Top 10 Father’s Day gifts
Here’s Driving's quick rundown of 10 top gifts that will bring a smile to dad's face
IT ISN’T too late to give your car-mad dad a pat on the back and present him with a small (or large) token of your affection this Father’s Day (yes, it’s Sunday). Here’s our quick rundown of 10 top gifts that will bring a smile to his face:
Safety aid
Jabra Motion hands-free phone kit (from £62 on Amazon)
Using a handheld phone while driving is a sure-fire way to attract the opprobrium of fellow motorists, as well as the attention of the law (see our story), so get him this well-regarded hands-free device.
Grand day out
Beaulieu Motor Museum (adult £18 in advance, Beaulieu.co.uk)
Beaulieu is a great excuse for an enjoyable drive and once he’s arrived, there’s loads to see. This Father’s Day it’s the Custom and Hot Rod Festival with adult tickets costing just £13 in advance. General admission adult tickets cost £18 online (click the link above).
Novelty
Vroom! car noise app (£0.69p from the App Store)
Turn dad’s Mondeo into a Ferrari with this clever app that plays the sound of a Fezza accelerating and cornering in sync with his car. If the reality is as good as the video suggests, it’ll be 69p well spent.
Book
England’s Motoring Heritage from the Air (£35 from English Heritage)
See how the rise of the motorcar changed the face of Britain for good, and bad, in the pre-War years with this fascinating collection of aerial photographs taken at the time.
Tool
Tyre pressure and tread depth check (£9.99 from Halfords)
Every dad worth his motor oil knows you should check your car’s tyres weekly, so help him get that reading bang on with this much-praised and inexpensive pressure and tread depth gauge.
Winning and dining
Koolart F1 lap tray (£28.99 from Koolart.co.uk)
There are still 12 races to go, so plenty of TV meals to come which is why this Koolart lap tray will be so useful for holding those beers and bacon butties rock steady in the turns.
Clothing
Barbour Steve McQueen collection (from £34.95 from Barbour.com)
Steve McQueen: surely, the patron saint of car nuts. Barbour does a great tribute clothing collection which includes this, the Merchant Casual bomber jacket complete with McQueen portrait in the lining.
Novelty
Barn find mug (£8 on Gearboxgifts.com)
As old and crusty as any ancient Jag but worth infinitely more, your dad is the original barn find worthy of this mug. He can take a joke, can’t he?
Another grand day out
Silverstone Classic (from £50 for adult Sunday ticket, SilverstoneClassic.com)
This year’s three-day spectacular (July 25-27) includes a Mustang at 50 celebration on Saturday, and on Sunday the world’s biggest Formula One parade and 100 years of Maserati. All this plus live music and the Silverstone Classic auction.
Or just let him decide
Halfords gift card (£10 and £25, Halfords.com)
Still stuck for inspiration? You don’t want to rush and buy the wrong thing, so get him a Halfords gift voucher (available in £10 and £25 denominations) and he can choose for himself.