Because the need for speed is not a game. Well it is… but this is serious.
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Large ‘NOS’ Bottle Novelty Plus Toy Where to buy: streetfx.com.au For those who need NOS… one of the big ones… no make it two. And Harry, they need it by tonight. Exclusive to Street FX, this two foot tall plush toy NOS bottle is a wallet friendly nod to the legacy of the car scene in the early 2000’s – a magical time when candy paint was second only to rim diameters and manifolds were in constant danger. With universal fit and no tuning or installation required, they may not take down Johnny Tran but are definitely more comfortable than the real thing. Bonus points for rigging up Lynx cans for car park nitrous purges. |
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Track day gift voucher Where to buy: ardc.com.au The street is no place for racing: anyone who has recently tried to drive to the shops with a pod-filter fitted can tell you. These days, Highway Patrol play for keeps. Ownership of a high performance vehicle is achievable by anyone who qualifies for a personal loan. Knowing how to push a car to it limit, achieving the mystical feeling of Jinba ittai is something that takes practice, and the track is where the responsible driver learns. So, if someone you care about is all corner balanced with nowhere to go, a ticket to an ARDC track day might be what takes you from number six to number one on their speed dial. You may even be uncovering a hidden talent, which will pay dividends when you are sipping free bubbles while trying not to stare at Niki Lauda in the Skydeck Lounge at the Melbourne GP. |
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Where to buy: Your local Toyo dealer Giving someone the chance to push it on track in their pride and joy? You don’t want them doing that on re-treads. Even if they avoid the K-rail, their lap times would be terrible and their confidence shot; a favourite hobby now a tormented memory. Every time they see their car all they will think of is how you sent them to suffer and spin out in front of all the cool race track guys with leather jackets. If you are sending your nearest and dearest out onto the tarmac, whispering Ayrton Senna quotes in their ear and emailing them links to The Drift Bible, it is your responsibility to arm them with the tools for the job. The Proxes R1R will work hard on the street for the daily drive, or on your local mountain pass. Wet, dry or howling down the straight at Sydney Motor Sport Park at 250km/h, when you see the start of turn one and your insides get all cold. Plus, if your lucky giftee catches the track bug, the tyres are eligible for competition motorsport events Australia wide. |
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Plasti Dip
Where to buy: plastidip.net.au Be it an 80 Series or an 86, everyone has their own ideas about colour scheme. Murdered out, matte, fluorescent, chrome, pearlescent, all white everything and so on. Changing the colour of some part of the car is the first modification performed by budding car enthusiasts, and the first step to the feeling of ownership that only a car person knows. A cheap, simple and best of all removable way to personalise a car – Plasti Dip – is a great stocking stuffer for the P plater in your family who can’t afford aftermarket rims. Prep, spray, drive and enjoy. When the time comes for a change just peel the colour off and you are back to square one. As the website says: “Plasti Dip, it’s really cool stuff.” |
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Where to buy: arb.com.au Is getting off the beaten track more your beloved’s speed? An off-road city escape may make for the romantic trip of a lifetime, or the perfect post-Christmas family R&R. Nothing recharges the batteries like the silence of nature, sleeping out under the stars away from the machinations of daily living. Getting out and amongst it doesn’t need to mean a rough night’s sleep. The latest innovation in swag since Whiz Khalifa feat. Drake, ARB’s SkyDome Swags are the last word on outback comfort. Generously proportioned to cut out that confined canvas feeling, waterproof and with a 75mm thick foam mattress with no pegs or guy ropes, the SkyDome will keep you and yours high, dry and happy. |
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Toyo Open Country All Terrain II Where to buy: Your local Toyo dealer Highway Terrain tyres will serve you well, especially if you are driving mostly on sealed roads. If you are planning on spending a week or two in the scrub, on the sand or generally outback, a carefully selected all-terrain tyre will get you further. While on-road manners often come at the expense of off-road performance, the A/T II has noise levels similar to an H/T tyre, excellent mileage with proven class leading mid-corner grip and wet and dry braking performance on bitumen. |
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Where to buy: magshop.com.au The volume of information available to the car-inclined grows with every website, forum post and Facebook update. When it comes to something as important as a vehicle, it makes sense to filter the opinion and spin with words from professionals: people who have dedicated their lives to the cult of fast cars. Nothing says motoring enthusiast like Motor Magazine, and 2015 will be the monthly title’s 61st year at the forefront of Australian and international car culture. Few remaining glossy pages retain the ability to stir emotion with captivating photography and stories that speak directly to those with octane in their veins. Something more personal and tangible than reading news online, a Motor Magazine subscription isn’t just one gift, it’s 12. |
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Circuit Soul ‘Hard Style’ weighted shift knob Where to buy: store.circuitsoul.com Do you have a friend who stares disappointedly at their shift knob? Does someone you care about have a five-speed that isn’t giving them what they need? Are you concerned that a new Japanese styled shifter may cause a loved one serious image, or even legal problems? Solution found. Nothing says car cool like 450grams of shift knob, crafted from 100 per cent authentic artillery cannon shell casings actually fired in the field. Hand made by the |
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Where to buy: petrolified.com Automotive art; a term capable of sending an interior designer into conniptions. Fret not, car guy or girl lover. There is now a solution to satisfy both the eyeballs of the car-inclined and the sensibilities of the aesthetically sensitive. Leaning towards BMW’s art cars and away from Summernats posters, Petrolified’s prints will get a run in even the most bohemian of loft apartments. Simple and incredibly detailed designs of some of the most iconic cars in history, as well as internet breaking designs of recent memory (looking at you Nakai San), Petrolified’s Martin Miskolci is a game changer for people who long to swap their Heironymous Bosch for a Hachi or a Hakosuka. Petrolified’s prints sizing fits standard Ikea frames and offers collections to suit preferences for many marques and styles. We are hoping Santa heeds our request for the Porsche collection. |
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Where to buy: clipsal500.com.au With the 2014 V8 Supercar season run and won, a new era of Australian racing will be ushered in during 2015. In addition to the main V8 (or maybe not V8) powered attraction the second round of the series, the Clipsal 500, will give savvy show-goers a treat that has never before been seen on Australian shores – the first international competition round of the comprehensively awesome Stadium Super Trucks, presented by none other than Toyo Tires. Stadium Super trucks Series creator and NASCAR and off-road racing legend Robby Gordon once heard the term rubbins’ racin’. He agreed. But, unsatisfied with just the rubbin’, he created an entire sport out of other things he deemed to be racin’. These include: flying five metres through the air, flying through the air over other drivers, howling power oversteer in every corner, driving over 200km/h as much as possible, thundering 600hp V8’s, designing tight circuit tracks man-made for up-close action, then putting jumps on them. You don’t know more about racin’ than Robby Gordon. Robby Gordon once said no to Danica Patrick when she asked for his race number in NASCAR. Nobody disobeys Danica Patrick! Nobody, but Robby Gordon. Get a ticket for yourself too, and catch this legend of motorsport carving up Adelaide. |
