Best Christmas gift ideas
Here are our top picks for what to buy your automotive enthusiast loved-one this ChristmasThere is nothing more awkward than trying to fake a smile and a look of surprise as you open your Christmas stocking and find it choc-a-block with socks, handkerchiefs, undies, ill-fitting shirts or gift cards.
With only a week to go until the big fella rolls down your chimney, there’s still time to drop some not-so-subtle hints about what you really want, from the selection below.
Bowden’s Own Car Care range
The Bowden family have petrol running through their veins and own a collection of the most desirable race cars to ever grace Australian tracks, including many driven by Peter Brock, Allan Moffat and Dick Johnson to name a few.
Their love of cars led to ‘Bowden’s Own’, a range of Australian-made car care products that are second to none. If you want your vehicle to glean and sparkle like new, race into any Autobarn, Supercheap or Repco store for the complete range of Bowden's Own products.
In these times of computer simulations and video games it’s wonderful to see slot car sets are still as popular as ever with boys of all ages. Now Scalextric has brought the Holden v Ford rivalry to your lounge room and you can spend hours battling family and friends with your own racing Supercars.
Scalextric has kept pace with technology and now offers a digital set that enables up to six cars to overtake, switch lanes and block rivals. There’s a huge variety of tracks and cars from James Bond’s Aston Martin, to Le Mans sports cars, past and present F1 cars and for nostalgic Bathurst buffs, A9X Toranas and XC hardtop Falcons that thrashed around Mount Panorama in the 1970s.
Scalextric sets, cars and accessories are available at most hobby stores, Toyworld, Toys R Us, and online at Scalexworld.
If you’d rather look than drive, there are a couple of Australian owned model car companies worth looking at.
Biante Model Cars was established in 1992, distributes its scale model cars to more than 130 authorised dealers and has an online store. Scales range from 1.18 tic Collectables
1.64 with every detail painstakingly recreated. Road cars, race cars, sports cars and rally cars are all covered. Biante distributes many of the other world’s top model brands.
Classic Carlectables has an in-house design and development department with qualified designers and engineers, many of whom are diecast collectors. If you’ve ever thought of having your own model collection, Biante or Classic are both great places to start.
Or if you’re a slot car buff, check out modelcarsales.com.au for a full range of Carrera cars and track sets and accessories. Gift certicates are also available.
Armchair thrills 'n' spills
Like watching motorsport on the small screen? CMS Motorsport has Australia’s largest catalogue of motorsport DVDs in the land.
Relive the highs and lows of every Bathurst, major Australian championships and gems like the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial that saw Holden Commodore’s finish first second and third after a gruelling 20,000km tow-week thrash around Australia. CMS also has a range of aviation documentaries including The History of Ansett Airlines, and motorcycle DVDs.
Or take a different angle with a two hour slideshow DVD of every car that started the Bathurst 500/1000 in the '70s. The DVD available from Autopics has over 2091 screen size images of 660 different cars with a description of each car and the driver.
Lost in space
Never lose your keys, phone or wallet or anything else of importance, thanks to The Tile. As the name suggests, The Tile is a small plastic square imbedded with a Bluetooth tracking device and a speaker. If you’ve lost your wallet or car keys and they have a tile on them, ring the tile from your mobile and a loud tune plays so you can find it. What if you lose your phone? Simple, double press any of your Tiles and the phone will ring, even on silent.
Linked to an app with a built-in map, The Tile automatically remembers the last time and place you last had your item so you know where to start looking. Prices start at just $25 and you buy them online here .
Driving video games will never be the same once you play them with a steering wheel, pedals and paddles. Logitech and Thrustmaster are the two leading brands and offer a range of consoles to suit most platforms and budgets.
If you have an unlimited budget and you really want to experience driving simulation, check out the ultimate simulator range from Australian company Motum Simulation. It’s as close to reality as donning a helmet and race suit.
Stay charged
Ever had to make an important call only to find your mobile is out of charge? Check out Smorgasboard's range of multi-USB chargers.
Some models can charge up to five devices at the one time and their stylish bamboo cases keep all cables neatly together.
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