Article by Steven Bochenek, photos courtesy of suppliers
It’s that jolly time of year when automotive writers rip off each other’s ideas for last-minute top-10 lists. In this spirit of bonhomie and sharing, we at Autos.ca humbly invite you to forward this link to others, take ideas from it for gifts to your car-loving partner, or even steal from and re-write it! Happy Motoring, Canada!
 Top Picks: 10 Holiday Gft Ideas for Your Auto Enthusiast. Click image to enlarge |
First, for the Recessionaires: We Three Gifts Under $25!
10: Books celebrating used ‘classic’ cars, from $14.43 online.
Nothing says ‘we’re in this together’ like an inexpensive gift. One way to celebrate your bind is to wear the same rose-coloured glasses. Consider. Your 20-year-old Tercel is only a mutual agreement away from being vintage or classic. It just hasn’t been listed in this Encyclopedia of Classic Cars yet, which is available for as little as $14.43 online at Chapters-Indigo. Or if you’re really trying to make a statement, they’re even selling used (classic?) copies!
The Encyclopedia Of Classic Cars: A Celebration Of The Motor Car From 1945 To 1985
9: Top Gear DVD Collection, $20.98
If you aren’t the car nut yourself, this is something you still may enjoy. The smart alecks at Top Gear have made automotive geekery fun for all. Maybe the two of you can’t quite afford Jeremy Clarkson’s lifestyle but you can watch it cheap, plus avoid all that annoying British driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road business. Best of all, there are nineteen seasons. So that’s two decades of inexpensive shopping pretty much wrapped up. Season 15 here for instance, selling directly from the BBC website, is just $20.98 Canadian. Jolly good holiday savings!
8: LED Gloz Undercar Lights, $16.99
Spoiler alert: Most of us car fanatics aren’t overburdened with good taste. If this sounds like the one on your list, I guarantee this will be his (forgive the sexist assumption) favourite gift of the year, plus you’ll still get change, taxes in, from a twenty! Of course, your loved one’s ride will look like a special effect from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but so what. It won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
LED Gloz Undercar Lights, Blue, 8-Pk
  Top Picks: 10 Holiday Gft Ideas for Your Auto Enthusiast. Click image to enlarge |
7. LED Alert Beacon (aka first responder’s emergency flashing light), US$29.99, plus shipping
Even if your special someone doesn’t work outside all winter, they don’t need one of these LED beacons to want one. (For further elucidation, see above regarding taste.) Its magnetized base clings to any metal surface like, say, a basement beer fridge or garage wall! The grand-mal-inducing ‘Super Bright High Intensity LEDs’ of this Blazer Baja Tough Alert Beacon can have your auto enthusiast reminiscing over ‘80s CHiPs episodes all year long. Incidentally, you can find these in Canada at a significantly inflated price if you don’t want to wait for the shipping across the border.
Blazer Baja Tough LED Alert Beacon
 Top Picks: 10 Holiday Gft Ideas for Your Auto Enthusiast. Click image to enlarge |
When It’s Becoming More than Casual: Three Gifts Under $50
6. Roadside Winter Kit: “Because I want you to be safe out there” – $39.96
Here in Toronto, people want to sue the government every time there’s a snowstorm. But this year’s early arrival of winter has proven that even Torontonians genuinely need emergency kits like this. So this could be one of those gifts you disguise as something for your loved one, but is just as much for you. Say, like a day at the spa. (“You can work on your car all day without me getting in your hair.”) The kit is remarkably well thought out, including everything from booster cables and a collapsible snow shovel to thermal blanket, candles and matches – sadly no bottle of red wine and condoms to complete the romantic atmosphere. All in a self-contained carrier bag!
