Gift ideas needed. Three categories: Around $25-ish, up to $100-ish and Holy Guacamole!
Automotive related only - no cheese slicers or napkin rings (...3,2,1 until someone finds a connecting rod napkin holder). Gag gifts in moderation please.
I have birthdays and holidays ahead for two subjects - a 14-year-old boy who "likes cars" and a grown man who has everything. But don't limit suggestions to those specifics, I hope this ends up being useful for many of us.
And yes - both already have magazine subscriptions and GRM swag.
Hot Wheels seems like low-hanging fruit, but I'll throw out some suggestions in no particular order:
- One of those kits where you get to build an engine
- Pretty much anything from blipshift
- An outline of a famous race track to hang on the wall (Linear Edge was the first search result, but I'm sure there are other brands you can buy from)
- Just search the name of a car on Etsy
- Check out the gift guide from previous/upcoming issues of GRM
Lego has some truly impressive kits for all kinds of vehicle interests.
Magazine subscriptions are not the ubiquitous "go-to" like they used to be - so many titles are no longer around, and some that are have kind of priced themselves out of the market that used to be - but, search hard enough and you're likely to find something that covers their demographic.
Only difference between a man and a boy is the price of the toy. R/C cars (and trucks, and boats, and whatever) are available in sorts of levels of capability/speed/complexity, but they're all fun. Sometimes the fun is building them, sometimes it's racing them, sometimes it's just running them around the yard and chasing the dogs. Spend accordingly.
If you have a legit go kart track nearby, get them a gift certificate for a session or two there, or if money is less of a concern see if the place has a rental racing league, and pick up their entry fee for that season.
Javelin
MegaDork
10/4/23 12:07 p.m.
I vote for HO scale slot car sets! AFX are wicked fast and so faithful recreations of modern performance cars (1LE and GT500 included). Auto World does amazing vintage stuff like the upcoming BRE Datsun set.
Automotive trip - Depending on location can be frugal to guacamole level (Goodwood?)
I took my 15 year old who only semi-likes cars to the Carlisle import show this year and made a long day of it and he still talks about it. I'm kicking myself for not dragging him to Radwood this summer... NASCAR racing itself isn't my cup of tea but I went with some friends to a race a few years ago and man, that was fun!
In the slightly north of the $100 category, there's this new book on iconic car designs that is making the rounds right now. I've heard it's good.
https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Car-Design-Worlds-Iconic/dp/1838665994
Does this person have a unique car? There are people out there who have taken old car magazines from back when and cut them apart and sell the ads and articles by model on Ebay. Some here know I have a Lancia Scorpion and my future son-in-law found some old Lancia ads and framed them, Seriously cool.
The other is a large format print of a favorite car or whatever. I was lucky at the time that my daughter worked at a sign shop that did large scale printing so I got it cheaper. First, to find a photo, it needs to be a higher resolution. Go to: images.google.com Enter the name in the search, I used "962", press Enter. Then select "Tools". This allows you to select "Size" and then "Large" to get the higher resolution images. This was printed on canvas, mounted on 1/2" foam with spray adhesive, then I welded up a frame out of 1" square tubing and mounted the foam/image on it. This is nearly 8' x4'. There are also large scale printers on the web. I had a photo printed on metal for a small plaque that came from Israel. The printing and shipping was about $20.
The faux vintage Bonneville sign is from Summit for $42. For that $42 it comes with fake rust and aging.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vsc-ps175
