Best Christmas Gifts 2013: what to get for motorists

The best Christmas gifts for motorsists have been rounded up in this handy list. It can often be hard buying for a petrolhead; unless you're super rich, buying them a new car is out of the question.

We’ve picked out 24 of the best motoring gifts for around £50 or less, and have selected one dream gift if you’re feeling particularly flush.

We’ve ensured we cater for all ages of car fan, so from toys to tech, calendars to car care kit, there’s sure to be something that’ll tickle your fancy. If you’re struggling to think of the best Christmas gift for a motorist, we’ve got you covered.

1. Aston Workshop Calendar RRP £16.26Contact: www.aston.co.uk

What better way to start off our advent calendar than with a calendar for the New Year? Aston Workshop's 2014 calendar contains a range of dramatic images from award-winning photographer Tim Wallace. Each month features a stunning Aston Martin photographed against amazing scenery or driving along an incredible road. Just a limited number will be produced, so if you want one, you’ll have to hurry.

2. Muc-Off Car Care Essentials Kit RRP £30 Contact: www.muc-off.com

Muc-Off’s Car Care Essentials Kit has everything a petrolhead needs to keep their car clean this winter. The £30 kit includes Frequent Wheel Wash, Ubershine car shampoo, a microfibre wash mitt, a microfibre polishing cloth and a wheel brush. It all comes in a box, but when the recipient has ripped that open, there’s a tote bag to store it in.

3. Goo.ey phone holder RRP £9.99 Contact: www.gooeyskins.com

Goo.ey is a sticky material that can be used to hold your smartphone while in the car – it attaches to any flat glossy surface. Made of polyurethane epoxy with 3MTM adhesive, it’s removable, reusable and won’t leave a residue. It’s compatible with the iPhone 4 & 5 and Samsung Galaxy S2, S3 & S4, and while the smartphone version costs £9.99, there’s a £12.99 version for small tablets, and a £14.99 one for the iPad.

4. Lego Back to the Future set RRP £34.99 Contact: www.lego.co.uk

Lego models make great Christmas presents for kids, but the latest will appeal to certain adults as well. The iconic DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future is the star of this set, which also includes figurines of Marty McFly and Doc Emmett Brown. The car has working gullwing doors, and can be modified to reflect any of the models from the three films. Sadly though, the flux capacitor is just for show.

5. Personalised Number Plate Cufflinks RRP £40 Contact: www.meandmycar.co.uk

If the car fan in your life often wears a suit, consider getting them this set of personalised number plate cufflinks. You can have any registration printed, in the correct font with the 3D effect. You can either get one yellow and one white cufflink (corresponding to the front and rear plates) or both of them in black (like the classic style registration plate). The stainless steel items are the perfect gift as they come in apresentation box, too.

6. Gran Turismo 6 RRP: £38.99 Contact: www.gran-turismo.com

The latest instalment of Gran Turismo is set to be the best yet, as you’ll be able to drive more than 1,200 vehicles around 33 different locations. There’s also the option to create and build your own race track, while each vehicle will have a range of customisation options, too. Real-life tracks include Ascari and Silverstone, as well as the Goodwood Hill climb. The game is exclusive to the Sony Playstation 3, so it’s ideal for those who haven’t bought a next-gen console just yet.

7. Aston Martin USB stick RRP £19.99 (4GB) Contact: www.presentsformen.co.uk

You can afford to buy a petrolhead an Aston Martin V12 Vantage this Christmas – as long as they’re prepared to settle for a 1:72-scale die cast replica. It’s not all bad news though - the model is a fully-functioning USB memory stick, has working LED headlights and 4GB of storage. It works with Mac and PC computers, and the USB port retracts into the car when not in use.

8. Gear Stick Bottle Stopper & Umbrella Gift Set RRP £25 Contact: www.gearboxgifts.com

Gearbox Gifts has the ultimate gift for posh petrolheads this Christmas. The Gear Stick Wine Bottle Stopper and Umbrella gift set includes two items with a gear pattern on the top – the umbrella has a classic four-speed shift handle, while the bottle top has a five-speed design. The set is a relative bargain, too - if purchased separately, the items would cost £32, so you save £7.

9. Sticknfind RRP £49.99 Contact: www.firebox.com

Forgetful motorists who misplace car keys will love the sticknfind. The system includes two tiny Bluetooth stickers to attach to your keys, and you’ll be able to instantly see them using a free smartphone app. The stickers have a buzzer and light so you can find them in the dark, and the virtual leash feature tells you when a sticker goes out of range.

10. Bloodhound SSC gifts RRP £10 (name on fin); £25 (messenger bag) Contact: www.bloodhoundssc.com

Bloodhound SSC hopes to break the 1,000mph barrier, and you can make a motorist’s day by getting their name on the tail fin for just £10. The gift set will also give them a personalised certificate, too. If you’d prefer to buy them something they can keep, the navy blue Retro Messenger Bag has an embroidered Bloodhound SSC car on the front, zipped main compartment and an external pouch pocket for all their kit.

11. Sakura seat covers RRP From £9.99 Contact: www.saxon-shop.com

Sometimes, the perfect gift is practical, and that’s exactly what Sakura’s range of seat covers are. Available for individual seats or in sets of two or five, the covers will keep muck off your interior, and they’re machine washable, too. There are plenty of designs available– ranging from an outlandish Hawaiian print, subtle checked pattern or our favourite, the dog paw design.

12. Autoglym winter car care kits RRP From £14.99 Contact: www.autoglym.co.uk

Autoglym has three car care kits for less than £25 this Christmas. Each is designed for separate areas of your car, and contains three products. Perfect Interior (£14.99) includes Interior Shampoo, Vinyl & Rubber Care and Car Glass Polish, while Perfect Wheels (£16.99) features Clean Wheels, Instant Tyre Dressing and Alloy Wheel Seal. The Bodywork pack (£21.99) incorporates Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner, Super Resin Polish and Extra Gloss Protection.

13. Corgi diecast Lotus E21 Kimi Raikonnen model RRP £29.99 Contact: www.corgi.co.uk

Former world F1 champ Kimi Raikonnen is leaving Lotus for Ferrari in the New Year, but you can mark his season by purchasing a 1:43-scale diecast model of his 2013 car from Corgi. The incredibly detailed model features the same livery and sponsors as the car in which Kimi won the Australian Grand Prix, just scaled down. If you’re not a Kimi fan, you can also get the #8 car driven by Romain Grosjean.

14. Beewi R/C MINI Coupe RRP £39.99 Contact: www.maplin.co.uk

This radio controlled MINI Coupe can be driven using your smartphone. It connects to any iOS, Windows or Android device, and works via motion control using the mobile’s orientation sensors. That means you simply tilt and turn to navigate your way across a hard wood floor.

15. RAC tablet holder RRP £9.99 Contact: www.racshop.co.uk

If you’re looking for a way to keep back seat passengers entertained on long drives this Christmas, this tablet holder is an ideal stocking filler. The easy-to-install device goes on the back of a front-seat headrest, can be rotated and tilted, and accommodates iPads and tablets up to 35mm deep.

16. Need for Speed: Rivals RRP: £39.99 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Contact: www.ea.com

Need for Speed: Rivals is the 20th game in the series, and it’s brilliant. There’s a massive open-world environment, a wide variety of cars, superb graphics, life-like weather and awesome damage effects. The cops and robbers game is great fun, and you can check out our full review here.

17. Revell Red Bull model cars RRP £22.99 Contact: www.revell.de/en

Budding Adrian Neweys will love Revell’s latest build-‘em-yourself kits. You can construct a 1:24-scale model of the Red Bull RB8 that Sebastian Vettel drove to victory in 2012, or his team-mate’s car from the same year. The company also has model kits of a Jägermeister-branded VW Panel Van and Bruno Spengler’s DTM car from 2012. The range is available in all good toy and model retailers.

18. Dremel Versatip Decoration kit RRP £44.99 Contact: www.dremel-direct.com

You don’t have to go to the shops to buy your Christmas decorations – you can make them! The new VersaTip cordless soldering iron comes with an array of different tips - along with wooden snowflake and star shapes, there’s an embossing pen, red, gold and silver embossing powder and 70 rhinestones. After Christmas, it can be used for car DIY as it solders, melts, hot cuts and welds.

19. Brunton Torpedo 2800 in car charger RRP £35 Contact: www.amazon.co.uk

This portable powerpack will keep the tech fan in your life happy this Christmas – it has a 2,800mAh lithium-ion battery which can charge two smartphones from empty to full in just three hours. The compact and lightweight design has a 12-volt cigarette lighter socket on one end, and two 1Amp USB outputs. This means you can charge it up as you drive, then put it in a pocket to keep your phone topped up when you’re away from power – so it’s perfect for camping trips or motorsport events.

20. Porsche Drinking glasses RRP £55 Contact: shop2.porsche.com/uk

To celebrate 50 years of the Porsche 911, the German car manufacturer has created this set of four drinking glasses. Each glass features an outline of a 911 from a different year, and there are models from 1963, 1973, 1993 and 2011 on the set. They’re dishwasher safe, and you can always wrap them up using Porsche’s wrapping paper (£4 for a roll).

21. Tagamoto City Road Set RRP: £19.99 Contact: www.hexbug.com/tagamoto

Tagamoto, from the makers of Hexbug, is a set of collectible micro-sized motorised vehicles, which read and react to codes with lights, sounds and movement. You can connect more than 40 pieces of tracks, and each set has over 20 barcodes which tell the micro car what to do. The City Road Set is the perfect starter set, as it comes complete with one micro-sized car, and it’s suitable for children aged four and older. There’s also an Enforcer Road Set (£22.99) and individual vehicles (£7.99) available to buy.

22. Wingman 3-in-1 JetFuel RRP £3.49 Contact: www.worldofwingman.com

While many motorists will treat their car to a good wash ahead of winter, the driver shouldn’t be forgotten either. Lazy men will be pleased to find a bottle of Wingman’s 3-in-1 JetFuel in their stocking. It’s a shower gel, hair shampoo and shaving foam all in one, and a 250ml bottle costs £3.49.

23. BMW i Collection RRP From £12 (lanyard) Contact: www.bmw.co.uk/shop

BMW fans will love the BMW i Collection, which consists of a range of eco-friendly lifestyle items. The lanyard is made from recycled plastic and has a plant-tanned leather label, while the aluminium USB stick holds 16GB. There’s also a solar charger (£32) which can top up mobiles and mp3 players with its range of adaptor tips. Finally, there’s a notepad cover (£20) and a laptop sleeve (£40) which each have two-tone covers made from recycled felt-look fabric.

24. Grand Theft Auto 5 RRP: £49.99 Contact: www.rockstargames.com

This controversial game is the fastest selling title ever, and deserves a place in the home of any petrolhead. You can play as any of the three characters, stealing cars, causing mayhem, and making money, as you climb the career ladder of a gangster in a fictional Southern California. There aren’t any licenced cars or dedicated circuits to race around, but the graphics and attention to detail makes it great fun, as does the variety and huge environment. 

25. Classic American Muscle RRP: From £79.99 Contact: www.classicamericanmuscle.co.uk

There’s nothing like the rumble of a big Yank V8 and you can enjoy it on a race circuit with Classic American Muscle. A Half-Blast package (£79.99) gives you three miles driving one of the firm’s restored classic V8 Ford Mustangs alongside a qualified race instructor. If three miles doesn’t sound enough, the top £299 package gets you 20 miles behind the wheel in three different Mustangs.