As Christmas is the time of giving and presents, who better to curate a lost of amazing gift ideas than the product experts from Parkers.
The Parkers product experts work hard all year round to find the best automotive accessories that are worth your money. You’ll often find them with a wash mitt in hand, or wiring up yet another dash cam for testing. Point is, if anyone can find a selection of interesting gift ideas, its these people.
So, armed with £100 per gift limit, here is what they’re hoping Santa Claus will be delivering to them. Prepare for useful pieces, sartorial choices to make you talk of the town, and even a tank.
The 10 best Christmas gifts under £100
Picked by Aaron Hussain
Price: £48.10
More often than not, novelty items are a bit of waste of money. And car manufacturers are especially guilty of it by slapping brand logos onto cheap and often tacky things. Mercedes Benz though, has hit a nail in the spot with this umbrella from the Classic Centre.
There's no AMG Petronas livery dominating anything here. Just a little nod to the 300SL Gullwing at the bottom of the handle: an exact replica of the lever tip and shift pattern found in the iconic sports car. You won't be shifting through gears at Le Mans or the Mille Miglia. But whenever it starts raining, you can feel just that little bit cooler when holding up your brolly.
There's no AMG Petronas livery dominating anything here. Just a little nod to the 300SL Gullwing at the bottom of the handle: an exact replica of the lever tip and shift pattern found in the iconic sports car. You won't be shifting through gears at Le Mans or the Mille Miglia. But whenever it starts raining, you can feel just that little bit cooler when holding up your brolly.
Picked by Alex Boyd
Price: £75
Why should life be serious and all grown up all the time. Surely there’s a little space to indulge your suppressed inner child once in a while – actually why suppress it, just be bold, embrace it, and let yourself relax and smile with this super-fast FTX Tracer remote control monster truck. Built to a scale of 1:16, fitted with double wishbone suspension and coil sprung shocks and a four-wheel drive system, it’s been developed with off road speed in mind as it has an RC390 brushed motor and a top speed of 30 km/h (yes you can still use it in those 20mph limits).
Picked by Ryan Gilmore
Price: £91.00
Price: £91.00
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Now this is the perfect example of a Christmas gift that’ll get regular use, and improve your life immeasurably. Wera, a German maker of the finest tools, has a long history of taking basic tools and utterly perfecting them. With ergonomic touches you won’t realise you need until you’re elbow-deep in an engine bay, this set of sockets, screwdriver bits and ratchet is the ultimate treat for your toolbox. Best of all, because it covers both nuts and screws, it's a versatile tool for working on everything from cars to furniture.
Picked by Aaron Hussain
Rrp: £89.00
Price: £72.02
Rrp: £89.00
Price: £72.02
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Formula One in the 1970s was nothing short of one of the most extravagant eras of the sport. It was a total wash of T-Rex, adult magazine sponsors, smoking, model girlfriends, lavish estates. Oh, and some outrageously dangerous racing.
When you think F1 in the ‘70s, your mind might naturally swing to James Hunt – and he sat at the centre of Hesketh Racing through its famous seasons. This superb book by James Page takes you back and tells the story of what has to be the most patriotic F1 team of its time. Hesketh labelled itself as a team that was ‘racing for you and racing for Britain’. Lord Hesketh himself only demanded the finer things in life, but he, co-founder Anthony Horsley (known as Bubbles), the drivers and the engineers had a determination to fend off the establishments from the likes of Ferrari, Lotus, or Tyrell.
Packed with stunning period photography, letters of correspondence, and plenty of quotes from Lord Hesketh himself and even James Hunt in places, this fascinating book is a must-read for anyone interested in motorsports – and especially those who love F1. The early chapters detail some remarkable stories too – including the young Alexander being driven at 140mph on the M1 by singer/artist, Rory McEwen in a Ferrari 250GT Lusso.
When you think F1 in the ‘70s, your mind might naturally swing to James Hunt – and he sat at the centre of Hesketh Racing through its famous seasons. This superb book by James Page takes you back and tells the story of what has to be the most patriotic F1 team of its time. Hesketh labelled itself as a team that was ‘racing for you and racing for Britain’. Lord Hesketh himself only demanded the finer things in life, but he, co-founder Anthony Horsley (known as Bubbles), the drivers and the engineers had a determination to fend off the establishments from the likes of Ferrari, Lotus, or Tyrell.
Packed with stunning period photography, letters of correspondence, and plenty of quotes from Lord Hesketh himself and even James Hunt in places, this fascinating book is a must-read for anyone interested in motorsports – and especially those who love F1. The early chapters detail some remarkable stories too – including the young Alexander being driven at 140mph on the M1 by singer/artist, Rory McEwen in a Ferrari 250GT Lusso.
Picked by Alex Boyd
Price: £70
Those cold winter mornings can be so disheartening when you’ve had to leave the cosy warmth of your bed, adjust to the slightly less cosy warmth of the house and then step into the very much less cosy, cold, harsh morning into a chilly car. One of the modern day comforts to combat this is heated seats. Many vehicles come with this feature as standard but for some this aftermarket solution which runs from your vehicles 12v supply could help ease some of the misery of those cold mornings. This model comes with an additional function to help cool you down in summer.
Picked by Ryan Gilmore
Rrp: £85.99
Price: £76.99
Rrp: £85.99
Price: £76.99
I'm planning on upgrading my polishing game in the new year, making the switch to a proper machine polisher rather than relying on my muscles. The benefits of machine polishing are hard to overstate. If done properly it can take years of neglect and scratches out of your paintwork, making your pride and joy look better than new.
Naturally you're going to want to look for the best machine polisher around, but a semi-professional unit can cost north of £500, and this Hyundai tool will more than suffice for a beginner. As a dual action machine, it'll randomly oscillate as you polish, reducing the chance of burning the paint. The speed is also adjustable and it ships with four polishing pads for different polishing jobs.
Naturally you're going to want to look for the best machine polisher around, but a semi-professional unit can cost north of £500, and this Hyundai tool will more than suffice for a beginner. As a dual action machine, it'll randomly oscillate as you polish, reducing the chance of burning the paint. The speed is also adjustable and it ships with four polishing pads for different polishing jobs.
Picked by Alex Boyd
Price: £99
Two fish in a tank. One says to the other, “Do you know how to drive this?” the other says, ”Wow, a talking fish”. That would be a pretty rare experience, as is this chance to get behind the controls of an actual military tank. You even get to choose between a 1980’s CVRT Spartan or a huge 1960’s FV432 with a Rolls-Royce petrol engine. The vast majority of people outside the military haven’t even seen the inside of a tank, never mind getting the opportunity to drive one. An expert instructor will guide you as you drive one of these huge machines both on and off road.
Picked by Aaron Hussain
Rrp: £22.00
Price: £17.30
Rrp: £22.00
Price: £17.30
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If you’re a self-confessed car geek who spent hours indulging yourself in a little world of toy cars and being endlessly oozed by magazines as a teenager, this book will make you smile. If you knew the stats and specs of the whole BMW or Porsche range better than your maths GCSEs, this book will make you emotional. If you have a fascination with all of these things as well as automotive journalism, the realities of it, and how it works. There’s no other word for it, this book will make you soggy-eyed.
This is Chris Harris’ first and only autobiography so far, as you’d expect, it’s a story of his life and the thinking behind the various decisions he’s made throughout his professional life. Yet still, the opening chapters outlining the life and feelings of a car nerd at a young age felt like the man was filtering the emotions out of my brain.
I guarantee if you’re a car geek and read it, you can relate to the most hard-hitting of details. It outlines how important cars are and always have been to our lives, and who would’ve known how difficult life could get for who we all regard as the best motoring journalist out there? I don’t know if you’re reading, Mr Harris. But on behalf of your fans, we can’t thank you enough for the exceedingly top quality car content you’ve given us all.
This is Chris Harris’ first and only autobiography so far, as you’d expect, it’s a story of his life and the thinking behind the various decisions he’s made throughout his professional life. Yet still, the opening chapters outlining the life and feelings of a car nerd at a young age felt like the man was filtering the emotions out of my brain.
I guarantee if you’re a car geek and read it, you can relate to the most hard-hitting of details. It outlines how important cars are and always have been to our lives, and who would’ve known how difficult life could get for who we all regard as the best motoring journalist out there? I don’t know if you’re reading, Mr Harris. But on behalf of your fans, we can’t thank you enough for the exceedingly top quality car content you’ve given us all.
Picked by Ryan Gilmore
Price: £89.95
Price: £89.95
The ultimate in car care luxury has to be a hand-crafted, small batch pot of car wax. This 150g tin of wax from Auto Finesse fits the bill perfectly, hand-blended in the UK using 50% T1 Grade Brazilian Carnauba wax and a blend of Beeswax, Candelilla wax, and oils. The Spirit is specially formulated to pop against metallic paint, bringing out the small shimmers in the finish for a car that look good enough to eat. It's a lot of cash but a really special present for the detailer in your life.
Picked by Adam Binnie
Price: £80
Nothing in this world fills me with more joy than a good hat, and I also love McLaren. Now I can combine my two biggest sources of fun with this snappy branded McLaren hat. Like the supercars that share a badge with it, it's high-tech, it's lined with Gore-Tex Infinium, like my mountain bike jacket. This magical fabric is lightweight and perfect for keeping my head cool and protected on a hot sunny day. I also love the orange accent against the black fabric. It's super stylish.
Ryan Gilmore is the Deputy Autos and Tools Editor for Parkers, specialising in car cleaning and hand tools. A veteran car cleaner; if it details, waxes or washes he’ll be on hand to make sure it’s worth your money.
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