Car Enthusiast / Petrolhead Gift Guide (Black Friday & Christmas 2021)

Seeing as it’s Black Friday (week) and Christmas is around the month-long corner, I thought it might be a good time to do a little gift-guide for car enthusiasts! So, first on the list is probably an E30 M3 – they’ve really appreciated recently so even high mileage examples can go for a pretty penny, but what’s love worth you know? Or maybe, like me actually, your loved one prefers something a little newer… Well then an Audi RS6 would be absolutely perfect! It’s an absolute monster with 600 PS and 800 Nm of torque, and is even an estate so you can fit the kids, dogs and shopping in the back while doing 0-62mph in just 3.6 seconds! 

Ok, I can keep that up for any longer. While I can’t imagine just how happy any car enthusiast would be to wake up on Christmas and find an E30 M3 or RS6 out front, if you have between £60,000 and £130,000 to spend on a Christmas present, you aren’t (and shouldn’t) be taking advice from an idiot in a YouTube video.. So, the actual things I’d recommend are much, much cheaper. In fact, I’ve kept pretty much everything in the £5-40 range, except for a couple of the experience vouchers which are more like £100. 

Right, what’s first? Well I thought I’d start with tools, especially since I have so, so many, and it’s pretty common to have car enthusiasts also working on their (and often your) cars. In no particular order, I’d recommend an oil filter wrench. One like these works almost every time, rather than the more finicky options, it’s relatively cheap and oil changes are one of the most common jobs people do on their own cars so it should see plenty of use! 

Next is a set of E-Torx sockets, these are most commonly found on German cars, but are often left out of many standard tool kits. A nice selection like these ones would be incredibly useful for any VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat/BMW/Mercedes/SMART (and more I’m sure I’m forgetting) owner.

Next is a set of bolt and nut extractors. Look, things go wrong, bolts snap, and especially here in the UK everything rusts, so having a way to get the buggers off is really handy. Getting this might come across as a bit of a jab at their abilities, but I can’t tell you how good it is to have a set of these on-hand for when – when, not if – something goes wrong.

You might also fancy these wheel nut sockets – these are impact rated sockets that have a plastic sheath around their outer edge so you don’t scratch up or chip your wheel’s paint when taking the bolts or nuts on and off. Again, handy to have around.

A torque wrench goes rather well with those too, the Silverline one I’ve got works great for large wheel bolts, or I’ve got the smaller ⅜” drive version which is rated for less torque but is great for things like oil drain plugs and smaller fasteners. 

Lastly for tools, an OBD II scanner like this wireless one is fantastic. I keep this in the car at all times so if I have any issues – or anyone I’m with does – I can scan the car and read any error codes. It can often see live data too, which is really useful for diagnosing intermittent issues, and it’s nice and cheap!

On a related note, especially if they like working on their car, buying them a Haynes manual if they don’t have one already is excellent. Either the older hard-copy versions, or their new online only “autofix” manuals, which aren’t quite manuals as much as all the useful measurements like fastener torque settings, and a diagnostics tool. Either are really helpful.

If your giftee likes cleaning and detailing their car, there are a load of options there too. Keeping it simple though, some fancy microfiber towels are a great shout, as are their favourite car soaps and wax. There is an entire world of options there, so if they’ve already got a favourite brand, if you can sneak a look to buy the same stuff that’s normally best, or the tried and true AutoGlym is always there.

If they’ve got little rock chips or small scratches, especially on metal parts like the bonnet, buying them a little touch up paint pen is great. It can be pretty difficult to match the exact paint code though, so if you do buy one make sure to keep the receipt so if it is the wrong shade you can swap it out for the correct one. Places like Halfords here in the UK stock a decent selection.

Lastly I thought I’d mention experience vouchers. This can be anything from a ticket to a motorsport event like BTCC here in the UK which I think starts at around £20 per ticket, or maybe Rally is more their thing, or if you are absolutely loaded, F1. You could also go for go karting vouchers – they normally cost between £30 and £40 for a session per driver, at least for the indoor circuits.

One rather common option is the “Supercar Day” vouchers. While these are fantastic, and for many just getting in the fancy cars makes it all worth it, if you are someone who would like to really ‘test’ the cars on track, get a proper feel for how they drive and handle, these sorts of days can be a little lacking for that. They’ll also nickel-and-dim you, asking you to pay a fee to waive the insurance liability – as in if you crash and don’t pay the £10-50, you’ll be liable for the full £5,000 insurance excess – but the instructors really don’t let you do anything that could cause you to crash so I wouldn’t be all too worried about it personally. They’ll also ask if you want to pay for video and photos of your day, again for fairly extravagant prices. And it’s worth noting where the experience is being run. If it’s at a “proper track”, like Silverstone, Donnington, Cadwell, Snetterton, that kind of place, it’s going to be a much better time than at a small airfield somewhere.

Lastly, I thought I’d mention the Skid Pad experiences. Thruxton in particular has a great one, it’s £99 but you get to drive both a front wheel drive Mini and a Toyota GT86 around their pan and learn how to control the over and understeer, a bit about ABS, and have some fun too. You can also pay to bring your own car on too if you fancy it!