Best car-themed Christmas gifts for over £50 2024
Want to push the boat out on a bigger present for the car fan in your life? We name our top 20 gifts.
If your Christmas gift budget stretches a little further than the £50, then there are some real treats available for the car and motor-racing fans in your life. We’ve scoured the market to find the 20 most interesting Christmas gifts available.
Whether you are looking for toys that will suit kids, special experiences for adults, stylish accessories or collectable novelties, any dyed in the wool petrolhead would love to find one of these under the tree.
Halfords Advanced 200 Piece Socket and Ratchet Spanner Set
- Price: around £264
- Contact: halfords.com
If you know someone who will spend their time off over Christmas tinkering in the garage, then this 200-piece socket set from Halfords’ Advanced range will make sure they will have the right tool for the job.
Among the contents is a full range of standard and deep sockets, an 18-inch breaker bar, hex, torx and spline bits, plus a full set of ratchet spanners. The colourful nylon-coated alloy-wheel sockets will help protect your rims from being damaged too. It’s also all covered by a lifetime guarantee.
Black Art Orthographic Illustration
- Price: from £179
- Contact: BlackArtGraphics.com
Anyone who loves looking at the specification panels in Auto Express road tests, will be thrilled to get a technical illustration of their own car.
Black Art creates high-definition orthographic pictures with authentic CAD perspectives. Each is individually customised to each customer’s car, and the finished details are laser-etched into an anodised aluminium plaque. Every order comes with a presentation box and frameless wall-mounting hardware.
Ember Travel Mug 2+
- Price: around £190
- Contact: currys.co.uk
Serious coffee lovers will really warm to this high-tech take on the traditional flask. The Ember Travel Mug has a built-in battery and electronics that can keep your drink at the perfect temperature for up to three hours – or even longer if you place it on the charging coaster.
The cup automatically senses when hot liquid is poured in and wakes up the touchscreen. Then you can connect to the Ember app to set the perfect temperature for your cuppa. You can even use Apple’s Find My Device service if you lose it.
GoPro HERO
- Price: around £190
- Contact: gopro.com
If you don’t fancy any of the films on TV this Christmas, then give someone the GoPro HERO and they’ll be able to make their own. The new entry-level model is smaller and cheaper than the other GoPros, weighing just 86g. This makes it ideal for filming action in (or on) a car, and it’s completely waterproof. Built-in fixing fingers are compatible with most mounts.
It’ll capture video in Ultra HD 4K or take 12MP photos and record continuously for up to 100 minutes on a single charge.
Kenwood KSC-PSW7EQ under seat subwoofer
- Price: around £140
- Contact: dynamicsounds.co.uk
Here’s a gift for anyone who likes listening to music in their car. Kenwood’s KSC-PSW7EQ subwoofer is small enough to fit under a seat or behind a trim panel, but will boost the bass significantly.
The unit has a wired remote control and offers three types of bass to match different music genres. It will upgrade the sound quality of standard factory-fit audio systems without you having to take the dashboard to pieces, and is relatively easy to fit.
The Cars You Always Promised Yourself
- Price: around £90
- Contact: stevesaxty.com
Any fan of the Capri and other iconic Fords from the seventies, eighties and nineties will love Steve Saxty’s new book.
This limited edition of The Cars You Always Promised Yourself is a deep dive into the design, development, and legacy of the most iconic Fords of this period.
Saxty is a former Ford design engineer, who uses his access to the marque’s archives to look behind the scenes. Yes, it’s quite pricey for a book, but it’s signed by the author and only 500 copies are available.
Tamiya Hornet EVO Bundle
- Price: around £280
- Contact: modelsport.co.uk
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original release of the legendary off-road buggy, Tamiya has launched a new Hornet kit which has the same body and bathtub frame as the original.
This pack includes a steering and throttle controller, quick charger and high-capacity battery, so you can slide it about on Boxing Day.
Whiskey Piston
- Price: around £62
- Contact: whiskeypiston.com
Here’s a gift that’s guaranteed to be a talking point when the after-dinner drinks come out – but stick to the orange juice if you are driving. The Whiskey Piston company makes high-quality replicas of the pistons used in iconic motorsport engines and adds a high-quality tumbler where the con rod would normally slot in. All of the features, such as the scalloped valve reliefs, oiling holes and ring skirts are faithful recreations.
The latest addition to the series is called the YB 9.0:1 Whiskey Tumbler and pays homage to the mighty turbocharged YB engine found in the Ford Sierra Cosworth.
Lego Technic McLaren P1
- Price: around £390
- Contact: lego.com
This Lego kit is not one for the kids – in fact the company gives it an 18+ rating. The McLaren P1 is the most complex Technic Ultimate set ever, with 3,893 pieces.
It features a dual-clutch transmission, working suspension, moving V8 engine, adjustable rear wing and opening doors. Each Lego P1 also features a display plaque with a unique serial number that unlocks special online content.
Bentley Bears
- Price: from £60
- Contact: shop.bentleymotors.com
This is a gift no young Bentley fan could bear to be without. The company’s official teddy range consists of seven characters, all 40cm tall and dressed in various costumes, with an embroidered Bentley B on one paw.
Our favourite is the £70 Engineer Bear, which comes wearing a cap and overalls in white and green, with a pocket that includes sewn-in felt tools.
Just like the car range, there are often special editions, too, allowing you to build up a collection of rare Bentleys on a budget.
Hot Wheels Ultra Shark Car Wash
- Price: around £60
- Contact: shopping.mattel.com
Some fin has gone wrong at the Hot Wheels City Car Wash – it’s been taken over by a massive shark. This imaginative scene is featured in the Netflix series, Let’s Race! The special model car changes from green to white as it goes between two tanks of warm and cold water. The playset also features car wash details such as a foam roller and movable gates.
Baghera Silver Arrow Toy Car
- Price: around £70
- Contact: meandmycar.co.uk
Although this beautiful Auto Union Type C is officially deemed safe for kids aged three and above, the price and hand-lacquered finish mean it might be something best left for older fans.
The 21cm-long model is made by French brand Baghera and officially licenced by Audi to pay homage to the record-breaking 1936 Type C, which was engineered by Ferdinand Porsche and driven by Bernd Rosemeyer. It sits on large rubber-shod wheels, which should help absorb some knocks if the kids get hold of it.
MiRider 20
- Price: around £1,800
- Contact: mirider.co.uk
Our testers have rated the smaller MiRider with 16-inch wheels as the best folding electric bike for several years. Just in time for Christmas, the company has revealed a new version with 20-inch wheels. It will obviously take up more room when folded, but gives a smoother ride and increased stability.
There are five levels of electric assistance, and the battery will last for up to 45 miles on a charge.
Renault 5 E-TECH pedal car
- Price: £250
- Contact: theoriginals-store.renault.com
The new Renault 5 must be the most eagerly anticipated car of 2025, so there’s already a long waiting list. But your kids could be driving one on Christmas morning if you splash out on this pedal car from Renault’s official merchandise store.
At just over a metre long, it’s around a quarter of the size of a real 5, making it a whole lot easier to wrap.
It’s equipped with a three-position adjustable seat, working lights and a horn. Renault recommends that drivers are over three years old and weigh less than 30kg, so bad luck, dads.
Scalextric James Bond 007 Race Set
- Price: around £110
- Contact: uk.scalextric.com
Watching a James Bond film is a Christmas tradition for many, but you could also create your own 007 car chases on a Scalextric track, featuring a pair of the secret agent’s favourite Aston Martins.
The special 007 Race Set features a 532cm track with a crossroads and narrowed section to allow side swiping. Two cars are included – the DB5 from Goldfinger, and the V8 from The Living Daylights. Both have working headlights, too.
Porsche 50 Years of Turbo Touring Bag
- Price: around £620
- Contact: shop.porsche.com
There’s another reason to have a celebration this Christmas, because it’s 50 years since Porsche launched the 911 Turbo. The company has created a limited-edition series of accessories, inspired by the tartan seat pattern in the original 911 Turbo, in either green or red. The most expensive accessory is this touring bag.
Diesel Spanner Cutlery Set
- Price: around £60
- Contact: meandmycar.co.uk
This cutlery set is bound to raise a smile at the Christmas dinner table. The set of four includes a teaspoon, fork, knife and dessert spoon, all made from high-quality 18/10 steel. Should you need to loosen some nuts while eating, the opposite end of the pieces are fully functioning open-ended spanners.
They are reusable and fully dishwasher proof, so can be kept in your cutlery drawer or toolbox.
1959 Car Race Framed Print & Mount
- Price: around £100
- Contact: johnlewis.com
To save your wall looking a bit bare when the decorations come down, ask for this arty picture for Christmas. The framed
print features the legendary 1959 Le Mans-winning Aston Martin DBR1, as driven to victory by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby.
If you need to fill more space, other pictures in the Zucarto Art series feature a Porsche 911 winning at Daytona in 1973 and a scene from the 1935 Monaco Grand Prix.
British Motor Museum Membership
- Price: £42/£120
- Contact: britishmotormuseum.co.uk
Car fans of all ages will be able to lose themselves for hours in the British Motor Museum, so will appreciate a gift that allows them to visit again and again. Annual membership gives free entry for 12 months, and you get access to preview new exhibitions, have private tours and member-only events. There are discounts in the café and gift shop too.
Two tiers of membership are available and there are also family packages to purchase.
Goodwood Revival Racing Experience
- Price: around £600
- Contact: goodwood.com/experience
The Goodwood Revival is one of the most entertaining weekends on the motoring calendar, and now you can give the retro track experience as a gift. The Revival Racing Experience gives the opportunity to drive on the circuit in a selection of classic saloon racers from the fifties and sixties.
Professional instructors will guide you through the racing lines for a total of 12 laps.
Having a cost-effective Christmas? These are the best car-themed Christmas gifts for under £50...
