Christmas gift guide for car enthusiasts

Here’s a list of last-minute Christmas gift ideas for the petrolhead, or maybe something for you to treat yourself with.

How to Build a Car – Adrian Newey - $39.99

There are few things more disappointing than waking up and realising Santa has not delivered the Red Bull RB9 Formula 1 car you politely requested in this year’s Christmas list, but if this is a reality for you, perhaps you could have a crack at building your own?

Adrian Newey’s How to Build a Car looks back at the 35-year career of an automotive genius; the cars he created, the drivers he worked with and the victories he helped secure.

Okay, it’s not actually a step-by-step guide how to build a race car but an autobiography of one of the greatest vehicle engineers to walk the earth, but the captivating drawings, historic images and the story of one man’s indelible mark on F1 will hopefully help you forget you don’t own your own V8-powered F1 single-seater.

Technic Lego Porsche 911 GT3 RS - $499.99

If you insist on building your own car this festive season but don’t possess the engineering aptitude of Newey, the good people at Lego might be able to help.

While the kids hastily throw together their relatively simple introductory sets, you can be busy constructing the enormous 2700-piece model of one of Porsche’s most potent sportscars.

The kit is one of the most expensive ever offered by the iconic brick brand, but the set does include an instruction manual that doubles as a coffee table book when you are done snapping blocks together, and several unique bricks designed to make the GT3 project possible.

Drift School - $59 to $849

It can be frustrating when you are trying to drop present hints but the family just aren’t catching your drift, but here’s a drift sure to catch everyone’s attention.

Ranging from a simple thrill ride or introductory experience, to a full drift masterclass, Drift School Australia offers a range of experiences based at Sydney’s Dragway and a fleet of cars consisting of what many regard to be the best machines for the art of drifting.

Some experiences are also offered in Victoria, but if Melbourne and Sydney aren’t your neck of the woods, there are plenty of racing, off-roading and driver-training courses offered all over Australia by a wide range of organisations for every petrol head and budget.

Asos Santa Car Christmas jumper - $45.44

Do you honestly think Santa can get around the world in a single evening using reindeer power alone? Of course, not. To make every delivery in time, the slightly creepy bearded man uses a convertible.

Blend in to the hideously dressed this festive season with this automotive take on the traditional ugly Christmas jumper.

Wheels magazine subscription - $89.95

For the cost of one boozy night out, or a tank of fuel, you could be kept in the Australian automotive loop for the next 13 months and be in with a chance to win $10,000 of hard Aussie currency.

Wheels is Australia’s biggest and oldest car mag and no Christmas is complete without a copy to drool over and dream for another year.