6 Awesome Car Gifts For Petrolheads

Most of the people reading this are bona-fide car crazy, so you already know what I’m about to say. Consider this a public service message to share with your not-so-car-crazy friends and family who might be struggling to find suitable gifts this holiday season.

We don’t want buckets of detailing products or camo seat covers or those stupid universal smart phone holders that don’t hold phones and break after an hour of use. Also, please avoid the Ferrari hats and the Audi socks, and for the love of all that’s holy, put down the Corvette polo shirts and just walk away.

This time of year is about family, and sharing, and showing the love you have for those around you. These are the important things, and for car enthusiasts, nothing showcases this holiday spirit better than tiny cars!

Age doesn’t matter. Location doesn’t matter. Size doesn’t matter. If you’re into cars or know someone who’s into cars, any one of these mini-car gifts will bring a smile.

Kids play with them and adults display them proudly. That is, when the adults aren’t playing with them as well. Hot Wheels came out in 1968, and if you have some of those original cars in good shape, they’re now worth thousands. The joy they bring - especially when you build a freakin’ drift track for them - is priceless. If you’re on a budget, Hot Wheels are the only inexpensive car gift to give.

Scalextric

Racing scale slot cars isn’t necessarily about the racing. It’s about the detail of the cars, the endless possibilities for track layouts, the detail of the cars, hanging out with your friends, and yes, the detail of the cars. It can be a pricey hobby, but small starter kits are available for about $70. For someone already into slot car racing, you can buy just about any kind of car from every automotive era. And did I mention the detail?

Here’s another “kid” toy that adults still absolutely love, as demonstrated above by the crack Car Throttle assembly team. At $100 (£69.99 in the UK), that Lego Ferrari F40 isn’t cheap, but the nice thing with Lego is that there are all kinds of possibilities at all kinds of price points, including a neat LaFerrari kit (pictured below with a McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 from the same series) that only costs $15 (£12.99).

And for car people that like to tinker with their rides anyway, there’s something oddly endearing about the whole Lego assembly process that positively never, ever gets old.

1:18 scale diecast cars

Every petrolhead should have at least one 1:18 scale die cast car. There’s something about this size that just makes them cool, like they’re small enough to display anywhere, but they’re just big enough to imagine yourself sitting in the driver’s seat. There are dozens of manufacturers to choose from, with Burago and Maisto being my favourites for quality at a modest $40 price. AUTOart easily takes the title as the best 1:18 scale die cast manufacturer, but it will set you back a couple hundred bucks. The good news is, should you ever find yourself shrunk to 1:18 scale, you could probably open the door to your AUTOart car and drive it away. They’re that good.

Transformers Masterpiece series

This is a particular vice of mine. The Transformers Masterpiece series has been ongoing for about a decade now, paying homage to the original Transformer toys from the 1980s, but amped up to the 10th level of awesome. Masterpiece is the word, because these “toys” are extraordinarily complex in their transformations to look exactly like the robots from the original cartoon, and highly accurate representations of their vehicle modes.

The line is still ongoing, and even non-Transformer fans would flip over Wheeljack (Lancia Stratos), Prowl (Datsun 280Z), Sideswipe (Lamborghini Countach), Bumblebee (VW Beetle) and of course Optimus Prime (kick ass big rig). Expect to pay $60 - $100 for the smaller cars, with Optimus selling for close to $200.

Scale plastic model kits

This one is close to my heart because scale modeling is something of a tradition in my family. My dad scratch-built this true-to-life 1:25 scale nine-car semi pictured above, just like he used to drive. He gave it to me a year ago, loaded with eight cars I built as a kid, and one 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe on the head ramp I built last summer after buying it at a swap meet for a fiver. Isn’t it fabulous?

Kits aren’t as easy to find in stores as they used to be, but you can find them all over the internet. Average kits from AMT or Monogram cost $15-$25, or you can step up to highly detailed kits from Fujimi or Hasegawa for double or triple the price. A tad expensive yes, but the amazing detail and quality of the kits are worth it.