1. Heel Tread Socks
Yes, they’re socks and yes, they’re Christmas presents and yes, that brings us dangerously close to cliché territory. Heel Tread’s socks sidestep that, though, by being really quite cool. Starting with a range inspired by classic motor racing colour schemes, Heel Tread has expanded into making socks that wear the colours of historic aeroplanes, and even schemes inspired by favourite films. Its latest set is a 007-inspired box of four socks, with colour schemes that draw on James Bond’s Aston Martins and Lotus cars from Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, The Spy Who Loved Me, and The Man With The Golden Gun. A box of four costs €45 plus P&P, but you can buy individual pairs for around €10, so they qualify as (pun alert) stocking fillers…
2. Bond Cars: The Definitive History
Speaking of Bond, and seeing as we need something to keep us going until No Time To Die is released in April (hopefully…) how about a true labour of love on the history of 007’s four-wheeled friends and priced from €25. Written by Northern Irish journalist (and former Top Gear presenter) Jason Barlow, this is not a mere list of appearances and model names, but a deep, and nerdishly-satisfying dive into the archives of Eon Productions, looking for every fact, and every fascinating anecdote. Probably one for the Bond completists but then that’s quite a few of us, isn’t it?
3. Garmin Marq Driver smartwatch
Okay, this one is a bit too pricey to be a stocking filler, but the Garmin Marq Driver smartwatch is a Christmas treat sure to be appreciated. Based on the latest range of Garmin Marq smartwatches, the Driver model includes the same on-your-wrist navigation, stop-watch, health and activity monitors and more as the rest of the range, but adds a racing driver twist — built in track maps for many of the great racing circuits around the world, and a stop-watch function that allows you input the length of any track you happen to be at, and get accurate lap timing as you drive around. It’s also waterproof to 100-metres deep, and comes with a dark-grey titanium case and a variety of straps. Not cheap, at €2,521 (RRP) but hey, it’s Christmas…
4. Lego Technic Fast & Furious
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without Lego, and that’s as true whether you’re four or, erm, 44. You can spend a fortune on Lego’s high-end Technic car-related kits, such as a Porsche 911 RSR racing car for €134 or the amazing Lamborghini Sian kit for a whopping €284, but we think that you can strike an affordable medium with the Dodge Charger set, inspired by the car driven in the Fast and Furious film series. At €81, it’s still not chicken-feed, but it’ll certainly keep you and your young ones distracted while the turkey’s cooking.
5. Gift vouchers.
This Christmas is, clearly, going to be a quiet one, spent at home, hopefully with the family as we wait for vaccines to arrive and restrictions to be lifted. That’s fine — we all know what we have to do to keep each other safe. However, we can look forward (fingers crossed) to getting out and about again in 2021, and that means that giving the gift of some adrenaline-pumping motoring action could be just the ticket this festive season. Choose from on-track driving at Mondello Park (including the mighty 625hp BMW M8 coupe), sideways-to-victory rallying at Rally School Ireland, or slidey-slidey fun at Kylemore Karting. Prices for vouchers start from as little as €25.
