First Posted: 11/20/2014

Who wouldn’t want to wake up Christmas morning to a brand new car with a big red ribbon on it? If a shiny new car isn’t in your budget this Christmas, there are still plenty of gift options for the car lover in your life. Here are just a few suggestions:

There’s An App For That

Among the most economical (read:cheap) gifts is the app “Car Minder.” Car Minder is an application that allows you to keep track of all car maintenance needs, repairs and tracking fuel economy. It lets you record service, gas fill-ups and repairs in seconds, and the new 3.0 version of the app lets you easily track fuel consumption and fuel economy. It is just $2.99 in the Itunes store.

Air Fresheners

A car’s looks are important, but so it its smell. Fun air fresheners are a good gift. Amazon.com features the “Accoutrements” Bacon Air Freshener for just $4.37. They also have several other fun air fresheners including a Big Foot one. For those more traditional, Yankee Candle offers several styles of air fresheners and a whole host of scents that are affordably priced.

Drivemotion LED

Want to let other drivers know how you’re feeling (without using rude hand gestures)? Then the Drivemotion LED sign (at www.drivemotion.com) might be the perfect gift. For $100 you can get the Drivemotion Animator which lets you plug your display to your computer via USB cord, download software and create what you want, featuring animations, text (in any language) and control animation timing. For a mere $40 you can purchase the “Drivemotion Pure Faces” that light up for the driver behind that range from angry to sorry.

Tiny Car Cooler Fridge

I have one of these (it was a Christmas gift a few years ago) and I must say they are great. I use it more than I thought I would. You plug it into your car’s lighter or AMP socket. They can keep lunches and beverages cool in the summer on car trips, or can be used for keeping groceries cool on the way home. Check out amazon.com for a wide range of coolers, ranging in price from the $30s to the low $100s.

Top Gear DVDs

As a fan of cars (and British comedy) myself, maybe the person on your list would love DVDs of the long-running British series “Top Gear” that mixes politically incorrect humor and cars. The show has been on the air in some form since 1977 (the most recent version has been on the air since 2002) and features things like races, challenges, reasonably priced cars, cars of the year and cars of the decade and such. A note of warning: the humor might be considered offensive by some. British reviewer Steve Coogan criticizes the program saying it resorts to “lazy, adolescent humor.” Sign me up! The DVDs range from $10-$30 (depending on how many episodes are on each) and are available from amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and several other online outlets.

Craftsman Tool Kit

Does your car lover rely on a mechanic to fix what goes wrong with his ride? Or does his tool kit just need an upgrade? The Mechanics Tool Set from Craftsman (available at sears.com, Sears stores and certain Kmart stores) comes with 155 pieces including 94 sockets, five drive tools, 12 combination wrenches and 44 specialty tools. It is a bit pricier, at $149.99.

Take Them To The Races

We are fortunate in NEPA to live in close proximity to the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. In addition to tickets to the races that come to Pocono (including the Pocono 400 and the Indycar500 Fueled by Sunoco), poconoraceway.com offers several gift ideas including camps, packages and a fan store.