How to gift-wrap a car

All wrapped up

A car makes a dream Christmas present, but how do you wrap it? Our experts reveal all...

By Julie Sinclair 18th December 2007

Trying to keep the perfect Christmas present under wraps isn’t easy – especially when it’s 1.8 metres tall, 1.9 metres wide and 2.7 metres long!

But one company’s got the job covered – and we joined it to do just that to the aptly named Hyundai Santa Fe. Gift-wrapping a seven-seat SUV is no mean feat, though, as Hyundai London, along with Kent firm Creative FX, (www.fxuk.net) demonstrated.

Creative’s owner Sean Davis and his colleague Gary Goldwater usually work with self-adhesive vinyl ‘wraps’, which transform cars and vans into mobile advertisements, and last for up to 10 years.

But the same technique can be used to personalise a car or change its colour completely. Sean told us. “Technically, we could take the reindeer image from this paper, transfer it on to our vinyl wrap and give the Santa Fe a more permanent Christmas makeover.”

As Sean has been perfecting the art of car wrapping for 17 years, this challenge was right up his street. All the same, the two-man job took two-and-a-half hours to complete. They used 54 metres of giftwrap and a couple of large rolls of sticky tape to finish the task! Clearly it’s not something to be tackled at home – particularly if the weather takes a turn for the worse and ruins your efforts.

Fortunately, Sean and Gary had the luxury and space of the Hyundai showroom to carry out the transformation. So how did they do it? Sean joked: “I’ve bought my local shop out of wrapping paper! There are about 20 rolls here, and as many again in the boot of my car.” The team tackled the rear first, stretching two huge strips of paper across the tailgate. These were carefully tucked in beneath the bumper, and taped into place. The pair then moved around the SUV using the same technique, being careful to keep creases to a minimum. Tricky little features such as the 17-inch wheels and the door mirrors were tackled separately.

For the alloys, the team cut discs of paper to cover the rims, leaving the rubber bare, and the mirrors were wrapped as if they were small parcels. When complete, the only clues to the car’s true identity were its badge and number plate, which were left visible. This seamless finish would cost buyers between £400 and £500 if they had to pay for it themselves. But Hyundai London dealer principal Nick Martin told us: “We’d throw this special service in for free, if a customer came in and wanted a model delivered in time for Christmas.”

Nick says he’s no stranger to bespoke delivery requests, either. “We’ve filled cars with balloons or had them dropped off at customers’ homes with giant bows wrapped around them. It’s a fantastic way to hand over the keys!”

So if you’re thinking about making someone’s day, it’s worth asking your local dealer if they can package your new car in something novel. And it’s not only gleaming new motors that are getting a festive facelift, either.

Used car supermarket group Carcraft says the number of vehicles bought as gifts shoots up at this time of year. And to make this Christmas very special, it’s promised to supply any of its forecourt models with a giant red bow wrapped around the middle – plus a free bottle of champagne.

All buyers need to do is log on to www.carcraft.co.uk to find out where their nearest participating forecourt is.