The Mug That Got Malcolm Out of Bed
The Mug That Got Malcolm Out of Bed
York · 9 October 2026
For the man who swears he doesn't want anything: a V8 engine he can drink his coffee out of. That's the whole discovery, and I'm still rather pleased with myself.
My Malcolm is 68 and impossible to buy for. Fifty years of marriage and I have bought him every sock, scarf and jumper known to man. Ask him what he'd like and you get "nothing, love" — and then whatever you do buy goes in a drawer. But Malcolm spent his twenties on motorbikes and the best part of his working life around engines, and that part of him never went in any drawer.
So when I stumbled on the Motorex mug — a proper little V8 engine, pistons and all, with a chunky handle on the side — I didn't think twice. It's from York Boutique, a British label we'd already ordered from, and it was £19.95, so it hardly counted as a risk.
I'd planned to put it away for Christmas. It lasted one day in the cupboard. He found it, and the next morning he was up and downstairs before me — which never happens — sitting at the kitchen table grinning at it like a teenager. It's not another jumper, you see. It's his engine years, sitting on the kitchen table every morning — which is why it landed the way no scarf ever has.
Fifty years of socks and scarves, and the thing that finally landed was an engine.
The detail on it is remarkable for the money — every piston and bolt picked out, a proper weight in the hand, and a handle that's genuinely comfortable to hold. It's listed at £40 and sells for £19.95 because York Boutique sell direct from their own website with no middleman. You can choose a V6 or a V8; Malcolm informs me, with some feeling, that it had to be the V8.
It now goes out to the shed with him most mornings, and when his brother visited last weekend it was the first thing he commented on — then he asked me to send him the link. I'll admit I checked before ordering that I could send it back if it was tat — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free — but it is very much not tat.
If there's a husband, dad or grandad in your life who "doesn't want anything" but still points out every classic car that passes — this is the one. Birthdays, Christmas, or no reason at all.
Motorex | Engine Design Coffee Mug
£40.00 £19.95
- Detailed V8 or V6 engine design — a gift that actually lands
- Comfortable chunky handle, proper weight in the hand
- For the kitchen, the office or the shed
- Free delivery · 14-day returns
Janet Foster is 67 and lives in York with her husband Malcolm and their dog Winnie. She is not a writer — just a reader who likes to share what actually works.
This page is a paid advertisement for York Boutique.