The car lover’s Christmas guide for 2017!

Christmas has come around fast this year, leaving many of us with lots of last-minute gifts to buy.

If you have a car-loving family member or friend – or if you need to drop a few hints for yourself – I’ve canvassed the CarAdvice team for a list of affordable auto gifts to help you complete your last-minute Christmas shopping!

For the kids

Remember Operation? This is essentially the same game with a twist – the human body has been replaced with a car needing repair.

The aim of Beat the Buzz is to remove car parts with tweezers (no greasy hands in sight) without touching the plate under the car. It could be a good way to get the kids intrigued about cars!

For the racer

This is the perfect gift for people who love racing, and the smell of E85 petrol that goes with it. Now, you can take the smell to your living room, bedroom or bathroom with an E85 scented candle.

I’ve actually bought one of these for my Dad this year, because he misses his racing days. Sorry, Mum.

For the clean freak

Car washes can be expensive. So when we saw you can purchase your own Snow Foam car wash package, our eyes lit up.

There’s nothing more satisfying seeing your car covered in that foam, and watching dirt simply disappear. It isn’t cheap upfront, but neither are public car washes!

For the couch potato

Picture this: you’re in your pyjamas and, having settled down with a cuppa, realise the garage door is wide open. Oh, and it’s pouring outside. Rather than getting off the couch, you whip out your phone and close it using an app, all from the comfort of your dry, warm house.

The Chamberlain HandyLift MyQ lets you do just that. It can be purchased at Bunnings, or you could win it on the CarAdvice podcast.

For the history buff

2017 was a sad year for Holden enthusiasts and the Australian motoring industry alike, with the end of local manufacturing. To celebrate its rich history, Holden has released Holden: the Archives Collection.

The set includes a 400-page book with fold-out pages, never-before-seen photos, replica badges and brochures, all wrapped in a hard case. It documents Holden’s proud Aussie history, and should be near the top of your Christmas list.

For the hipster

On any given day, you’ll find at least one CarAdvice staffer wearing a car t-shirt. We can’t help it. Mike Costello is a self-confessed Blipshift.com fan, and swears by their catalogue. The company accepts car designs from artists around the world and prints them on tees.

The only catch? Each shirt is available for one week only, and then they move onto the next design – so you’d better be quick!

For pranksters

These take bumper stickers to new heights. With a choice of Trump, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry, a waving zombie, the Pope, a goggled dog or, bizarrely, a sloth, Ride With stickers make it seem like you’re carrying a famous person.

You’ll get smiles from motorists sitting at the traffic lights – depending on which famous person, of course. The stickers are made of the same material as advertisements on the windows of trains and buses, and is applied to the outside of the window.

For the reader

There are some of us who still like flicking through a car magazine.

Being a devout Porsche fan, I can’t get enough of the beautifully presented Duck & Whale culture magazine. It’s an Australian magazine sold at newsagents, or purchased (with free delivery) through their website.

For the tidy

If you have millions of keys that scratch everything in their path, this nifty gadget could be for you. Orbitkey looks like a pocket knife, but actually stores your keys, with an extra external ring for your chunky car key.

Not only is it a lot neater, it looks cool to boot. You won’t get that iconic key rattle, though, which is sort of a shame.

For the gamer

Gran Turismo Sport will have gamers glued to the screen over the Christmas holidays. We were pretty impressed with the game, and it’s a great way of getting your racing fix without forking out thousands for a car and track fees. If you’ve got PlayStation 4, play to your heart’s content. If not, Forza Motorsport could be a better option.

Or, you could buy a CXC Simulator to achieve the closest racing experience for a cool $49,000.