‘Tis the season once again. We were scratching our heads wondering what to get the car-obsessed men and women in our lives, so we made some lists. This first list contains ideas for stuff that goes under the tree, the kind of car gifts that don’t cost an arm and a leg but go over well with the auto lovers in your family.
For the Gamer
Gran Turismo 5 As we pointed out in our review of Gran Turismo 5, while it may indeed be the most eagerly anticipated racing game in history, it’s not exactly a must buy for casual gamers. But if you’ve got a car lover on your gift list who owns a PS3 and hasn’t bought it yet, GT5 is a gift that’s sure to please. Review: Gran Turismo 5 Price: $53.99 |
RC Cars in the House
Hot Wheels Stealth Rides These collapsible racers fit into their own cases, which also double as infrared remote controls. They fit in any pocket, run for about 45 minutes and start at just $25. Batman’s Tumbler is our favorite. More Info: Hot Wheels introduces remote controlled Stealth Rides Price: $24.99 and up |
Batteries Not Included
XM Snap In-Vehicle Satellite Radio Satellite radio has come a long way, and this holiday season XM is offering a device that makes adding the service to your car easier than ever. Called the XM Snap, just plug it into your cigarette lighter or power adapter socket, connect the antenna and listen to SIRIUS XM through your existing stereo. All that and it costs just $40. |
Apps, Apps, Apps
| Reckless Racing HD Rather than try and recreate a console racing game on a smart phone, Reckless Racing mixes old-school, top-down racing gameplay with crazy good graphics and multiplayer features to brew a mean gumbo that takes mobile racing games to a new level of fun. Drifting through mud and dirt is the order of the day in this good ‘ol boys racing game that has a spot on many of our own mobile devices.
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Greasemonkey Gifts
| Deluxe Warrior Car Kit This isn’t your everyday emergency car kit, this is a survival kit. As you would expect of something named the Deluxe Warrior Car Kit, there’s truly too much included to list everything here. Suffice it to say that you’ll be prepared for your daily commute, even after the zombie apocalypse. Good luck out there.
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For the Bookworm
| At the Crossroads Steven Rattner is the star at the center of Overhaul, his story of Auto Task Force. Yet his own light shines so brightly that the nuances in the auto industry landscape he attempts to describe were washed out, or simply failed to ever register. That’s a shame because the tale of GM and Chrysler capsizing cannot be accurately told without the specifics of how and why leaders, labor and government all strapped themselves to the decks of an ultimately dysfunctional ship. At the Crossroads: Middle America and the Battle to Save the Car Industry returns a great many of those details to the picture. Written by two alumni of the Indianapolis Star, the book goes back to the mid-20th century labor agreements that helped prepare the disaster, looks at Wall Street’s methods and effects after the deregulation of the 80s, and examines how the municipal governments and residents of towns like Kokomo, Marion, and Bedford Indiana have worked to respond to the gutted carcass of American manufacturing. It’s not a casual read, but it is a good one. And to begin to really know what is the what, it is an important one.
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