Most of us have played the White Elephant gift-giving game. Also known as a Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa, the White Elephant gift exchange is all about entertaining the crowd through silly and often impractical gifts. The game begins by every person having brought a gift, preferably a useless one, to a gathering and then placing all those gifts in the center. Typically, there is a value cap on the gifts to keep the game fair and equal. Then, usually by a random drawing of numbers, players begin to pick gifts in a particular order. Each person (with the exception of the first) has the option of either choosing a new gift or stealing an already unwrapped gift from another player. The player who gets their gift stolen then has the option of choosing a new gift or stealing another gift that is not the gift which was just taken from them. Most versions of the game allow a gift to be stolen a maximum of three times before it is “locked out” and resides with the person who attained it last. The game ends when everyone has a present.
Considering how popular the White Elephant gift exchange is, that got us thinking about what kind of car would make the best white elephant gift? It would need to be relatively cheap so as not to exceed the value limit, and it needs to be mostly useless in keeping with the fun of the game.
The Reliant Robin
Watchers of the hit television series Top Gear will probably be familiar with the episode (Series 15 episode 1) where Jeremy Clarkson drives a Reliant Robin from Sheffield to Rotherham, during which he rolls the car at least six times. The vehicle not only looks weird and is useless due to the physically ignorant three-wheeled design, but it was also quite cheap to purchase. A new Robin, back in the 70s when the original Robins were being produced, was only 800 British pounds. That’s a mere $11,000 today. Interestingly enough, that was still more expensive than a Mini, but the Mini had four wheels and looked better.
If you are looking for a white elephant gift that is a car for your holiday games this year, look no further than the Reliant Robin.
