What's the Best Automotive Gift You've Ever Received?
Folks, if the songs are to be believed, we’re coming up on the most wonderful time of the year. But in between all the parties for hosting and marshmallows for toasting, there’s a crucial aspect to the holiday season that’s often lyrically underrepresented: Gift giving.
But what gifts do you actually like to be given? As a reader of this fine, esteemed website, you’re likely to receive some car-themed gifts this year — anything from the lowest of the low (those universal-fit sockets) to the apex of automotive gifting (One Hell Of A Town merch). But within that broad range, the totality of the present quality spectrum, what’s the best automotive gift you’ve ever gotten?
Photo: National Archives at College Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I’m a sucker for practical, useful gifts — my utterly cavernous New York apartment doesn’t leave room for much else — so my top spot has to go to my tools. I rely heavily on my three-drawer Craftsman toolbox for wrenching jobs big and small, with all its sockets, wrenches, and Allen keys. It was my first real toolbox, after years of department store tools, and it’s served me well for years.
Of course, I’ve added my own additions to the kit. Rags, torque wrenches, gloves for keeping my hands safe, and PB Blaster for keeping my eyes unsafe. Even power tools, from impact guns to multimeters, now fall into the automotive tool kit— but I’d likely have none of them without that first, true wrencher’s toolbox.
That’s the best automotive gift I’ve ever received, my little Craftsman tool kit. What’s the best car-based gift you’ve ever gotten? Leave your best answers below, and we’ll compile our favorites after the holidays.
