Last Minute Porsche Christmas Gifts

This year Christmas has snuck up on me a bit. I’ve actually intended to write a post highlighting some Christmas gifts for the Porsche enthusiast for almost a month now. For some reason, though, I haven’t gotten around to it. Couple that with my tendency to procrastinate and, well, you’ll have a good picture of what a frantic mess the week before Christmas (next week!!!) will be for me.

It’s funny. I love Christmas time, the lights, the feel, etc. I also love giving gifts. The part I suck at is figuring out what to give people. My kids are easy, but my wife and parents are tough. So in the end, I get to the point where I hate the last few days leading up to Christmas because I’m frantically trying to find the right thing. But I digress.

I decided last night that I would put together a list of last minute things you could buy your Porsche enthusiast. Every single one of these things should be findable/readily available and within reach of having the item in hand in plenty of time to wrap it and get it under the tree BEFORE the big day hits. Most of them have links that will take you straight to Amazon who is still claiming to get things to most people by Christmas if ordered no later than Monday.

Before we get the to list though, keep in mind these are LAST MINUTE suggestions, so this isn’t going to include hard to find or extravagant items that require time to get your hands on. Don’t judge me based on this list.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts For The Porsche Enthusiast

1. Top Gear 10: The Complete Season 10
I don’t know a single car nut, no matter what cars they love, that doesn’t like TopGear at least a little bit. If you don’t know, it’s a TV show based in the UK that covers cars. All sorts of them including Porsches. This is probably one of the safest gifts you could put under the tree for the Porsche enthusiast in your life.

2. Amazon Kindle
This may seem like an odd addition, but I love the Kindle. You can download all sorts of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. onto it over the wireless network (free for Kindle users, by the way) from the Amazon store. There are some great Porsche books available, not to mention other reads your Porsche enthusiast will enjoy.

3. Le Mans DVD
This is another one of the “safe” gifts. Le Mans is arguably the best movie with a Porsche and driving as a center piece. I’m sad to say I haven’t watched it, but I just ordered a copy for myself for Christmas! It’s an older movie, but it’s one of those that never gets old (or so I’m told).

4. Valentine One Radar Detector
Who doesn’t want their significant other to be safe from the smokies. I have an Escort 8500, but guess which one I want? Yep, the Valentine One. Depending on who you ask, this is either the best or second best radar detector in production. The guys who raced across the U.S. a couple of years ago and broke the coast to coast record used a Valentine One radar detector. That’s how good they are.

5. Porsche Books
Porsche: Excellence Was Expected – This is possible the single best book set you can buy. It’s not cheap, but it’s one of the best. I still don’t own a copy, but hope I’ll find it under the tree one of these Christmases.
Porsche: The Fine Art of the Sports Car – Another great book with lots of high quality pictures. Perfect as a coffee table book at home or in the office.
Porsche Sixty Years – Randy Leffingwell has written some great stuff about Porsches over the years. He’s definitely an authoritative source on all things Porsche. I haven’t read this book, but have heard it has some great images and captivating narration.
Porsche: The Road from Zuffenhausen – I’ve picked this book up several times, primarily because the cover gets me every time, and I’ve ended up spending quite a bit of time looking through the pictures. Another book with stunning images. You just can’t go wrong with pictures of Porsches.

6. Porsche Magazines
The following are 3 of my favorites. I’ve read a LOT of magazines covering Porsche over the last 25 years and these 3 have risen to the top as my favorites. If you decide to go with one of these, get the subscription, then grab a copy to wrap up for under the tree. That’s the best of both worlds.
Excellence Magazine – This is simply a staple mag for the Porsche enthusiast. Great writing, good coverage of lots of different Porsche models and typically excellent pictures.
Total 911 Magazine – This is a UK based mag and it’s not cheap, but well worth the money. I love their coverage and the stories they print. Plus I think John over at PorschePurist.com is writing for them, so it’s GOTTA be good!
Christophorus Magazine – I just recently started receiving this mag and I’ve really come to enjoy it. It provides what feels like more of an inside view of Porsche and has stunning photography.

7. On The Job Hand Armor & Hand Cleaner
This pick may have you scratching your head at first, but On The Job sent me some samples to try (I’ll be doing a review here in the next month or so), and I have to say I’m impressed. But why include this on a Porsche Enthusiast list? That’s simple. Every guy likes clean hands and doesn’t want sand paper hands. On the Job can take care of both of those things. The Hand Armor is a lotion that protects the skin as well as makes cleanup easier. On The Job Hand Cleaner makes cleaning the grease off your hands much quicker, even if you’ve just been out tinkering with the Porsche. The best thing about them is they’re non-scented. If you’re looking for something for a guy, consider this one. It’s a unique gift and one he’ll end up thanking you for all year long. The link above takes you to a page that shows you where you can buy On The Job products at local stores.

8. Porsche 911 Turbo
Yeah, I know this is California dreaming, but I had to include it. How freakin amazing would it be to have a Porsche in your driveway for Christmas?! If you’ve got the means, I’m sure if you walk into any Porsche dealership in the next week, you’ll easily be able to take delivery of a sweet Porsche 911 Turbo in time to get it to your driveway for a big Christmas Day unveiling.