How to make your favorite car enthusiast love you.
Drivers are a special breed—one that’s completely distinct from people who drive. No, drivers live for their cars, choosing the road over all other forms of travel whenever possible. The quickest route to their hearts this holiday season is a gift they can use in their rolling living room.
A steering wheel spinner
These things can be super dangerous, and you probably shouldn’t
use them on public roads because turning a steering wheel that fast is
actually a magical spell that conjures an insurance claim adjuster. Just
sayin'. Also just sayin': Maybe your giftee is a super awesome
superdriver who can totally rock one of these things in a responsible
manner. Either way, it’s a badass present. $13.55 on Amazon
The best microfiber ever
As if the windows weren’t enough, there are like
eleventy-thousand screens in every car now, often ones that are meant to
be poked at with your grubby little fry-slimed fingers. Aaaaaaaah!
Fingerprints everywhere! Getemoff getemoff getemoff! These are the best
microfiber cleaning cloths. Seriously, one swipe. Looks like a boring
gift, has a stupid name, but you’ll be riding shotgun for life. $7.95 on Amazon
A USB car charger
Don’t you love it when you plug your phone into your friend’s car
to charge and that U2 album you forgot you owned starts blaring? No,
you don’t love it, and neither does anyone else. It’s great that every
new car has a USB port and all, but they usually charge slowly and
almost always result in an A/V faux pas. This is the car charger to get
your drivin’ fool: it charges two devices simultaneously at 2.4 amps
each, so you can both juice up on the quick. $8.99 on Amazon
A right-angle charge cable
Charging cables just aren’t meant for the car. Those things stick
out your phone’s bum like a salamander tail just waiting to be snapped
off. And they don’t grow back. Get one that’s made to be jammed into in a
cupholder while you totally don’t watch Gilmore Girls on your phone as traffic creeps along. $15.74 on Amazon
A subwoofer
If your friend’s license plate doesn’t rattle when they crank
Terry Gross’ velvet tones, their stereo sucks. Save them. Get them a
subwoofer. Now, not everyone is cool enough to sacrifice their trunks to
the gods of bass, and while that is not OK, it is legal. This
easy-to-install 300-watt powered job packs a 12-inch woofer, so it
should be able to pop an eardrum. If it’s not enough, you can always get
two. $170.00 on Amazon
Glowing-eyes skull shift knob
8-ball shifter? What is this, a Beach Boys song? If your serious
driver is a serious driver, she drives a stick. And if she doesn’t have a
Terminator-style glowing-eyes skull shifter, she should pull over right
now and give her keys to the nearest hoodlum. Or you can save her, and
park one of these sweet mini metal heads in her [leather] stocking. $20.19 on Amazon
A trickle charger
Serious drivers often have a leisure ride, one they only take out
on sunny days, when the journey is the destination, man. Those people
also often have dead batteries, because a long winter of auto-stasis is
not the friend of a lead-acid cell. Battery Tenders add teensy drops of
voltage as needed, to make sure a seldom-used car will always start.
(And if it doesn’t start, it’s probably not the battery.) $49.99 on Amazon
An air freshener
An air freshener
That new car smell won’t last forever, but that doesn’t mean you
can’t help your travelin' bestie hold on longer. These little bags are
straight-up magic (well, science-magic, anyway). The charcoal inside
soaks up the olfactory evidence of your bud’s latest road trip without
leaving some oily truckstop-flower smell behind. Throw one under the
seats, and set it out in the sun once a month to keep it rockin’ on. $9.95 on Amazon
A fridge—that also keeps stuff warm. Whaaaaa?
We’ve all been there: Driving along, favorite song, etc. You pull
over for some fuel—both for you and the car—and the service station HAS
NO MOUNTAIN DEW CODE RED! Gotta pack your own, and this cooler not only
holds two cases of the stuff, but plugs into your car’s 12V power
socket and works as a fridge. So that Code Red stays ice cold. Or you
can flip a switch and keep stuff warm with it. Like 20 slices of pizza.
Won’t fit in a stocking. $89.90 on Amazon
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