You’re trying to think of a great gift to get mom or dad as another McHenry Christmas approaches, but what to buy them? It’s never easy. They seem to have everything they need. A tie for dad or a box of candy for mom just won’t do.

The place to start is considering their passions. If, like many in McHenry, they are car lovers, this may open an entire vista of possibilities. The same is true if, for instance, they are equestrians. If the latter, there are an abundance of possible gifts for horse lovers. But this is an automotive blog so we’ll focus on gifts for car lovers.

What is their favorite car – the car they once owned or the one they dreamed of owning?

Let’s suppose that mom always wanted a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Convertible. It would be great if you could buy a pristine used 1990 Benz of her dreams. But that may not be in your price range. You could easily spend $12,000 on a car in reasonable condition. But there is another option.

You can get a colored print of the car and have it framed. You could buy color print of an ad for the car from a 1989 or 1990 magazine and have that framed. You can even buy a model kit of the car. A 1990 Mercedes Benz 500 SL Convertible 1:18-scale model was available from Revell models on ebay at the time of this writing.

Of course, if mom or dad were into muscle cars, the possibilities expand dramatically. Pictures and models of their favorite hotrods are all over the place. You can also get shirts and hats prints of that favorite muscle car. In fact, you could find a photo and have it printed on a shirt or hat.

Places, such as Hobby Lobby, have an abundance of decorations they can put on the wall. Some are good for the garage. Others are classy enough you can put them on the wall of the garage or on the wall in the house. You can even find neon wall clocks celebrating different automobiles.

On the other hand, maybe they already have a car of their dreams. A shirt or hat with an image of their car may be just the thing. You could even use a photo of them with their car and have it printed on a shirt. Then again, you may want to consider accessories.

The number of accessories for automobiles is almost unlimited. We’ll just run by a few options here:

• Personalized floormats or with the car logo
• A reflective/thermal windshield cover to keep the heat out while the car is parked
• A personalized keychain
• A dash- or window-mounted cellphone holder
• A backup camera kit
• A radar detector (if mom or dad have a lead foot)
• A car vacuum that plugs into the cigarette lighter
• A tool to breakout of the car window if they end up in a river or lake
• A really good flashlight

Well, these are just a few ideas for you to consider. As Christmas in McHenry approaches, it’s good to have options when you start shopping.