Stocking stuffers for the gearhead with everything

• Price: $565 (U.S.)
  
• Available at: tods.com
  

Somewhere along the way, yours truly became a guy who could conceivably appreciate a fancy-pants set of suede driving loafers. Back in the day, if someone showed up with such footwear at a driving event, he or she would’ve been labelled a poseur. But check these things out. They’re suede to match the side bolsters on performance car seats. They’re red to match Santa’s pants. And they sport the official Ferrari prancing horse logo. I’ve never tried Tod’s driving shoes, but I hear good things. I may like a pair.

by Mark Hacking

• Price: $99 (in store)
  
• Available at: Costco
  

Emergency jump-starter battery packs are not new, but we were especially taken with this one that’s exclusive to Costco. Made by PowerStation, the Xtreme Booster is compact, weighing just 750 grams and measuring 17 by 14.3 x 4.4 centimetres. Yet it can deliver 300 cranking amps (600 peak), and its Li-Ion battery is claimed to hold a charge for up to two years. It also has a light, a USB port for charging mobile phones etc., and a 12-volt outlet for other accessories.

by Jeremy Sinek

• Price: £69
  
• Available at: harrods.com
  

This is the ideal vehicle for the driver who is less than nine centimetres tall or the perfect gift for a toy luxury vehicle enthusiast. The DX Lamborghini 235 has been lovingly replicated in a 1:10 scale. It’s radio controlled with functioning doors and lights. It will let the recipient transform his or her living room into the autobahn.

by Andrew Clark

• Price: $500 (U.S.)
  
• Available at: shop.porsche.com
  

Besides being box-office gold, actor Steve McQueen – star of Bullitt and Le Mans – was a dedicated motorcycle and race car enthusiast who performed many of his own film stunts. Naturally, he is revered by car buffs. And what better way to pay homage to “The King of Cool” than with a 1970s racing jacket from Porsche Design, complete with a McQueen motif on the inner lining?

by Darren McGee

• Cost: $1,230 ($925 U.S.)
  
• Available at: Autodromo.com
  

The dial on Autodromo’s latest watch is inspired by the dashboard instruments in Lancia’s delightfully monstrous 037, a world-championship winning rally car from the deadly Group B days (1982-1986). “Arguably the last romantic era of motorsport,” says Autodromo, a company that’s carved out a nice niche making non-tacky stuff for car people. In a nod to the marvellous engineering of the Group B era, the watch is made of a two-part titanium and steel 39mm case, which weighs just 52 grams. The movement is an automatic Miyota 9015, in case that means something to your loved one.

by Matt Bubbers

• Price: $53.74 (U.S.)
  
• Available at: rammount.com
  

Few accessory categories are as junk-plagued as the automotive phone mount. Most are wobbling jokes. Then there’s RAM X-Grip, a rock-solid piece of accessory engineering that will work in anything from a car to a fighter jet. You can rotate the phone from vertical to horizontal, and set it at any angle. The spring-loaded X-clamp works with a wide range of phones, and the suction-cup base is powerful and easy to use. The X-Grip is part of a comprehensive mounting system that can be adapted to almost any vehicle or electronic device.

by Peter Cheney

• Price: $19.99
  
• Available at: Toys “R” Us, online at Amazon.ca
  

The Crayola Virtual Design Pro Car Collection is the perfect gift for your little budding car designer. It inspires creativity in kids, but won’t break the bank. Simply pick a car to colour from the collection – which includes monster pickup trucks, electric coupes, and muscle cars – and then scan your design using the Crayola app. Then watch your customized ride come to life. Take your wheels for a spin on the racetrack, in the city, or through a mountain pass while testing your driving capabilities by performing flips, stunts, and tricks along the way.

by Petrina Gentile

Price: $24.99 (U.S.)

Available at: motormood.com

There’s a new way to say thanks on the road. The company’s battery-powered smiley or winky faces come in blue, pink or green and stick inside the rear window. Controlled by an infrared remote clipped to the driver’s sun visor, the circles light up for six seconds and take the guesswork out of inter-car communication. Next up: the company plans to issue Carmojis, playing off smartphone emoticons. Just don’t expect to see red devil faces any time soon. “We decided to keep it purely positive,” said MotorMood president Jesse Kramer.

by Jessica Leeder

• Price: $45.70
  
• Available at: amazon.ca
  

What did you do in the war(s), grandpa? Many would rather not say, but Ferdinand Porsche discussed meetings with Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer with his grandson, Ernst Piech, and author Karl Ludvigsen enjoys the 86-year-old Piech’s confidence. Porsche devotees can never get enough of their creation story – Volkswagen in 1938, Porsche 356 in 1949 and 911 in 1964 – but up to now the wars were not discussed. Ludvigsen magically involves the reader in tales of V12 aircraft engines and hybrid land train howitzer carriers in the First World War, and the colossal Maus tank – the turret alone weighed 50 tons – and manufacture of V1 rockets in the Second World War.

by Dan Proudfoot