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From Swedespeed.com Miscellaneous Features It’s that time of year again. While we may not all follow the same religion, many find a reason, religious or otherwise, to exchange gifts during this festive season. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a new list of interesting gifts you might consider adding to your own list, or the list of a loved one for 2005. Prices range, from very affordable to ones that are… not so affordable.
We love toys like Legos and Lincoln Logs. Play things such as these enable kids to use their imaginations as they go about their play. Mixing the thoughtful element of such toys with the automotive interest seems like a no-brainer, or at least it was for the makers of Automoblox. This new take on an old stand-by is part set of blocks and part set of toy cars. If you’re young or young-at-heart and have the bug for building a car or truck just the way you want to, Automoblox are a great outlet and look plenty fun to play with to boot. Kits include a sportscar, minivan, pickup, compact, sedan and SUV. With more than one kit, a child can mix or match to make their own creations. www.Automoblox.com 2. The Get Me Downs 'Burn This' EP
The band's music hasn't hit mainstream download sites like iTunes or Napster just yet, though you can sample 'Sexsie Volvo' and other tracks on their website. You can also follow a link and purchase one of their CDs, which goes to helping a great new band get off to a strong start. While you wait for your CD to arrive, you might hit iTunes and key in the word 'Volvo'. You'll find one of the longest lists of songs for an automotive manufacturer, with a wide range of some decent music. www.TheGetMeDowns.com 3. Kurgo Seasonal Tire Totes Are you tired of storing your off-season wheels and tires in garbage bags? Or worse yet, messing up your interior hauling dirty wheels home from the tire shop? The folks at Kurgo understand, that's why they created the Seasonal Tire Tote. Made of heavy-weight polyester, these totes not only protect your interior, they make moving your wheels and tires much easier too, thanks to their built in nylon straps. To prevent damage to precious alloys, Kurgo also makes Wheel Felts to cover the wheels while in storage. One size fits all passenger car tire sizes, and they are machine washable.
Whether you swap wheels out seasonally or simply carry your competition tires with you to the track, enthusiasts will find the Seasonal Tire Tote the ideal solution to this annoying problem. Kurgo also produces the Tire Garage, an eclosed "tent" for your wheels and tires designed to withstand the rigors of outdoor storage. Seasonal Tire Totes sell for $22.00 for a pair of storage bags. Wheel Felts sell for $18.00 per pair. www.Kurgo.com 4. Magellan RoadMate 760 GPS
The compact unit builds on an already great platform, and features a large 2.25" x 3.0" screen that's not only sharp and crisp, it's intelligent - it automatically dims or brightens itself, based on ambient lighting. And speaking of intelligence, the RoadMate 760 can get you out of a traffic jam by detecting traffic dillemas and suggesting an alternate route. With a 20GB hard drive, users can simply "plug in and go." There's no need to load maps, or mess around with CDs or DVDs - the RoadMate 760 has all the information it needs to get you to where you want to go. It also features 7 million "points of interest," including ATMs, hotels, and restaurants. And finally, if you own a PDA (Pocket PC or Palm), you can beam addresses to the RoadMate 760 via the infrared port. Dynamic "SayWhere" technology also ensures you won't miss an important turn or intersection - the Magellan advises drivers of impending turns, intersections, and exits by identifying them not only by distance but by name. End the frustration of driving around "without stopping for directions," and pick up Magellan's RoadMate 760 this Holiday Season. www. MagellanGPS.com 5. Piloti Driving Shoes
Since 1999 Piloti has produced the coolest line of driving shoes that can also be worn daily. The lineup now includes several collections, but their low-top models make the perfect shoes for a long road trip, a weekend autocross, or justa day in the office. One of the newest models is the G16. Like all Piloti shoes, the G16 features the patented Roll Control heel to make heel-and-toe footwork a snap. The Piloti G16 is available in a handful of color combinations for $80 per pair. www.Piloti.com 6. 'The Saint' DVDs
Volvos aren't new to the silver screen or television. Modern TV-land Volvo owners such as Teri Hatcher's XC70-driving character in 'Desperate Housewives' follow the path first blazed by Roger Moore and his white Volvo P1800 coupe in the '60s television series 'The Saint'. The car itself has resurfaced with a fresh restoration, though you can see it in its original glory now that A&E has reproduced the series on DVD. Six DVDs of 'The Saint' are available through online media megastore Amazon.com. However, if you're going to start wtih just one, opt for 'The Saint, Set 1', which even has the car on the cover of the box. New copies retail for $35.99, though Amazon also sells used vopies as low as $16.75 according to their website. 7. Scosche Bluetooth Streaming Kits for iPod and other MP3 Devices
Specifically, the company has several fitment kits packaged for a range of OEM car applications that already feature harnesses that work with the factory head unit. They also have a generic kit that can probably be retrofitted to work with most factory and aftermarket stereos set up with an auxiliary input such as one for a CD changer. As explained to us, the kit’s receiver is installed much as a CD changer might be to a factory head unit. Once done, and switched to CD changer, an iPod connected to Scosche’s Bluetooth transmission attachment can stream audio to the car from up to 30 feet away. www.Scosche.com 8.Snap On Mini Air Ratchet
With 30 ft/lbs of torque available, the 7.5-inch long ratchet won't bust loose lug nuts, but it will tackle most underhood jobs with ease, and thanks to a ten-position power paddle, RPM, speed, and torque are all easily adjustable. It weighs less than one-and-a-half pounds and consumes a scant 1.6 cubic feet per minute of air - much less than many of the bigger, more bulky air tools. www.SnapOn.com 9. Volvo Club of America Membership and Rolling Magazine Archive CD
Having strong club support for your Volvo enthusiasm is a nice benefit. Aside from get-togethers, discounts on new Volvos and more, your VCOA membership also comes with a subscription to the club's magazine 'Rolling'. Membership is $30, though add $28.50 to that in the VCOA store and you can get over 20-years worth of archived issues of 'Rolling' on CD. An additional $30 will get you one of the club's cool new grille badges. www.VCOA.org 10. 'Volvo Drive for Life' Video Game for XBOX
Volvo’s ongoing collaboration with Microsoft first resulted in the company’s well-known S40 television commercial where a video game version of the car blasted down a snowy track. More recently, the company’s collaboration resulted in a new XBOX video game called ‘Volvo Drive for Life’. In the game, players can choose between the Volvo S40, S60R and XC90, testdriving the cars and getting points for not wrecking. The game is only available via Volvo dealerships, and Swedespeed has created a forum where dealers stocking the game can post availability. Furthermore, Swedespeed will be giving away many copies of the game between now and Christmas. Follow the link below for details. www.Swedespeed.com 11. Volvo Ocean Race Merchandise
As such, the organization also maintains a full line of merchandise to promote and support the event. There’s a focus on nautical items such as great-looking and functional rainproof jackets, multi-tools and floating key chains, but there’s also a mix of fun stuff like a remote-controlled XC90 Ocean Race Edition. Prices are in Sterling, leading us to believe this is a UK-based online storefront, though the company should be able to ship to North America. That said, make sure to contact the store if it’s absolutely necessary the goods reach an address across the pond before the holidays. shop.VolvoOceanRace.com
'P1800' Volvo Historic Library CD-ROM
Volvo has begun a series of Historic Library CD-ROM interactive resources for their models. The first CD to be released covers the iconic P1800 coupe. The CD includes everything from a P1800 service manual and showroom literature from every year to magazine road test articles, print advertisements, vintage photo gallery, VIN decoder, and profiles of the million and 2 million mile P1800s. It also includes clips from 'The Saint' television show and links to 1800-relevent websites. The CD is a cool resource for any Volvophile, but invaluable for an owner of any of the 1800-series S, E or ES coupes. It can be acquired via Volvo's online bookstore for $49.95. www.VolvoTechInfo.com
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