With Father’s Day just around the corner, we’ve gathered together some of the best gifts for your car and motoring mad dad
Dads can be notoriously difficult to buy presents for and after you’ve racked your brains coming up with the perfect Christmas and birthday presents for the old man, you can be forgiven for running out of ideas by the time Father’s Day comes around. But fear not, the ideal Father’s Day gift for every dad is out there somewhere and Auto Express is here to help if your particular daddy has even a passing interest in cars.
Below you’ll find our pick of the 2017 Father’s Day present market. We’ve drawn the contenders from the winners of our very own exhaustive product tests so you know they’ll do exactly what they say on the tin and the assortment is supplemented by a sprinkling of other items that will put a smile on the face of even the most crotchety old codger.
After starting with what is quite simply the ultimate present (not just for Father’s Day, but for any occasion full stop), we will then go through the gifts in ascending order of price so you can shop within your own Father’s Day budget. We hope you find what you’re looking for and have a happy Father’s Day!
1. Subscription to Auto Express and evo
Obviously, the daddy of all gifts is a subscription to the Auto Express magazine and, we’d always recommend throwing in a year’s supply of our sister title evo, too. As we are feeling particularly generous, subscribing today will mean you receive the next 6 issues of Auto Express for just £6, and the next 5 issues of evo for a mere £5. Not only will these be delivered to your home address, but so will two, 26-piece toolkits (providing subscriptions for both Auto Express and evo are taken out). Meaning you and Dad get a little something extra on top of the chance to read the world’s best automotive magazines.
Item: Auto Express magazine subscription
Price: £6 (for six issues)
Item: evo magazine subscription
Price: £5 (for five issues)
2. Films
Simple and effective, a film offers families the chance to put down their devices, gather together as if they’re not complete strangers and stare at another much larger screen in unison for a couple of hours. The recently released ‘McLaren’, by Roger Donaldson is the perfect motion picture for a father figure who’s also a motoring fan.
Item: McLaren, directed by Roger Donaldson
Price: £10
3. Tool Box
Irrespective of whether your father uses his tools everyday, or hasn’t touched them since he was given them on Father’s Day last year, he is going to need somewhere to put them. Tool boxes allow a clean and easy way to store all necessities for motoring, so they can be taken on journeys or stored carefully in the garage.
The current Auto Express recommend ‘box is a Curver 157705. Included in the svelte design are two removable and genuinely useful lid-mounted boxes. As these are opaque, you don’t need to waste time checking which part is in which box, an otherwise challenging task due to there being 21 divided sections inside. What is perhaps most useful is its size. Big enough to carry all the essentials, yet small enough to be carried easily.
Item: Curver 157705 tool box
Price: Approx. £20
4. Games
As the modern father is often a keen gamer, we have included two of the latest and greatest motoring titles from 2017.
Dirt 4, offering a more grown up driving game, is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and aims to bring out the Colin McRae in all of us.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe however, is available only on Nintendo Switch and sets out to bring fun for all the family. Even if dad can’t play it, it should keep the children entertained for a few hours so he can read the latest Auto Express news or have a nap.
Item: Dirt 4
Price: Approx. £50
Item: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Price: Approx. £50
5. Caterham Lego Model
Being trodden on by unobservant fathers since 1958, Lego is a mainstay of modern family life. And here’s a kit that will let dad get in on the fun.
Appealing to motoring enthusiasts, this Caterham model offers a relatively low cost entry into the lego world. You can pick one up by clicking the link below.
Item: Caterham Lego Model
Price: Approx. £73
6. Multi-tool
As useful as Bob the Builder on steroids, multi-tools aren’t just helpful for motorists. Cyclists, hikers, and campers will often find the many attachments useful for their gripping, cutting, and screwing needs.
The one to go for is the Gerber MP1 Multi-Tool. Providing 12 professional grade attachments including pliers, blades, screwdrivers, and most importantly for the dad in your life, a bottle opener - it has all that you expect and need in its repertoire. Being lightweight and featuring tools which lock into place firmly, the MP1 is easy to use one-handed. The pliers are amongst the best on the market, holding even the smallest items firmly, and similarly, the screwdrivers measure up well under use.
Item: Gerber MP1 Multi-Tool
Price: £110
7. Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
Some will say this is a crummy present but if your old man takes pride in his car’s appearance, or can sometimes be persuaded to lend a hand with the housework, this could well be the one for him.
Being wireless, they make an excellent addition to anyone’s garage, allowing the inevitable build up of dirt inside your car to be dealt with swiftly. Even better, being handheld they are more nimble than the traditional plug-in and play options currently on the vacuum cleaner market.
Our pick of the bunch? The Gtech Multi mk2. Although an expensive option, it cleans with impressive vigour. Its design has been carefully thought through by UK based Gtech, with features including a lockable trigger to reduce the level of effort required when operating the vacuum. It is also provided with crevice tool, pull-out flexi nozzle, and brush, making car interiors its natural hunting ground. The motor itself provides levels of power that could worry the engine in a Daewoo Matiz and there are even two front facing LEDs to illuminate the darker sections between the seats. Alternatively, for the ultimate Saturday night fun, they could allow you to do the vacuuming in the dark.
Item: Gtech Multi mk2
Price: £149
8. Action Camera
In recent years action cameras have shot up in popularity. Which is great for recording your fastest lap at Silverstone, but not so great when you find yourself starring on YouTube after tripping over a Lego Caterham.
It will come as no surprise that our favourite action camera is the GoPro Hero5 Black, after all GoPro are the industry leaders. The Hero5 will allow dads who fancy themselves as the next Stephen Spielberg to easily create high quality films in 4K at 30 frames per second. It features an excellent two-inch touchscreen and useful features such as wind reduction and stabilising tech. The camera can also be easily connected to your phone (via the cloud or cable), making file transfers with the GoPro app a straightforward affair.
Unfortunately, the Hero5 has one big problem. The price. As much as we love our fathers, £400 is a lot. For that reason we have included another more reasonably priced action camera. The GoPro Session (priced at £150) doesn’t have the same number of features as the Hero5, but the quality of footage is incredible for the cost, so it will not disappoint.
Item: GoPro Hero5 Black
Price: £400
Item: GoPro Session
Price: £150
9. Koenigsegg Regera
This one is a little tricky, as on top of buying the actual car you will need to sort out insurance. You will also need to persuade one of the eighty people who have already ordered one to let you have theirs, as eighty is the entire production run for this Swedish hypercar. Oh, and you will need £1.5 million, so make sure dad appreciates it.
Item: Koenigsegg Regera
Price: £1,500,000
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