Best car-themed Christmas gifts for over £50 2022

Many of us have been keeping an eye on the pennies this year, but if you’ve determined that this Christmas will be business as usual, we have the ultimate gift guide for petrolheads.

There’s something for all tastes, from classics to F1, practical items and art for the garage or office. We even have something for man’s best friend.

So if you want to get behind the wheel or just celebrate your favourite marque, now’s the time to start dropping some not-so-subtle hints.

Formula 1’s Unsung Pioneers

• Price: £95
• Contact: evropublishing.com

While many automotive books travel a well trodden path of drivers and marques, this well-researched work by Ian Wagstaff covers the little-known tale of F1’s first fully sponsored team. Perhaps best known for entering the car that Stirling Moss was driving in his career-ending crash, BRP was a pioneering team and Wagstaff covers its relatively short time on motorsport’s front line that shook up the establishment.  

BMW M Chrono metal watch

• Price: £530
• Contact: lifestyle.bmw.com

Lots of neat BMW touches here for fans of the marque’s sporting M cars. There’s a carbon look alongside the M logo plus the push buttons are kidney-shaped. The crown has BMW engraving and the bezel features the marque’s colours. The movement is a Swiss Ronda 5040 D powering a date display plus tachymeter, and the casing is good for 10 ATM water resistance, which makes it safe for swimming. 

Clarke CHT641 199-piece DIY tool kit

• Price: £112
• Contact: machinemart.co.uk

This is a good place to start if the car nut in your house has announced they want to do their own motoring maintenance. There are slotted inserts for sockets and spanners covering both metric and imperial sizes, which makes the set good for modern cars as well as older British classics. There are also plug sockets, hex wrenches and a range of grips and pliers all packed into the cantilever tool box, which has room to spare for any kit you need to add. 

Little Car Company DB5 Junior

• Price: from £42,000
• Contact: thelittlecar.co

Your loved one can channel their inner James Bond with this stunning 66 per cent scale version of the 007 original. Just 1,059 models will be made, but this isn’t something to admire in the garage – it’s meant to be driven. There’s a choice of two electric motors, with the Vantage version delivering a top speed of 45mph and a range of 40 miles. Not only do you need deep pockets for the DB5 Junior, but it also helps to have private land to use it on.

Ring RSDC3000 dash cam

• Price: £90
• Contact: ringautomotive.com

You don’t have to be mad about cars to want a dash cam under the tree. And our current favourite won’t break the bank because it comes in at under £100. Yet it’s still packed with our list of essential features including GPS to stamp footage with speed and location data, a usable screen, plus built-in WiFi for downloading and use with a smartphone app. It’s our choice, could it be yours?

Porsche Design 911 speaker 2.0

• Price: £436
• Contact: porsche-design.com

Porsche has produced quite a few ‘exhaust’ sound systems in recent years and this Bluetooth version is based on the 992 911 GT3 tailpipe trim. With Bluetooth 5 and Qualcomm aptX HD technology, the unit can link to other Porsche sound systems. Packing 60 watts, it’s more than up to filling the room, workshop or office for up to 16 hours using the built-in battery. It weighs 1.1kg and comes with a tough carry case for sounds wherever you go.  

Jaguar Ultimate pet bed large

• Price: £85
• Contact: shop.jaguar.co.uk

Big cat delivers the ultimate in creature comforts for big dogs (and other favourite furries) in this large pet bed. Generously padded, the 100 per cent polyester design with embroidered logo, Jaguar monogram and contrasting piping detail provides a super-soft bed for your pet to catch up on their rest. The bed measures 70x50x26cm, while the cushion is 64x45x10cm. Both are fully washable and the bed has a non-slip base.

Home Leisure Shelby GT350 1965 pool table

• Price: £24,995
• Contact: homeleisuredirect.com

If car pool means sharing regular journeys to you, think again this Christmas with the ultimate addition for the games room. It combines classic sixties Mustang styling with real parts such as bumpers and alloy wheels topped by an eight-foot slate table usin 21 two-and-a-quarter-inch balls. Finished in Wimbledon White and Guardsman Blue, the ‘bodywork’ is finished in an automotive bodyshop, where it’s wet-sanded and lacquered.

APL McLaren HySpeed sneakers 

• Price: £595
• Contact: athleticpropulsionlabs.com

McLaren and APL got together to create the HySpeed trainer, which is described as a grand tourer for your feet. As you’d expect from the supercar maker, the shoe is packed with the latest tech, including a three-piece segmented midsole with FutureFoam pods front and rear. Bridging the gap is a carbon-fibre plate topped with a nitrogen-infused layer. The shoes come in both men’s and women’s sizes and a range of colours, including McLaren papaya orange, shown here.

Everyman Triple Rage Buggy Driving Experience

• Price: £169
• Contact: everymanracing.co.uk

If nothing but getting behind the wheel will do it for the petrolhead in your life, then this experience will likely force them out of their comfort zone. There are three driving sessions for a total of 30 off-road laps to help you learn the techniques that make the most of the buggies and their 172bhp motorcycle engines. This Triple experience also includes laps with your instructor.

NoveDesignArt Ford F150 truck wall art

• Price: £94
• Contact: etsy.com

The ideal finishing touch for that painted workshop or ‘shoffice’ is made from metal and stands two centimeters off the wall for a silhouette effect. There’s a choice of sizes from 60x15cm (£94.21) up to 150x31cm (£281.33). We’ve gone for the truck lover’s favourite, but there’s a huge choice from single-seaters to supercars via classics and circuits. They can also be mounted and displayed on a shelf.

Bentley 6-in-1 trike

• Price: £450
• Contact: shop.bentleymotors.com

There’s no need to have a garage littered with buggies, bikes and cars your child has outgrown with this six-in-one trike from Bentley, which is designed to grow with them. It starts as a front or rear-facing buggy, then there are footrests as they grow, and these can be removed when the child can reach the pedals. Then the canopy, basket and push handle can be removed. Finally, the back support and belts can go. The only trouble is, the next step from here is an altogether pricier Bentley.

Suixtil Rivadavia replica helmet

• Price: £950
• Contact: meandmycar.co.uk

Perfect for the motorsport fan whose golden era was the fifties or who simply wants a helmet to match their classic car. This Suixtil-built replica is a copy of the design Juan-Manuel Fangio used in some of his greatest wins and is named after the pseudonym he used when he started racing. The shell, which comes in three sizes (57, 59 and 62cm), is made from moulded resin and fibres lined with 3mm cork with straps made from cow leather.

Tamiya Thunder Shot

• Price: £197.99
• Contact: jadlamracingmodels.com

Building your first Tamiya RC car can be daunting, but this re-release of the Thunder Shot is good for a beginner because it removes the stress (and time) of painting the body, which has already been finished in two colours. The rear wing is also pre-painted, but you can tackle the driver figure yourself. The four-wheel-drive racer has independent double-wishbone suspension, spike tyres and oil-filled dampers, so it’s good for running just about anywhere. The ideal introduction to EV motoring.

Pashley-Morgan 8

• Price: £1,795
• Contact: pashley.co.uk

Car marques have a long history of teaming up with cycle makers and launching their own two-wheelers, but few collaborations mesh as well as British engineering veterans Morgan and Pashley. The 8 tops the range and the design takes inspiration from Morgan’s race heritage with streamlined hub-dynamo headlamp and Morgan-styled handlebar endcaps. There are eight gears, a Reynolds 631 frame and matching mud and chain guards in wood that mimic the car’s frames.

Land Rover 75th limited-edition backpack

• Price: £85
• Contact: shop.landrover.co.uk

This is a must for Defender fans as Land Rover celebrates its 75th anniversary in style. As you’d expect of the off-road marque, this backpack is tough, with a water-resistant outer shell and a protective roll-top design. It’s practical, too, with a protective laptop sleeve inside plus deep side pockets. The 75th anniversary motif is repeated throughout the interior and its compartments, as well as on the outside. 

Ferrari 268 SP front end

• Price: £22,250
• Contact: store.ferrari.com

You can always rely on Ferrari to come up with something special from its archives and this front-end replica has to be a contender for the ultimate workshop or office art. It is a faithful full-size replica in aluminium of the Ferrari 268 SP sports racer, powered by a rear-mounted V8 motor. The twin nostrils repeat the styling of the successful shark nose F1 car of the period. A cult piece for any fan of the Prancing Horse.

Smithers of Stamford camper van storage chest

• Price: £1,900
• Contact: smithersofstamford.com

Why not plan for the summer this Christmas and order this camper van-inspired storage chest for your car nut that’s ideal for filling with ice and drinks? The chest, which is 155cm long and 62cm deep, can also be used as garden tool storage while doubling as a great piece of all-year-round lawn art. Handmade from upcycled vintage oil drums, each one is unique. Simply park up, pop the top and enjoy.

Lotus V8 Esprit engine glass table

• Price: £1,200
• Contact: shop.lotussilverstone.co.uk

Lotus has a proud heritage of innovation on the race track stretching back to the 1960s, as well as on the road with such ground-breakers as the Elan and Elise. This nifty work of art bridges the gap between motorsport and road cars because it’s made from a V8 Esprit engine, itself a break from the norm for Lotus. Only a handful are being made and you can order it with your own bespoke accents.

Hot Wheels Action Spiral Speed Crash

• Price: £65
• Contact: smythstoys.com

There’s nothing car fans of a certain age like more than a crash or two, and that’s just what this Hot Wheels set delivers. Drive your car into the motorised booster and watch it scale the 70cm-plus-high track. Then add in more cars to see how many you can run before there’s a pile-up in one of the three crash zones. It comes with one car and six can be stored on the motor box. Just remember to stock up on D LR20 batteries.

Now read our list of the best Christmas gifts for under £50...