Yes, we await your wrath in the comments section. Rather than take time out of our day to satisfy head office’s wish for some holiday gift ideas — a concept you’re no doubt thrilled with — we decided to let someone else do the work. Thankfully, there’s no scented oil in sight (though motor oil and other fluids does make a good gift; I’ve received a 4.4-liter jug under the Christmas tree more than once).
Instead, what we have here is a rare thing. Some pretty good shopping ideas for a classic car lover that doesn’t leave us squirming. Happy head office, happy staff, and hopefully not-too-perturbed reader. You just know there’ll be another one come Boxing Day. We’re already taking bets! – Steph
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Classic cars are a labor of love for owners, and a point of lust for enthusiasts.
Chances are if you’re shopping for a classic car lover, it’s going to be impossible to get parts for their old vehicle because it will be way too specific and expensive. Show them that you care anyway by checking out these accessories and memorabilia that any classic car lover would want:
Driving Gloves
These can be expensive but oh so worth it. Some people think driving gloves are lame, but they’re just wrong and jealous, look at Ryan Gosling in Drive and tell me they aren’t cool. Fratelli Orsini makes a beautiful pair of Lambskin Leather Driving Gloves, and the car lover in your life will appreciate feeling like a LeMans driver from 1960.
Team Jacket
If your classic car lover has a particular brand of automobile that they like, then how about showing everybody how much you love them? Available from windbreaker to full on winter suit, there is a myriad of styles to suit anyone’s wants, like this Aston Martin Racing team jacket that would impress even Andy Palmer.
Driving shoes
Three pedals or not, it feels good to have a pair of shoes that fits you like the gloves you just bought! This isn’t a gift that you have to go crazy for either, Puma, Adidas, and even Converse All-Stars are excellent shoes to get a good feel on the pedals. You could spring for something crazy like a pair of Piloti or Sparco shoes if your enthusiast partner is REALLY serious about driving, or participates in actual racing events, but for a lot of folks, Chucks do just fine.
Posters
Art is a staple in any home, and many classic cars can be described as art themselves, but you can’t hang a real car on the wall (or can you?). Lots of options here, LeMans posters have been a beautiful advertisement for the great race since it started, and a reprint of almost any year of the race is available. Cars that have been running for a long time such as the Porsche 911 and the Ford Mustang have the luxury of a generation poster, which shows every generation of cars from its inception up to the current model.
Battery Booster
Hey, we’ve all been there, and we know that classic cars have moods, some days are better than others. When your classic-car lover is stranded by the side of the road because of a horseless-carriage-hissy-fit, make sure they have a portable battery booster to get them going again.
Classic Movies
If you’re not driving, working on, or sitting in the garage admiring your classic, perhaps you’d like to watch other people drive (or, crash) some vintage metal in your living room! Bullitt, Grand Prix, The Driver, and Smokey and the Bandit are prime examples of automotive culture and are must-watches for any car lover. Oh, and who could forget “Gone in 60 Seconds“? The original, not the Nicholas Cage one. We don’t talk about that one.
Tapes/CDs/8tracks
Unless your old car has a retrofitted AUX cord, it’s probably going to have one of these devices used for playing music (if it has a stereo at all). Find out what kind of player the car has, and buy the album or song on that medium. Some albums are now available on retro formats, so keep an eye out for albums like the Drive Soundtrack on cassette.
Shop manuals
Work on cars yourself? As much as you think you can do everything, you’re going to need help eventually, especially in those “where does that spring fit?” moments. Chilton and Haynes manuals are a staple of the DIY garage and have been since 1965 when the first book hit shelves (for an Austin Healey Sprite, by the way).
Magazines
Lots of car media these days is found on digital, rather than tangible pages, but sometimes it’s nice to go back to basics with something that doesn’t require an internet connection, but does require to actually flip pages by hand (weird right?) and if you’re a history buff – which you must be for liking old cars – the option is there for vintage magazines that came out in the year that your special car was built, or perhaps the year you were born. Hot Rod Magazine has been running since January of 1948 and would make an excellent choice as a stocking stuffer.
Hot Wheels/Models
It seems simple but it’s a great gift, something about owning a smaller version of the car in your garage just feels right to a classic car lover. Hot Wheels have been in constant production since 1968, and it’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t have what’s in your garage in miniature form (or, your dream car, if you don’t own it yet). However, If you don’t feel like setting up the track, you can buy your car in pieces in the form of a model-ki and have an inch-perfect representation of your pride and joy.
“It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.” You’re welcome.
“We’re driving the Imperial and we’re in last place?”
Ethel Merman’s hat acted like a parachute on a drag racer.
http://www.imperialclub.com/~imperialclub/Movies/Mad/Mad09Big.jpg
I like the battery booster. Seems practical and thoughtful.
Worth a watch if you’re actually interested:
https://youtu.be/Rju9GZ_ZaDc
Its a piece of junk. Lol who’d a thunk it?
Thanks for the vid, but yeah I was just commenting that it seemed like the most practical item. Turns out its probably the most useless. I’m not surprised.
To be fair that unit isn’t designed to charge a really dead battery. It is designed to put enough energy into a weak battery.
However all LI battery boosters are not crap. I have the bigger Napa Blue Fuel (also sold as Red Fuel by the mfg. I have used it on a car that just had enough power to make the dome light glow and not even make the starter relay stutter. Connected it, pushed the boost button and it started the car. Of course that was a EFI car that could start quickly. However I’ve also used in on my Scout and other old carb’ed cars that had sat to the point where all the fuel had evaporated out of the carb and the battery was weak. Yeah you have to wait for the cool down timer but it will provide the 5,6 or more crank periods to get fuel back in the carb. It can be had for $80 and I’ve got almost 3 years on mine and it is still going strong.
Wait, that Pinto is *exactly* what my first car looked like. 71, 4-spd 1600cc, orange, with a trunk.
I’ll take that one for me. :)
A great ad (I’d never seen that one). It would be from December of 1970.
For 1970 that Pinto was not a terrible car. The fact that 10 years later Ford was still making the same car in the face of the Japanese onslaught…mindblowing.
It was a timebomb.
Yes, the Pinto got a bad rap. While technologically ancient even for the time, it was a relatively reliable car. The Vega was on the other hand was not.
The Pinto ad has a young Donald Trump sitting in the passenger seat.
The pine tree sap dripping on the flaming fuel tank must be extra fragrant.
That little disclaimer completely changed my approach to this article, because it made it uncool to get angry. I think they have a name for that trick.
I like the driving shoes, both the concept and these Puma’s. I am often uncomfortable driving with nice shoes, because the heel gets pinched and the toe scuffed. I am more than a little OCD about such things – last year I asked for an old school shoeshine box for Christmas gift, and I got one. The quiet and careful caring for shoes calms me down.
Not only that, this time they featured much more relevant stuff, so kudos, Powers That Be!
+1 on driving shoes but they forgot the best. Google ‘Onitsuka Tigers’ and shop affordably to (my) heart’s content. They are the ur-Asic and Japanese team equipment at the Mexico City Olympics. Onitsuka kind of re-invented the idea of the athletic shoe and can be addicting.
It was not a bad list at all but too short!
TDI i bought a pair but they were too small and very reluctantly had to return! I am definitively going to buy pair in April.
Pinto’s roasting in an open fire.
Gasoline burning up your nose.
Funeral carols being sung by a choir…
So I’m offering this simple phrase
To Pinto owners from sixteen to ninety-two
Although it’s been said many times, many ways
Don’t give Pintos
Don’t give Pintos
and Merry Christmas to you
Brilliant! :)
Here is why you need a Pinto for Christmas.
Search “Sweet D Rollin in my Pinto” on U tube
You will enjoy this, happy holidays
That’s some explosive verse there, Stingray…
A Hot Wheels Pinto with a built in ceterfire cartridge primer in the back end would be awesome!
That tree on top probably put the Pinto over MGVW. If the car could actually overcome that additional weight/drag, the tires should pop at any moment.
But who was Cliff Martinez?
A guy here at work wears driving shoes. I’ll have to ask him what brand they are. At one time I thought about getting some Simpson shoes. The thing is, I doubt they’re made for everyday wear.
Do not waste money on the “battery boosters” that are just a 12V lead acid battery with clips. The current will stop flowing long before the battery is charged. These things are common, but almost useless.
They are only designed to start the car, not recharge the battery. The one pictured is lithium ion.
Yeah, I can just see a GT40 owner referring to a Haynes manual….
See my comment above, there are better ones out there like the Red Fuel SL-1 units that are “jumpers” that will crank a car with a really dead battery for a long time. Ones like are pictured are chargers that are designed to bump a weak battery just enough to crank the car for 3 or 4 seconds once or twice.
Hot Rod is the only car magazine I read. All the other ones bore me to tears.
The Haynes manuals are noted for their British nomenclature. Tyre for tire. Bonnet for hood.
I’d recommend diecast models for any car nut.