15 Great Gifts For The Aspiring Race Car Driver In Your Life
The holidays are already here, so it is past time to find the perfect gift for that person in your life who wants nothing more than to race cars all day.
Not sure what to get them? Suffering from limited funds?
Luckily, we've dug up gifts to fit every budget and satisfy every driving need.
From tools to fix the old Mustang, to the gear to look good on the track, to lessons on how to drive like a champ, there is something for every aspiring racer out there.
Give them the power to fix their old ride.
Does your car lover rely on the mechanic to fix everything that goes wrong with his ride? Does he want to fix up the old Mustang in his garage?
Enable him with a Mechanics Tool Set from Craftsman, complete with 155 pieces, including 94 sockets, five drive tools, 12 combination wrenches, and 44 specialty tools.
Price: $149.99.
And the tools to drive it as well as possible.
A good pair of driving shoes makes all the difference, especially in performance driving.
An accurate feel for the pedals allows for precise inputs, fewer missed shifts, and faster driving.
That is what it should all be about.
Price: $100.
Sunglasses are crucial in sunny conditions.
Quality sunglasses should be a requirement for all drivers.
Sun glare causes accidents, so you can even say these are a safety feature.
The pair featured here are Ray Ban's new Ultra Caravan. Polarized lenses and frames plated in 18-karat gold make these functional and stylish. We also love the retro style.
Price: $480.
Prevent spills and burns with a good coffee mug.
Spilling coffee in a car can be disastrous. It will mar the carpets and, even worse, could burn the driver.
To keep disaster at bay, pick up a good travel mug. It's an inexpensive solution that will be appreciated by any traveling coffee drinker.
The Contigo 16-Ounce Double Wall Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler should do the trick.
Price: $19.99.
Start the party and the conversation with a Formula One beer mug.
Beer is like an olive branch in the modern world. Even the President has shared a beer with disputing parties to ease the tension.
If the motorhead you know loves beer, mugs like this one from Zazzle are a great choice. Yes, they hold liquid, but they also feature maps of the world's Formula One World tracks.
They are functional and a conversation piece.
Price: $22.85.
Pick up coasters to go with the beer mugs.
If you're buying the beer mugs, it's a good idea to get some coasters to go with them.
Shaped like slotted brake rotors, this set of six coasters from AUTOart are sure to be appreciated by any enthusiast.
Price: $89.95.
Find your car nut a McLaren MP4-12C from Neiman Marcus.
Every year, Neiman Marcus offers a car in their holiday catalog to their discerning customers. This year the offering is the recently introduced McLaren MP4-12C Spider.
It has top speed of 204 mph and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds.
Unfortunately, Neiman Marcus offered only 12 McLarens this year, and they are all sold out. So your mission is to find one of those dozen buyers, and make them an offer.
Price: $354,000.
Top Gear DVDs are always a good call.
Any car fan worth his salt has seen "Top Gear." The irreverent motoring show from England mixes cars and comedy in an engaging format.
This will keep your car nut entertained during the cold winter, when going for a drive just might not be an option.
Price: Around $10.
Racing video games work too.
If it is too cold to drive, there are some great video games out there to simulate the experience.
On XBOX, Forza Motorsport 4 is the best simulation available for Xbox, while Gran Turismo 5 has the same role on the Playstation 3.
With online gameplay, the track days can continue long in to the winter.
A racing wheel makes those games even better.
If Gran Turismo 5 is the game of choice, there are a number of great racing wheels for the PS3 to complement the experience.
At the top is the Thrustmaster T500RS. Yes, the purchase price is more than a PS3 itself, but we have heard that using this wheel is simply amazing.
It truly bridges the gap between the real and digital world.
Price: $549.99.
Branded shirts let car nuts show their love.
Every manufacturer seems to have a lifestyle collection associated with them now.
If the car fan you know is obsessed with a certain brand, why not get them a shirt from their favorite one?
This is especially effective if the person receiving the gift does not actually own one of the cars they love.
Price: $83.00 (varies by brand)
A Garmin GPS will keep your driver on right roads.
Garmin's GPS devices have gotten thinner and more intuitive than ever before.
The 3490LMT featured here is pencil thin and comes with free updates for traffic and maps for the life of the product.
Also, there will never be any more stopping for directions, which is a huge plus.
Price: $349.99.
Keep the police off their tail.
Performance driving requires a serious radar detector.
While some claim to be good, there is only one that is truly the best, and that is the Valentine One.
The range is phenomenal, the arrows tell you exactly where the radar is coming from, and the display tells you how many cops to expect.
It has saved us many times.
Price: $399.99.
Take them to the races.
Tickets to a major race like the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, or the 24 Hours of Le Mans will make for an unforgettable experience.
These events are some of the oldest and most prestigious in motorsports. But they are not the only ones.
Any race weekend is a great experience for a car fan. The noise and the spectacle is enough to satiate any of them.
Of course, airfare and accommodations would need to be taken into account as well.
Price: From $30 to thousands, depending on the event.
Or let them race for themselves.
If you think they require a bit more of a visceral experience, perhaps a performance driving school is the way to get their attention.
With programs that range from drives in a small Mazda to a three day race school in an open wheel race car, the Skip Barber school has something for everyone.
Since classes are held at top tracks like Laguna Seca, Lime Rock Park, Road Atlanta, and Sebring, these schools will have your car fan driving flat out where the pros do.
Price: From $800 to $4,000.
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