The 2021 GRR Christmas gift guide | GRR
It’s official, the John Lewis advert has appeared on the TV, so it’s absolutely fine to talk about all things Christmas. You’ve probably clicked on this article because you have a motoring fan you need to urgently buy something for. It also needs to be something they won’t immediately put in the cupboard and forget about… like last year. Don’t worry, we’ve found something for every price range from £5 all the way to… well £342,000. So, grab a mulled wine and read through our foolproof Christmas gift guide. You’re welcome.
Heel tread socks
Let’s start with the affordable and classic gift, of a pair of socks. Usually, they’d receive those Santa themed socks and begrudgingly give a false smile at the gift that’ll only be relevant for another few hours. So, instead, get them a pair of socks they’ll actually thank you for.
Heel Tread has a whole host of petrolhead themed socks, but we’ve gone for the lovely Jaguar XJR ones. You can guarantee they’ve never had socks that have won Le Mans.
Porsche Unseen
When you Google what book to buy a car fan, you’ll be greeted by a plethora of Jeremy Clarkson or ‘Cool Cars’ books that once again will be greeted by a slightly false smile and most likely a listing on eBay.
Instead, you could buy a book they’ll actually read and keep - our suggestion - ‘Porsche Unseen.’ This gorgeous book gives you a glimpse of all of Porsche’s unreleased concept cars, including the spectacular 919 Street concept.
Warning: the recipient of this book will not interact with you for the rest of Christmas day.
Lego
This one is a bit of a tactical gift. Picture the scene… you’ve all just forced seven metric tonnes of stuffing down on top of eight pigs in blankets and you want some peace and quiet whilst you contemplate if moving is going to be possible for the next few days. You’ll need something that’ll keep them occupied whilst you slowly sink into a food coma (and secretly eye up the box of Celebrations). Look no further than the LEGO Speed Champions series.
They’ll be sitting on the floor for hours piecing together their favourite cars and you can get your life back on track. We’ve gone for this lovely Corvette C8.R racing car and ‘68 Corvette combo. Thank us later.
Fellowship
What present will keep them satisfied all the way up until next Christmas? A year’s Goodwood Road Racing Club Fellowship of course! What does this £43 gift include, we hear you ask?:
- Ability to purchase tickets to 79MM
- Access to a priority ticket booking window for Goodwood’s events.
- Access to an archive of exclusive motorsport videos
- Join a community of like-minded motorsport enthusiasts
Tim Layzell
Another great idea for a gift that’ll live long in the memory is some motoring artwork. If you’re going down this route, you may as well get something a bit special. Our recommendation is from Tim Layzell. He has a wide range of beautiful prints, but one that is dear to our hearts is ‘Sound of the Sixties’ print of the Goodwood circuit.
Eroica Britannia
If the petrolhead you’re buying for enjoys getting out on their bicycle, then we have the perfect weekend for them. The iconic cycling event – Eroica is moving to Goodwood in 2022. As always, pre-1987 bikes will be the order of the day, and you’ll be stopping off to sample the best in local food and drink along the way through the Sussex countryside.
There are rides to suit everyone. From a family ride around the Goodwood Motor Circuit to a full 100-mile classic ride challenge.
Goodwood track experience
If they’d like to tackle the circuit a bit faster than on their bicycle, there are some fantastic Goodwood track days available throughout the year. There’s everything from exhilarating performance hot laps and spin & slide drifting to classic off-roading and Revival racing experiences.
Tamiya
You may think that a remote control car is only for the younger audience… but we can guarantee the biggest smile of anyone’s Christmas will be when they unwrap a Tamiya RC Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 – TT01E Evo.II Team ZakSpeed. We’d put money on it.
Disclaimer: If you have to put up with fully grown adults running around the house pretending to be 1992 DTM racing drivers, we take no responsibility.
Vic Elford Watch
If you’re looking to step up the motorsport themed gifts and win a ridiculous amount of brownie points, look no further than this Limited to 350 watch celebrating a racing hero. The Prototipo Chronograph - Vic Elford 1969 Edition may not mean a lot to you, but you’ll blow the socks off any motorsport enthusiast. Vic Elford is a living legend and one of the masters of long-distance racing. This watch celebrates his unsung 1969 Targa Florio race where he finished second. A watch to celebrate second place? That’s right.
After a failed alternator belt forced Elford to crawl back to the pits losing a massive six minutes to his teammate in an identical Porsche 908/02, he proceeded to break the lap record each successive lap. He managed to shave 46.5 seconds off his own qualifying record! Elford then had an incident with Nanni Galli which meant he knew he couldn’t take the race win. However, he proceeded to race as fast as humanly possible and finished just two minutes and 49 seconds behind his teammate. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the watch go to Vic Elford.
Goodwood pen
This one has a big asterisk next to it as there are only 50 of these available. This Goodwood pen isn’t just any old pen. Steeped in British history, our beautifully crafted pen has been created from an original propeller blade of a WWII Supermarine Spitfire, one of the most iconic fighter planes in military history. It contains a serial number relating back to the original spitfire from which it's made.
Overfinch
OK, I understand this one is a bit more expensive than socks, but imagine the look on their face when they pull a £285,000 + VAT Overfinch Heritage Field Edition out of their stocking on Christmas morning. They’ll see the jumper grandma knitted (let’s face it, she’s lost her knitting touch) and then see the two-hundred and eighty-five thousand pounds plus VAT Overfinch and there’ll be no comparison.
Does grandma’s knitted jumper have hand-crafted lockable cellarette, featuring gun and drinks cabinet with room for two shotguns made from burr walnut with olive ash inserts, finished with an inlaid diamond quilt leather topper or a specially crafted humidor compartment plus refreshment and glass holders lined in tan suede? No, it doesn’t. Checkmate Grandma.
Goodwood motorsport tickets
Believe us when we say that we are already incredibly excited about our 2022 events and that, knowing what is coming up, you should be too. Whether it’s to hear the latest supercars being hurled up the Hill or catch a glimpse of a Formula 1 star, the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard is where to make that happen for the lover of all things automotive in your life. If it's a love of all things vintage and historic racing that gets their motor going then a ticket to the Goodwood Revival is just the, well, ticket!
Tickets are on sale now and until 31st March Festival of Speed tickets qualify for government tax relief, a saving we are passing on to you, so what more reason do you need to gift them for Christmas?