Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • AI
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • VPN
  • More
    • Cameras
    • Home
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
    • Best
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Back to school
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best VPN
  • ChatGPT
  • NYT Wordle today
  • Best laptop
  • Best web hosting
Recommended reading
Three cars on show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with one on track.
Hybrid & Electric Vehicles Electric cars can be fun – the 6 hottest new EVs from the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2025
Best EV 2025
Hybrid & Electric Vehicles I review EVs for a living – these are the 7 best electric cars I’ve tested in 2025 so far
A Mini Countryman in green
Hybrid & Electric Vehicles My week with the Mini Countryman EV made me realize it was perfectly ok to appreciate the finer things in life
Lego F1 Sets on sale for Prime Day
Seasonal Sales These 9 Lego F1 deals are podium-worthy – and I’m going full throttle on Prime Day
The MG Cyberster roadster electric car with its doors open
Hybrid & Electric Vehicles I took the convertible, scissor-door MG Cyberster on a holiday – and it was hands down the funnest EV I've ever driven
Steve McQueen in Le Mans
Streaming Can’t wait for F1 to hit Apple TV+? Here are five of my favorite full-throttle racing movies to stream while you wait
The exterior of a Dacora car parked next to a wall
Hybrid & Electric Vehicles Move over, Rolls-Royce – America’s first homegrown ultra-luxury vehicle in almost a century is here to steal its crown
  1. Vehicle Tech

Pimp My Sleighride: Christmas presents for petrolheads

News
By Rory Buckeridge published 21 December 2015

Open the garage door, bung in, retreat to your paused Top Gear repeat

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

When you wish upon Astra...

When you wish upon Astra...

If you've got a car fanatic in your life, the perfect Christmas present you could get them this year would be a really nice car... Unfortunately, most wallets won't stretch that far, so techradar has put together a list of slightly more affordable gifts for your favourite petrolhead.

This guide includes toys, tech and merchandise that ranges from the quirky and the practical to the utterly ridiculous. Whether your loved one enjoys working on cars, playing with cars, or building (LEGO) cars, these are the perfect gifts to consider.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Garmin Nuvicam satnav

Garmin Nuvicam satnav

This top multitasker is probably the best satnav to leave unsightly rings on your windscreen with. Alongside Garmin's best-in-class maps and navigation there's an in-built dashcam which continually records the road ahead for lane-surfing twerps, and which will save the unfortunate action automatically in the event of a crunch, or a video snapshot at the prod of a button if you're saving lane-surfing twerps for future YouTube compilations. Voice control is still sketchy and Bluetooth support can tend towards the flaky, but the winning combo at a decent price means this is still the year's best satnav.

UK: £309.99 from Garmin

US: $399.99 from Garmin

AU: AU$599 from Garmin

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
Xbox One Forza Motorsport 6 bundle

Xbox One Forza Motorsport 6 bundle

It's been rightly criticised for being a bit clinical – essentially the Harley Street dentist of the racing sim world – but there's no more exhaustive motorsport game out there than Forza, and the look and feel are more next-gen than an Apple Store on the International Space Station. This Forza Motorsport 6 bundle features a bespoke Xbox One and controller given a custom lick of paint, full game download, Tenth Anniversary Car Pack, custom automotive sound effects and a 1TB tummy of memory (you'll need it – our 500GB filled up in a few short months). Plus, with a now non-crap UI, and Christmas exclusives including Halo 5 Guardians and the new Tomb Raider, and with 2016 seeing the likes of Crackdown and Quantum Break, now might well be the time to take the plunge into Microsoft's next-gen world.

UK: £299.99 from Xbox.com

US: Game bundles without console from $59.99 at Xbox.com

AU: AU$549 from Xbox.com

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Haynes Combustion Engine Model

Haynes Combustion Engine Model

Pretend you're an actual, real-life mechanic by constructing a pretend combustion engine almost exactly like those people you hand your car over to when it does a bad-smoky thing might do. Consisting of over 100 parts to assemble, and featuring ignition sound and illuminating spark plugs, it includes, handily, a proper Haynes manual to help you screw it all together in your garage, while whistling The Great Escape theme… or maybe in the comfort of your Minions onesie, in your study.

UK: £30 from Halfords.com

US: $44.95 from Amazon.com

AU: AU$89.95 from Australiangeographic.com

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
Scalextric James Bond Spectre set

Scalextric James Bond Spectre set

Officially licensed slot-car racing based, presumably rather expensively, on our pouting British rollneck fan. So in the box you'll find the Bond-only Aston Martin DB10 and Jaguar C-X75, with a figure-of-eight track including leap ramps, side swipes, a 90-degree crossover and a bordered 180-degree curve. Then set your nephew and/or niece scurrying off to collect the bloody cars when they continually spin off track.

UK: £129.99 from Scalextric.com

US: $174.99 from Scalextric.com

AU: AU$235 from Thunderbird Slot Racing

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Let's Race F1 driving experience

Let's Race F1 driving experience

You (or even better, you and nine chums) can park your lardy bums in the tubs of the most realistic F1 experience available to Earth's non-Hamiltons. Based in Horley, Surrey, the race room has over a sweet million quid's-worth of simulators based on F1 cars. Pairing high-definition simulation tech with physical chassis that throw you around up to two metres in every direction to simulate high-G braking and accelerating, all the cars are networked for 10s-up races across the entire season of F1 tracks. We've tried it. It's aces.

UK: From £22 at Letsrace.co.uk. In the US Simcentertampabay.com lets you put the virtual pedal to the metal, with prices starting at $40. In Australia, Victoria-based Motionators offers a similar experience from AU$69.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Halfords 200-Piece Socket and Ratchet Spanner Set

Halfords 200-Piece Socket and Ratchet Spanner Set

If you can't find a wrench here to fit every sticky-out bit on your car we'll eat the whole set, basically.

UK: £150 from Halfords.com.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Lego Ferrari F40

Lego Ferrari F40

One of the most legendary, boxy supercars recreated in tiny, Danish blocks. Just 1,158 bricks and a squint at instructions that make string theory seem a breeze will get you a hinged and vented rear hatch, a detailed twin-turbocharged, 90 degree V8 engine with quick-release function, opening doors and hood with luggage compartment and tools, pop-up headlights, cabled door handles, windscreen element with printed A-pillars, steering wheel with Ferrari logo, two red racing seats and custom-made, moulded rim inserts. In short: plastic man brick heaven.

UK: £69.99 from Lego.com

US: $99.99 from Lego.com

AU: AU$129.99 from Lego.com

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Grip Strip

Grip Strip

This suspiciously effective sliver of silicone slaps onto your dashboard and then, via the wonders of science, holds fast anything you place on it – sunglasses, mobile phones… erm, something other than those things that you might have in your car. Okay, it's basically for mobile phones and/or sunglasses. But it's still strangely awesome. Disclaimer: this is not a drinks holder, so don't even think about trying to stick your mug of coffee to it.

UK: £6.99 or £17.99 for three from Firebox.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Dent leather driving gloves

Dent leather driving gloves

Alan Partridge has done his wonky-faced best to resign these to the cultural wheely bin, but then in 2011 Ryan Gosling's unchatty, psycho getaway driver in director Nicolas Winding Refn's cult movie Drive rescued driving gloves from A-ha! obscurity. We'd go for Dent's utter, stick-on classics cut from hair sheep leather and featuring subtle red piping and knuckle vents – you'll look boss in these as you painstakingly park your Astra in the Asda car park. Get them snug – they'll stretch to just the right size. They're also unlined, for that reason. PS: Bond wears them – in exchange for some marketing dosh, most likely.

UK: £60 from Selfridges

US: $76 from Selfridges

AU: AU$108 from Selfridges

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Porsche office chair RS

Porsche office chair RS

This is official Porsche merchandise – it's the same sports seat that Porsche has a robot place carefully in their current 911 Carrera, only for your office. With wheely castors and some arm rests bolted on. So the leather is sumptuous, there's a middle section of Alcantara, the Porsche crest is stitched into the head section, it's stitched with contrasting red details and it features an electrical backrest powered by a rechargeable battery. If you don't zoom yourself around the office, making flat-six engine sounds, you are dead inside. Plus, there's a hook for your jacket, like company cars used to have. Just don't look at the price. WE SAID DON'T LOOK!

UK: £4,500 from Porsche.com

US: $6,570 from Porsche.com

AU: AU$7,723 from Porsche.com

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
Rory Buckeridge
Read more
Three cars on show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with one on track.
Electric cars can be fun – the 6 hottest new EVs from the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2025
Best EV 2025
I review EVs for a living – these are the 7 best electric cars I’ve tested in 2025 so far
A Mini Countryman in green
My week with the Mini Countryman EV made me realize it was perfectly ok to appreciate the finer things in life
Lego F1 Sets on sale for Prime Day
These 9 Lego F1 deals are podium-worthy – and I’m going full throttle on Prime Day
The MG Cyberster roadster electric car with its doors open
I took the convertible, scissor-door MG Cyberster on a holiday – and it was hands down the funnest EV I've ever driven
Steve McQueen in Le Mans
Can’t wait for F1 to hit Apple TV+? Here are five of my favorite full-throttle racing movies to stream while you wait
Latest in Vehicle Tech
Apple CarPlay Ultra ADAS
Automakers appear to be turning their backs on CarPlay Ultra but that hasn’t stopped Apple adding this new feature
Sol Motors Pocket Rocket
This Pocket Rocket electric motorcycle essentially runs on a giant AA battery and it’s now available to pre-order
Elon Musk and Grok.
Tesla introduces Grok AI into some of its cars, but it can’t control the vehicle… yet
Three cars on show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with one on track.
Electric cars can be fun – the 6 hottest new EVs from the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2025
Lucid Air Grand Touring Guinness World Record
The Lucid Air just broke the world record for the longest EV journey on a single charge – across three countries without stopping
Zeekr 001 FR
Zeekr could soon launch the most powerful Chinese EV ever – a hypercar that can break the 2,000hp barrier
Latest in News
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold in Porcelain
Google sets the date for its next big Pixel roll-out and it'll bring phones, watches, and more
AWS Summit New York
“It’s a tectonic change” - AWS AI head calls agents "the most impactful change we've seen since the dawn of the internet"
silhouette man using smartphone with Reddit logo on blurred background
Reddit was down – Here's everything we know about issues with the site and app
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.3 will take immersion to the next level with realistic taxis and more
Co-op store UK
Data of all 6.5 million Co-op members stolen - CEO says she is 'incredibly sorry'
Representational image of a hacker
US Army soldier pleads guilty to hacking telcos, extortion, wire fraud, identity theft
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. 1
    Sony's RX1R III is an impossibly small full-frame premium compact – here's how it compares to the Leica Q3
  2. 2
    US Army soldier pleads guilty to hacking telcos, extortion, wire fraud, identity theft
  3. 3
    Alexa+ is due to roll out to more users soon, but one of the next-gen voice assistant’s best features may have been pushed back
  4. 4
    Google sets the date for its next big Pixel roll-out and it'll bring phones, watches, and more
  5. 5
    “It’s a tectonic change” - AWS AI head calls agents "the most impactful change we've seen since the dawn of the internet"

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...