seconds. These came only with Mazda-built 5-speed manual transmissions.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989): not the Mercury Station Wagon

Turning onto a street corner in Christmas Vacation, you can see a 1982 Jaguar XJ-S coupe. The XJ-S came with a 3.6-liter inline-six or a 5.3-liter V12. The V12 sent 300 horsepower to the rear wheels via an automatic transmission and could get the car to 60 mph in 8.1 seconds. 

Die Hard (1988): a brief cameo by Mercedes-Benz

Just for the sake of including an excellent car, we’re counting Die Hard as a Christmas movie. If you look closely at the background while watching Die Hard, you’ll see a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 260 E. This car used a 2.6-liter inline-six with 177 horsepower, and although it was a hefty sedan, it could hit 60 mph in just 7.8 seconds, beating the Porsche 944 and IROC Camaro, according to Hagerty.

Home Alone (1990): blink and you’ll miss the E34 M5

Home Alone is another timeless Christmas classic, and if you stare intently, you can spot a parked BMW E28 5-series. It’s tough to tell which model, but we like to think it’s a 535i, which means it uses a 3.4-liter inline-six with about 220 horsepower and gets to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds. If it were an M5, that would be ideal.

Bad Santa (2003): V8 Jaguar power

Many exciting cars feature in Billy Bob Thornton’s Christmas opus Bad Santa from 2003, but the fastest is a Jaguar XK8 from 2001. It’s dark blue, parked next to silver and black SUVs. Jaguar’s XK8 from 2001 uses a 4-liter V8 with 290 horsepower, which despite its almost 4,000-pound curb-weight, gets the car to 60 mph in just 6.1 seconds. Hands down the fastest car of Bad Santa. 

Love Actually (2003): the fastest Christmas movie

There were lots of Audis, BMWs, and Jaguars in the Christmas movie Love Actually, as well as a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle. However, the competition for the fastest car of the movie came down to a 1997 BMW M3 and a 1989 BMW M5. The BMW M5 won by three tenths, its 311 horsepower 3.5-liter inline-six, taking the car to 60 mph in just 5.6 seconds. It’s not only the fastest car in Love Actually, but it’s also the fastest car on this list.

Elf (2003): more BMW goodness

The two fastest cars in Elf were a 2002 BMW 3-Series and a 1997 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It’s not apparent which models they are. Suffice it to say, the BMW is most likely not an M3, and the Mercedes-Benz is likely not an AMG. That said, the 2002 BMW 330i gets to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds, while the Mercedes S600 with the 6-liter V12 gets to 60 mph between 6.3-6.5 seconds. Taking into account the fastest non-M and non-AMG models, the BMW is quicker by about half of a second.

Now you can watch your favorite Christmas movies and point out to the audience the fastest car of each one. Be sure to scan the background of each film, as some of these cars are hard to spot.